The future of arable cropping

[czechmate]

You would only sell it if you got a daft offer .

I was mid way through making a daft proposal (half what I had paid) to a guy. We were supposed to be meeting up, it was bloody hot, I was starting harvest, the neighbours cows were in my cereals, he was on a time to catch a plane and we kept missing each other. My good fortune for sure.
I had your mate around a few weeks back, and the safer, they both said the same.
No idea what better I could do with the capital but (don't forget I left school at 15) just don't want to work non stop anymore -
And to be on topic, I don't see farming (crops or livestock) as at all rosy in the near future :-(

 

[bobk]

I was mid way through making a daft proposal (half what I had paid) to a guy. We were supposed to be meeting up, it was bloody hot, I was starting harvest, the neighbours cows were in my cereals, he was on a time to catch a plane and we kept missing each other. My good fortune for sure.
I had your mate around a few weeks back, and the safer, they both said the same.
No idea what better I could do with the capital but (don't forget I left school at 15) just don't want to work non stop anymore -
And to be on topic, I don't see farming (crops or livestock) as at all rosy in the near future :-(

If 800k is a loss, I dread to think what you paid for it , oh well , as you say , it's only money . health and happiness .

 

[czechmate]

If 800k is a loss, I dread to think what you paid for it , oh well , as you say , it's only money . health and happiness .

The occasion I am referring to, the offer was to be 480. Such was the frustration of the exhaustion. I had even managed to discuss the tax implication of the loss with my accountant.

 

[bobk]

The occasion I am referring to, the offer was to be 480. Such was the frustration of the exhaustion. I had even managed to discuss the tax implication of the loss with my accountant.

480k would be a good buy , should have said .

 

[czechmate]

480k would be a good buy , should have said .

Bloody good buy. Awful sell. I should thank my neighbour for neglecting his cows (when he is out of prison!)

 

[Two Tone]

This autumn has highlighted a major weakness in the way the majority of arable crops are established in the uk, min-till particularly on heavy soils. The need to create a chit of the major grass weeds by a light cultivation and leaving for 4-6 weeks has left us exposed if the weather changes as it has this autumn. Is it a one off, or is this going to be a regular occurrence of global warming. It's the "leaving for 4-6 weeks" is where the risk is.
But what are the alternatives? Leaving stubble's untouched and direct drill, strip till or ploughing with it's associated erosion problems? Or perhaps a more flexible rotation with more spring cropping?

I farm some heavy Warwickshire Clay.
Having tried Min till 3 times in my life and wrecked the farm with Blackgrass, I went back to ploughing everything 3 years ago.
In 2018 I only used 45 litres of Glyphosate on the entire farm thanks to the dry summer desiccating most of the OSR for me.
The only Glyphosate I used this year was to desiccate all the OSR.
I don't create any stale seedbeds, but try to plough relatively soon after harvest in good conditions.
Ploughing allows me to drill earlier, without having to delay for better Blackgrass control.
All drilling was completed on this farm by October 9th this year.
In my book, that is still 9 days too late, but it's all done, sprayed within 24 hours, which has worked very well.

There is only one other farmer around here that is in the same boat as me. We have pretty much identical ideas on the way we do it.

Noby else has drilled even half of their ground. A lot, none at all.

 

[Ninjago]

I farm some heavy Warwickshire Clay.
Having tried Min till 3 times in my life and wrecked the farm with Blackgrass, I went back to ploughing everything 3 years ago.
In 2018 I only used 45 litres of Glyphosate on the entire farm thanks to the dry summer desiccating most of the OSR for me.
The only Glyphosate I used this year was to desiccate all the OSR.
I don't create any stale seedbeds, but try to plough relatively soon after harvest in good conditions.
Ploughing allows me to drill earlier, without having to delay for better Blackgrass control.
All drilling was completed on this farm by October 9th this year.
In my book, that is still 9 days too late, but it's all done, sprayed within 24 hours, which has worked very well.

There is only one other farmer around here that is in the same boat as me. We have pretty much identical ideas on the way we do it.

Noby else has drilled even half of their ground. A lot, none at all.

The risk in ploughing everything soon after harvest would be either it would bake if it came out bright and hot, or if it came wet i would be unable to do anything. I always like it dry but overcast after i start cultivating.

 

[Two Tone]

The risk in ploughing everything soon after harvest would be either it would bake if it came out bright and hot, or if it came wet i would be unable to do anything. I always like it dry but overcast after i start cultivating.

The secret is to plough it in good conditions and to leave a finish that is as weather proof as possible.
Finding the right plough was important. Hydraulic variwidth is very important. I have found that KV29 bodies are good. I’m also not afraid to Power harrow it if necessary. But try to do as little as possible.
I also use a Kuhn Venta seedflex combi drill.

The most important thing is that I avoid delayed drilling and have won the battle against Blackgrass by ploughing it properly.

It’s a system that suits me here and I can’t find anything else I’d rather change it for yet.

 

[Farma Parma]

The secret is to plough it in good conditions and to leave a finish that is as weather proof as possible.
Finding the right plough was important. Hydraulic variwidth is very important. I have found that KV29 bodies are good. I’m also not afraid to Power harrow it if necessary. But try to do as little as possible.
I also use a Kuhn Venta seedflex combi drill.

The most important thing is that I avoid delayed drilling and have won the battle against Blackgrass by ploughing it properly.

It’s a system that suits me here and I can’t find anything else I’d rather change it for yet.

Plough based system is still King but there is plenty who are trying to do none at all
Ive seen there GREEN stubbles & its not for me

 

[ollie989898]

The secret is to plough it in good conditions and to leave a finish that is as weather proof as possible.
Finding the right plough was important. Hydraulic variwidth is very important. I have found that KV29 bodies are good. I’m also not afraid to Power harrow it if necessary. But try to do as little as possible.
I also use a Kuhn Venta seedflex combi drill.

The most important thing is that I avoid delayed drilling and have won the battle against Blackgrass by ploughing it properly.

It’s a system that suits me here and I can’t find anything else I’d rather change it for yet.

Ask the Irish and you will get the same answer. How come no blackgrass? Answer: ploughing.

 

[Farma Parma]

Ask the Irish and you will get the same answer. How come no blackgrass? Answer: ploughing.

Is that really the reason BG Started ??? all because Farmers dumped Ploughing?
If thats the main reason Father taught me well then.

 

[lloyd]

The occasion I am referring to, the offer was to be 480. Such was the frustration of the exhaustion. I had even managed to discuss the tax implication of the loss with my accountant.

What are the interest rates running at in France?

 

[ollie989898]

Is that really the reason BG Started ??? all because Farmers dumped Ploughing?
If thats the main reason Father taught me well then.

Back in the early 2000's the wheat price was £60 a tonne and they couldn't sell min-till gear fast enough as people sought to ditch the cost of ploughing. This was just prior to the introduction of Atlantis, where fop and dim (and IPU) chemistry was all the rage. Of course the BG populations exploded and surprise, surprise, the stuff became resistant to graminicides.

Low rate fungicide use was all the rage as well because it all worked so well on septoria.

 

[bobk]

What are the interest rates running at in France?

They will want 50% deposit

 

[lloyd]

They will want 50% deposit

 

[czechmate]

What are the interest rates running at in France?

I don’t know but I suppose about the same. As bobc says you need a good deposit. They were giving expats 100% a few years back and got caught too many times, so these days are over

 

[Cowcorn]

Couch was not hard to kill, thats why every farm had a triple k cultivator. To drag it to the surface and dry it out.
A barsteward fallow was how you controlled it, running a triple k over the land every forrnight from feb to june, then planting a brassica for sheep.
I did it when organic and it worked well

The secret is to plough it in good conditions and to leave a finish that is as weather proof as possible.
Finding the right plough was important. Hydraulic variwidth is very important. I have found that KV29 bodies are good. I’m also not afraid to Power harrow it if necessary. But try to do as little as possible.
I also use a Kuhn Venta seedflex combi drill.

The most important thing is that I avoid delayed drilling and have won the battle against Blackgrass by ploughing it properly.

It’s a system that suits me here and I can’t find anything else I’d rather change it for yet.

Indeed good ploughing is truly the cheapest herbicode you can use . Before the advent o f chemical solutions ploughing was very important and a good ploughman commanded a premium . Maybe going forward as we lose more and more chemical control options the plough will be making a big comeback ..
Couch was a serious problem before roundup and as a small boy iremember walking behind the drill with my father gathering up rhizomes on the headlands and especially around electricity poles . The reekie harrow and the coulters could spread the pest through the field if you were not careful. Without roundup that pest could make a comeback and systems like strip till could come seriously unstuck .

 

[czechmate]

In the early 70’s with my dad we had a few allotments (no one wanted them then) and of course, the tool of choice on allotments is a rotivator. Couch ?. My dad called it twitch.

 

[bobk]

In the early 70’s with my dad we had a few allotments (no one wanted them then) and of course, the tool of choice on allotments is a rotivator. Couch ?. My dad called it twitch.

We call it squitch , rotavator was the perfect vehicle for it .

Still got it now

 

[czechmate]

We call it squitch , rotavator was the perfect vehicle for it .

Still got it now

For increasing it