Wheat after long term ley

[tw15]

Hmm. So what happened to that thin field of spring wheat by the main road you did for a customer? Some big gaps in it that look a lot like pest damage....

The only bit out of 60 acres and was more a matter of the turf went down tight after drilling when rolled and a lot of seed didn't make it out the ground . You are right there was a bit of pest damage in that field . All that block of wheat has had very little spend on fert and sprays . after maize 180 kg n /ha after grass 135 kg/ha n . All old school chems no hdsi and it looks to me after maize will do exceptionally well after grass will do 3-3.5 tons if all goes to plan from now on in .
Had to treat it all with a eye on costs as it's for a dairy farmer and they think you just sow it and hey presto the barn is busting with out spending much money .

 

[Flat 10]

The only bit out of 60 acres and was more a matter of the turf went down tight after drilling when rolled and a lot of seed didn't make it out the ground . You are right there was a bit of pest damage in that field . All that block of wheat has had very little spend on fert and sprays . after maize 180 kg n /ha after grass 135 kg/ha n . All old school chems no hdsi and it looks to me after maize will do exceptionally well after grass will do 3-3.5 tons if all goes to plan from now on in .
Had to treat it all with a eye on costs as it's for a dairy farmer and they think you just sow it and hey presto the barn is busting with out spending much money .

But it often is, loads of sh!t, no BG and heavy land mean some of my dairy farmer mates are amazed that I can't match their wheat yields

 

[tw15]

The whole farm that we are doing for a dairy farmer has never had cereals on it for the last 30 years the last 20 years been mainly just grazed paddock system cows out 365 days.

 

[Fuzzy]

I’m planning to plant some wheat after long term grass ley- I don’t need the grass anymore as it’s just been cut for silage. Are there any covers crops that could be planted now that will reduce pest pressure in the following wheat crop?

We always used to plant mustard and then plough it in before planting wheat.

 

[jd137]

I usually sow wheat after a 2/3 year ley but was considering winter osr instead to avoid potential fritfly problems now that dursban/seed teatments have gone or will do shortly. Anyones experience of doing this , good or bad ?

 

[farmerm]

How long was the long term lay.. do you need permission to revert it to arable?

 

[Brisel]

How long was the long term lay.. do you need permission to revert it to arable?

The clue is here

I usually sow wheat after a 2/3 year ley but was considering winter osr instead to avoid potential fritfly problems now that dursban/seed teatments have gone or will do shortly. Anyones experience of doing this , good or bad ?

You shouldn't have any wireworm issues after a ley that short. Just make sure the grass is fully dead for a month before sowing to starve the frit fly out. The only time I had a problem with frit fly was when sowing 2 weeks after the last cut of silage.

 

[ollie989898]

I would leave it a couple of weeks for it to green up and then spray it, the longer the better in case there is any couch around which can be a real problem in wheat.

If you are intending to sow wheat behind grass I would spray if off early-mid August, leave it to properly die, plaster it in muck and plough it. Then leave it until the third week of September before drilling a slow developing wheat variety at around 325 seed/m2. The soil will still be warm and your seed bed will be excellent. The crop will emerge and outrun any wireworm easily and any frit fly will be long gone if its been left dead nearly a month.

Beware BYDV risk mind, you may need two does with pyrethroid in a crop behind grass.

If you can't or won't plough it properly pay someone who can.

Apply an autumn herbicide like galivor at very early emergence, mix it with a pyrethroid spray if necessary.

Do not concern yourself with a few surviving docks in the wheat, killing them in the spring is childsplay. All the autumn chemistry does it keep the meadow grass and other carp at bay until you get back on it in March.

Cut and pasted from another thread I just wrote on.

Establishing wheat behind grass is easy just be mindful of the BYDV risk. Spray the grass off in good time and put the stuff in in late September, into a good fertile seed bed and it will fly. Wireworm aren't going to take out a crop unless it is slow moving which will be more your fault than that of the wireworm.

Spray it off and leave it for a good few weeks. The frit fly will soon get fed up and emigrate elsewhere.

You WILL be using a lot of PGR or the bloody stuff will tip. Consider that anything that has had a cow tail pointed at it repeatedly has virtually unlimited reserves of nutrient available to it. Choose a stiff variety and keep the PGR at it.

 

[ploughman1963]

Have for 2 years now just sprayed off grass leys that have been in for ages 10 years plus and just dd wheat in . It seems to me that by leaving the grass roots any wireworm or leatherjackets might just feed on them . One field is now this year into second wheat and no real signs of damage still the other 60 acres looking ok apart from 10 acres where the couch grass didn't get all killed off as it was mown before it was sprayed of and with the dry summer it didn't put on a lot of leaf to hit with roundup. All in all very pleased with the results .

We direct drilled a ley after spraying with roundup and mowing - a really good crop of wheat now - maybe lucky.

 

[Chae1]

We direct drilled a ley after spraying with roundup and mowing - a really good crop of wheat now - maybe lucky.

What drill did you use?

 

[wellingtonfarmer]

I think I’m just going to take another cut of silage late on, and then use austral seed dressing direct drill, and burn grass off with pre em

 

[ploughman1963]

What drill did you use?

Had John Deere 750A on demo - 20 ac, very good looking crop

 

[ollie989898]

I think I’m just going to take another cut of silage late on, and then use austral seed dressing direct drill, and burn grass off with pre em

You have ample time yet.

Austral plus will help although I rarely used it as I preferred deter.

Good ploughing and roundup in with the pre-em can work if there is no couch about.

 

[tw15]

Redigo deter gone now Ollie .

 

[jd137]

I think austral plus gos next year as well

 

[Flat 10]

I think I’m just going to take another cut of silage late on, and then use austral seed dressing direct drill, and burn grass off with pre em

Will you need a pre-em with undisturbed sward? Can’t imagine it would work over well. Too much OM.

 

[ollie989898]

Redigo deter gone now Ollie .

Yes, so the BYDV roulette will start earlier than normal.

 

[teslacoils]

I think austral plus gos next year as well

Nooooooooo.

 

[wellingtonfarmer]

What about osr after pp? Just thinking will have plenty of chance to drill osr early.

 

[teslacoils]

All my osr after grass was poor even into an ace seedbed.