Volunteer Barley

Happy

Member
Location
Scotland
Saw mention of this in the combinable price tracker thread but thought maybe better asked about elsewhere.

Are many others noticing far greater than usual numbers of barley volunteers in winter wheat crops this year?
Every field of mine has them here including those that were vining peas last year:scratchhead:
Not sure where it has come from.
Noticed a good few locally similar. Must be spring barley as I’ve never grown winter. Could it be anything to do with the unusually dry weather we’ve had this past year?
 

CORK

Member
Saw mention of this in the combinable price tracker thread but thought maybe better asked about elsewhere.

Are many others noticing far greater than usual numbers of barley volunteers in winter wheat crops this year?
Every field of mine has them here including those that were vining peas last year:scratchhead:
Not sure where it has come from.
Noticed a good few locally similar. Must be spring barley as I’ve never grown winter. Could it be anything to do with the unusually dry weather we’ve had this past year?

Seems to be more common over here too.

We grow seed which makes it even more challenging. Most common problem is where winter barley stubble is ploughed/mintilled for WOSR. Then the WOSR stubble is ploughed/mintilled for winter wheat. The barley volunteers come up in the wheat crop.

For the first time, we have strip tilled the WOSR into barley stubble. This should keep all barley seeds on top so they can rot, get eaten or grow to be killed in the WOSR. Then the WOSR stubble can be ploughed resulting in a clean page for the seed crop. That’s the plan anyway.........

Last year’s drought would have meant more small grains going out the back of the harvester.
 

carbonfibre farmer

Member
Arable Farmer
Yes plenty round here. Some worse than others. One field is thick with it on two sides then 4 drill rounds in the middle clean as a whistle :scratchhead:

Had some of the seed crop inspectors about and they commented how much/How widespread it was.
 

BigBarl

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
South Notts
Yes there are a lot of barley volunteers this year. This is why everyone gave up growing it 20 years ago citing it as a weed! Only to have their hand forced into growing spring barley again to beat black grass.
 

Happy

Member
Location
Scotland
Yes there are a lot of barley volunteers this year. This is why everyone gave up growing it 20 years ago citing it as a weed! Only to have their hand forced into growing spring barley again to beat black grass.

Can’t say I’ve ever seen it as a weed up here until this year and that’s 25 years with 60% of the farm down to spring barley.
Guess it must just have been too dry a winter for it to rot out before spring like it usually must with us.
 

radar

Member
Mixed Farmer
Have had deductions on feed wheat before because of barley contamination. Never quite understood what difference it made to a feed load, except I suppose they were paying wheat prices for barley!
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
Saw mention of this in the combinable price tracker thread but thought maybe better asked about elsewhere.

Are many others noticing far greater than usual numbers of barley volunteers in winter wheat crops this year?
Every field of mine has them here including those that were vining peas last year:scratchhead:
Not sure where it has come from.
Noticed a good few locally similar. Must be spring barley as I’ve never grown winter. Could it be anything to do with the unusually dry weather we’ve had this past year?

2 row or 6 row? 6 row is a very effective weed with a long dormancy period.

Poor stale seedbeds in the dry last autumn? Contaminated seed?
 

Oat

Member
Location
Cheshire
Where the headlands have been sprayed for brome they are clean from the barley so it shows it can be taken care of early if you know it’s there
I have used MONITOR before to try and control volunteer barley in wheat. In practice it went on a little too late and didn't kill the barley plants, but it did stop them forming proper ears.
 

Happy

Member
Location
Scotland
2 row or 6 row? 6 row is a very effective weed with a long dormancy period.

Poor stale seedbeds in the dry last autumn? Contaminated seed?

2 row and thinking it must be spring barley as I’ve never grown winter and was all home saved seed.

Only doubts are would spring barley be at full ear emerged towering over wheat at flag leaf though?

If it turns out it’s WB can only have come from mobile dresser which is why I thought I’d better ask about on here first;)
 

tw15

Member
Location
DORSET
Got a few bits of barley that is in some graham wheat recon I was in the seed as the wheat crop is second wheat dd after about 13 years of grass
Out with the agronomist the other day said to him how I was impressed with the wheat then dropped in where the feck as that barley come from must of been in the seed they supplied I said . Them the usual it can't be excuses followed oh well its only a few plants what the heck .
 
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Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
I've had contamination from a mobile dresser before. Tame oats in spring barley - we hadn't grown oats for years & had rogued the farm saved seed plots.
 

robs1

Member
We are growing spring oats after the barley so can kill most before drilling and we get good wheat after the oats and volunteers are easy to kill in the wheat
 

tw15

Member
Location
DORSET
Palio sprayed on ww for broome control etc in the spring will take out most S barley but not all some stronger ones will survive .
 

farmerm

Member
Location
Shropshire
If it is in wheat after a break I would say you most likely drilled them... I recall having a far few last year and an even scattering of tritcale/rye which we have never grown :rolleyes: Pretty clean this year.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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