Stubble Turnip Spring Barley Break

[DrWazzock]

Just wondering if stubble turnips drilled after winter barley followed by spring barley will be enough of a “take all” break before going back into winter wheat.
Trying to avoid spring beans. I’m persevering with OSR but I don’t want too much of it, so reckoned if half my break crop area was OSR, and the other half was turnips then spring barley, it would help simplify things. Tempted to just drop the spring barley altogether and just leave it fallow till autumn when I drill the winter wheat as what could be gained in spring barley could be lost in the wheat. Sick and tired of beans for a variety of reasons. They hardly wipe their face.

 

[Pieces_of_Eight]

It's a refreshing relief to see a grower with his finger firmly on the pulse, trying to keep ahead of the curve and making his business future-proofed for when we arrive at the peak turnip demand that Ms. Coffey has caused.

 

[David.]

I have been doing just that for some years, touch wood it seems okay, not yet had any wheat disasters as result.
If you take out w.barley vols early with Raptor etc, that maybe helps with the mini break. I know Latitude looks dear per ton, but I think it might be cheap insurance if you want wheat in earlier than Nov, which I don't.

 

[DrWazzock]

It's a refreshing relief to see a grower with his finger firmly on the pulse, trying to keep ahead of the curve and making his business future-proofed for when we arrive at the peak turnip demand that Ms. Coffey has caused.

I told my brother we should have sold the sheep and offered this years turnips to Tescos. Maybe they would interested in the left overs.

 

[Pieces_of_Eight]

I told my brother we should have sold the sheep and offered this years turnips to Tescos. Maybe they would interested in the left overs.

As hungry students we would often come back with a pocket full of turnips from the pigeon & rabbit roughshooting permissions we had

 

[Brisel]

Take-all disease in cereals: prevent, detect, control | AHDB

With varietal and fungicidal control limited, tackling take-all requires a solid understanding of the causal pathogen.

ahdb.org.uk

I would say that your turnips won’t be n the soil long enough for a complete break, especially if you don’t control all the grasses/volunteers in the turnips. The take all fungus is most active in late spring and summer, when it will live with the barley as a host. It is better than no break at all though.

 

[Flat 10]

I have never tried it but have often thought that w barley, turnips spring barley repeat was a fairly sustainable “rotation” with 3 crops in 2 years. I don’t think turnips fb spring barley counts as enough of a break to grow wheat imo.

 

[DrWazzock]

I have never tried it but have often thought that w barley, turnips spring barley repeat was a fairly sustainable “rotation” with 3 crops in 2 years. I don’t think turnips fb spring barley counts as enough of a break to grow wheat imo.

On light land I’d say that’s a good idea. Take take the wheat out altogether as it rarely rewards the effort. Worth considering.
Edit: except there for the volunteer issue.

 

[Hampton]

Just wondering if stubble turnips drilled after winter barley followed by spring barley will be enough of a “take all” break before going back into winter wheat.
Trying to avoid spring beans. I’m persevering with OSR but I don’t want too much of it, so reckoned if half my break crop area was OSR, and the other half was turnips then spring barley, it would help simplify things. Tempted to just drop the spring barley altogether and just leave it fallow till autumn when I drill the winter wheat as what could be gained in spring barley could be lost in the wheat. Sick and tired of beans for a variety of reasons. They hardly wipe their face.

On my dirty fields I go stubble turnips then spring barley followed by stubble turnips again then spring beans.
On clean fields
Winter barley - stubble turnips-spring beans -wheat.
If you don’t spray the volunteers out of the turnips then it qualifies for SFI multi species cover
Not seen any problem with take all from that

 

[DrWazzock]

Right, this is it, final rotation.
Winter wheat,
Winter barley,
Then split the block into OSR and turnips, the turnips followed by spring beans.

This means OSR only once every six years on any piece of land. Same for beans.
And it means I can leave out the turnips if the sheep don’t need them with no disruption.
And it means if the OSR fails I can put the entire block in with beans in the spring.
I think that covers all bases.
I don’t want to follow spring barley with wheat because as said it’s a take all carry over and I seem to get a lot of barley volunteers in the wheat. I’m stuck with beans but thats life. Just had a cheque for them which amounts to a gross of £257 per acre so I’ve probably made about £100 an acre on them.

 

[DrWazzock]

All the small awkward fields will be grass, probably a decent 5 yr + ryegrass clover ley. But GS4 as I want production and dint want to have to reestablish reseed.

 

[Hampton]

Right, this is it, final rotation.
Winter wheat,
Winter barley,
Then split the block into OSR and turnips, the turnips followed by spring beans.

This means OSR only once every six years on any piece of land. Same for beans.
And it means I can leave out the turnips if the sheep don’t need them with no disruption.
And it means if the OSR fails I can put the entire block in with beans in the spring.
I think that covers all bases.
I don’t want to follow spring barley with wheat because as said it’s a take all carry over and I seem to get a lot of barley volunteers in the wheat. I’m stuck with beans but thats life. Just had a cheque for them which amounts to a gross of £257 per acre so I’ve probably made about £100 an acre on them.

Second wheat? Would fit nicely in there

 

[ollie989898]

Loads of people use spring barley and turnips as a break, it's not ideal but then I know serious growers who have grown crops with no seed dressing, no BYDV control and broken loads of traditional 'rules' and never seem too bothered. I'd sooner grow this as a break that grow OSR one year in 3.

 

[DrWazzock]

Wotldnt spring barley volunteers be a pain in w wheat?
I was thinking beans after turnips but maybe fallow till drilling winter wheat would be better. A proper clean break and avoids crappy beans. It’s only half a block (25 acres) and I can put the combine away clean and dry not shifted up with green mush and blather.

 

[Brisel]

Second wheat? Would fit nicely in there

It sounds like light land if it will support sheep in winter. If he doesn't like first wheat, do you think a second wheat is popular?

 

[Mixedupfarmer]

Sugar beet

 

[DrWazzock]

A second wheat here is a non starter. Too light and dry.
I’m steering towards turnips and then fallow/ cover crop till autumn.
I’m trying to get the arable side down to a day a week.
With no sub and no protein payment, beans look like a waste of time. Spring barley is a bit of a hobby as well.

 

[ollie989898]

Sugar beet

God loves a trier.

 

[ollie989898]

Wotldnt spring barley volunteers be a pain in w wheat?
I was thinking beans after turnips but maybe fallow till drilling winter wheat would be better. A proper clean break and avoids crappy beans. It’s only half a block (25 acres) and I can put the combine away clean and dry not shifted up with green mush and blather.

Volunteers can be a problem. I have known people to do it both ways around though, with the wheat after the turnips or the other way around. I guess ploughing would help mitigate some of the volunteer issues. It is very important to control barley volunteers in the turnips mind. Get them at the right stage and they are a doddle to sort out. It is or certainly was common to put turnips in after barley around these parts.

 

[DrWazzock]

I never seem to have a real problem with winter wheat volunteers in either a direct drilling or plough based regime going into winter barley but spring barley grows like a weed here. A hard winter will kill it, but sometimes it won’t.
Thanks for all the suggestions. Very useful.