The Two Simon's Theory

[martian]

Has the cover kept in effectively what moisture is there?

Yes it has, but the best results we have had this spring is probably a field we sprayed off late March when the ground was damp and we drilled it with spelt on Easter saturday for the #ourfield project. The moisture was beautifully preserved in the soil and the seedlings are all emerging nicely as we speak. The crops in the photos above went into dryer soil as the covers had sucked more moisture out before we drilled and so didn't have so much to play with. We were banking on getting more rain and we didn't want to spray off before drilling in case it came very wet and we'd lose the evapo-transpiration from the cover, which would help it dry. With the benefit of hindsight that wasn't altogether necessary.

Interestingly, there was a bare patch where we'd washed out glyphosate from the sprayer mid-winter time and that was wetter (as no cover to suck it out) and the spring seed came through seemingly much better, but it has been black with rooks and jackdaws ever since and they have fished a lot of the seedlings out. Where there's more cover, it seems to confuse the corvids. Time will tell what worked best.

 

[Simon Chiles]

Interestingly, there was a bare patch where we'd washed out glyphosate from the sprayer mid-winter time and that was wetter (as no cover to suck it out) and the spring seed came through seemingly much better, but it has been black with rooks and jackdaws ever since and they have fished a lot of the seedlings out. Where there's more cover, it seems to confuse the corvids. Time will tell what worked best.

No 1 rule of farming, just when you think you're finally getting somewhere something comes along and pee's on your bonfire.

 

[martian]

No 1 rule of farming, just when you think you're finally getting somewhere something comes along and pee's on your bonfire.

The trick must be to build a bigger bonfire.

 

[Feldspar]

The trick must be to build a bigger bonfire.

Or put an electric fence around the bonfire.

 

[Simon C]

, but it has been black with rooks and jackdaws ever since and they have fished a lot of the seedlings out. Where there's more cover, it seems to confuse the corvids. Time will tell what worked best.

I get more trouble from rooks than slugs nowadays. Doesn't matter what I am drilling, they see me come out of the shed with a drill and all turn up, thousands of them, they even follow the drill like seagulls behind a plough. The never take any notice of neighbours drilling, so I think they know I am exposing all sorts of insects in the seed slot and then, once the seed has softened a bit, they can easily find them by digging in the visible slots.

There is only on thing that they are frightened of, and that is a very high kite. When it is up they won't come near the farm, but of course, when you want to go spraying it is always windy, and when you want to keep the rooks off, it is always calm.


You won't get trouble with 2 Simons if it is dry

 

[Simon Chiles]

The trick must be to build a bigger bonfire.

No. More bonfires would be better.

 

[Simon Chiles]

Or put an electric fence around the bonfire.

Not useful, most trouble comes out of the sky in one form or another!

 

[Breakthru]

Not useful, most trouble comes out of the sky in one form or another!

On another thread someone was using Garlic to keep rabbits off, may be worth a try although don't know what his source was.
The Garlic "aspirin" mix I sell against leatherjackets and CSFB certainly makes the sprayer stink for a while even after doing other jobs. Dursban in its day stopped the corvids but its gone now.

 

[SilliamWhale]

I was doubled simoned for want of a better phrase this year. pee'd down massively day after drilling and basically seed just sat there and said no thanks and decided to rot off.

Its a very odd phenomen

 

[Feldspar]

I was doubled simoned for want of a better phrase this year. pee'd down massively day after drilling and basically seed just sat there and said no thanks and decided to rot off.

Its a very odd phenomen

How's your spring barley looking now?

 

[SilliamWhale]

How's your spring barley looking now?

Fine. It needed a good drink and all fert going on tomorrow. Always looks a bit crappy coming through until up to 4 leaves and i think a few more seeds will germinate now.

But the simoned stuff i drilled beans into and its officially a cock up

 

[martian]

Not sure this illustrates the curse of the 2 Simons so much as the extra water available where we emptied sprayer tank out mid winter. So oats drilled into bare ground looks rather better than those drilled into standing cover crop.

 

[Simon C]

Not sure this illustrates the curse of the 2 Simons so much as the extra water available where we emptied sprayed tank out mid winter. So oats drilled into bare ground looks rather better than those drilled into standing cover crop.

I have seen this time and time again, John and is why I concluded that it is best for spring crops to be drilled into bare soil. That darker green bit is going to yield much better than the rest, still don't fully understand why when the world and his wife tell us that cover crops are so important.

 

[rob1]

Not sure this illustrates the curse of the 2 Simons so much as the extra water available where we emptied sprayed tank out mid winter. So oats drilled into bare ground looks rather better than those drilled into standing cover crop.

That is striking, the big question is why though,is it moisture or the lack thereof, warmer soil due to no cover, lack of N from the cover or just the effect of the decomposing crop

 

[Louis Mc]

Take another pic in 2 months

 

[Tractor Boy]

Not sure this illustrates the curse of the 2 Simons so much as the extra water available where we emptied sprayed tank out mid winter. So oats drilled into bare ground looks rather better than those drilled into standing cover crop.

I have strips in fields where I decided to leave the cc and drill on the green. The subsequent cereal in those strips is miles behind where the cc was sprayed off in Dec. I don't think it's got anything to do with alleopathy or the two Simons theory. It's just simply this year the cc took a lot of the overwinter moisture and the soil is dried out!

 

[Simon C]

That is striking, the big question is why though,is it moisture or the lack thereof, warmer soil due to no cover, lack of N from the cover or just the effect of the decomposing crop

Or glyphosate. I know no one agrees with me on this (ecxept Jill Clapperton of course, but what does she know), but I still think that when it is sprayed onto living plants in warm growing conditions, the chemical goes straight out through the roots and is taken up by the emerging seedlings. Doesn't happen when you spray it onto bare soil.

 

[rob1]

Or glyphosate. I know no one agrees with me on this (ecxept Jill Clapperton of course, but what does she know), but I still think that when it is sprayed onto living plants in warm growing conditions, the chemical goes straight out through the roots and is taken up by the emerging seedlings. Doesn't happen when you spray it onto bare soil.

Hadnt thought of that one

 

[BSH]

I have inadvertantly run an experiment this year in one field where half the cover was grazed by sheep and the other half wasnt. Main lesson so far is about soil moisture under the ungrazed cover crop causing slot closing problems. Will see as crop develops what eh other differences are.if any

 

[SilliamWhale]

Or glyphosate. I know no one agrees with me on this (ecxept Jill Clapperton of course, but what does she know), but I still think that when it is sprayed onto living plants in warm growing conditions, the chemical goes straight out through the roots and is taken up by the emerging seedlings. Doesn't happen when you spray it onto bare soil.

I wouldn't say i disagree but it does seem its particularly dependent on weather conditions which makes it.more.unpredictable