Where do you start?

[Fred]

Heres the rub , we have oil seed rape stubbles that are covered with black grass, shepherds purse, charlock etc,

you dont direct drill these,

so where in your rotation do you start , direct drilling

 

[SilliamWhale]

Why not? Spray off now and again on three weeks if you want and drill. Dd doesn't create weed problems rotation does.

 

[Fred]

we ploughed them , dd doesnt create weed problems , but if you dont start clean you end up with all sorts of problems,

what i was getting at was where in the rotation is a good idea to start from, how about in the spring into a oat cover crop,?

 

[SilliamWhale]

Ok fair enough but wheat after rape is the easiest place to start I think. Low residue, generally good herbicide choice etc.

 

[Baling Hay]

With direct drilling you are getting less seed to soil contact for the weed seeds so it should reduce your weed problems!

 

[Clive]

Heres the rub , we have oil seed rape stubbles that are covered with black grass, shepherds purse, charlock etc,

you dont direct drill these,

so where in your rotation do you start , direct drilling

Perfect start - kill the rubish and don't disturb any new stuff

This year has been perfect dd conditions so far here, Dry but just enough moisture

 

[BSH]

As above, I would say convert in the year when you have the best soil conditions. I think that managing this aspect has been the biggest learning curve for me.

 

[Joe Boy]

I stated last year and had loads of slugs for ages. Now I have lost two rape fields two slug. They established with a bit of grazzing, looked ok on tuesday and had pellets with drill then after a shower had another application, so two in ten days.

Now not many plants left at all.

Is this normal for dd, do slug issues get better over time or should I be more ready with the pellets

Only thing I could have done more was put some in with the seed. I raked the stubles to spread the straw but I'm not a believer that it effects slugs. A partridge went through my Claydon rake the other day and just ran off!

 

[Clive]

I stated last year and had loads of slugs for ages. Now I have lost two rape fields two slug. They established with a bit of grazzing, looked ok on tuesday and had pellets with drill then after a shower had another application, so two in ten days.

Now not many plants left at all.

Is this normal for dd, do slug issues get better over time or should I be more ready with the pellets

Only thing I could have done more was put some in with the seed. I raked the stubles to spread the straw but I'm not a believer that it effects slugs. A partridge went through my Claydon rake the other day and just ran off!

What are you doing to manage the slug issue ?

Are you rolling ? Post harvest and pre / post drilling ?

Are you removing straw where there is a problem ?

Are you baiting again post and pre harvest if you anticipate a problem ? If so what products

Have you changed your rotation to deal with the problem ?

Have you considered mixing seed with elemental S products ? Or using sewage sludge or compost - all anecdotally deter slugs

There is lots you can do but planting and living in hope is unlikely to be successful. Slugs are a much bigger issue in direct drilling than they are in no till IMO.

slug are not a drill problem IMO they are a management issue

 

[tw15]

Osr direct drilled with www.pillarlasers.com drill straight into chopped spring wheat straw raked with roller behind pellets to go on to problem fields . Haven't lost much moisture bit worried about pre em working as a lot of trash but that will help hold the moisture in.

 

[JNG]

I stated last year and had loads of slugs for ages. Now I have lost two rape fields two slug. They established with a bit of grazzing, looked ok on tuesday and had pellets with drill then after a shower had another application, so two in ten days.

Now not many plants left at all.

Is this normal for dd, do slug issues get better over time or should I be more ready with the pellets

Only thing I could have done more was put some in with the seed. I raked the stubles to spread the straw but I'm not a believer that it effects slugs. A partridge went through my Claydon rake the other day and just ran off!

Slugs is not traditionally a problem on our dry land but last year (1st season with Claydon) we had a plaque like everyone else, been constantly watching fields this summer looking at vols etc for slug grazing and find basically none, I know it very dry and slugs are deep and will prob come back out when its wetter, but everytime Im on my hands and knees all I find is 2 or 3 black beetles. Im told they eat slug eggs, is that right. An increase in prey leads to and increase in preditors! Rape drilled just over a week and coming through slowely (needs some rain) but not seing any grazing at all and no pellets spread, walking field twice a day to keep an eye tho and traps set.

 

[Desangosse Ltd]

The beetles will probably be the carabid beetle and yes they are good, they predate on slugs and slug eggs. Keep monitoring for pressure - the predicted rain at the end of the week should get the rape moving but also see an increase in slug activity. You need to question your pellet choice, as a minimum you should be using a wet, pasta based pellet.

 

[Joe Boy]

I have used ozerex 3 % and latterly gusto 3%.

Sorry for the thread hi jack. Just got me annoyed yesterday. Best time to start dd for me is when you have perfected slug control.

I used the Claydon rake post wheat drilling which helps the rolls work much better. I avoided this in rape so not to put the straw over the rape seedlings. This does lead to more slug activity down the row though.

Back On the topic of when to start dd. I would have thought that all direct drills could be used in conventional seed beds so just get one and try in a few fields or get a contractor to do a bit for you. Or do it like me, dd your whole farm with no previous farming experience and hope for the best. Overall I'm pleased with my first harvest. Slightly down on the farms average yield but not bad for a try beginner.

 

[tw15]

Very pleased with our first year of dd and also putting fert down at drilling in osr and winter wheats , yields down here this year better than normal but we just got lucky with the weather maybe .www.pillarlasers.com

 

[combineguy]

Hi

Key thing is that if you use insecticides make sure they are ok for your beneficials

Also the same goes for slug bait.

Slugs are the worst in your first year. I think we have all struggled during our first year with slugs.

You need to look at your paddock before drilling and pre bait if population is high. Much easier to deal with them early. And keep looking if you see a couple then put more bait on

If your slot is closed well then you can get away with very little down the spout, but always pay to put some down, as you have no way to control them once they head down the row.

Once your soil microbes increase you will be suprised how quickly your residue breaks down

 

[combineguy]

Hi

Back to opening question.

Now is the ideal time to start, just start small then learn from your failures, as easier on small scale. Keep reading and start researching herbicide options. Remember nitrogen requirements will be more in your first couple of years as mineralised N is less and more is tied up in decomposing residue, so you may need to feed it out of the bag.

 

[combineguy]

Hi

If you keep on ploughing then you will never get on top of slugs, so your defeated by a circular arguement.

The only way to get on top of them is to start valuing the carabid beatles which eat them. Constant inversion of soil destroys their habitat and so too does the use of
insecticides

People need to view the combine as the first cultivation pass, as the drill needs to cope with what is left. Therefore you need a nice even spread of straw which is cut finely

 

[tw15]

Hi

If you keep on ploughing then you will never get on top of slugs, so your defeated by a circular arguement.

The only way to get on top of them is to start valuing the carabid beatles which eat them. Constant inversion of soil destroys their habitat and so too does the use of
insecticides

People need to view the combine as the first cultivation pass, as the drill needs to cope with what is left. Therefore you need a nice even spread of straw which is cut finely

The trash is best left stood up rather than chop it up small and spread . The most even way the last crop residue is spread across a field is where it was seeded the year before . If you don,t want the straw for baling cut it as high as possible.

 

[combineguy]

The trash is best left stood up rather than chop it up small and spread . The most even way the last crop residue is spread across a field is where it was seeded the year before . If you don,t want the straw for baling cut it as high as possible.

There are two schools of thought on the height of the stubble.

If it is sitting high, then you are limited on the effectiveness of slug bait, as it is held up in the residue, and the slugs are protected, and also if the slugs are effected by slug bait, the protection of the residue stops them from drying out, so can live for longer

But residue sitting high does protect the ground from drying out

 

[tw15]

There are two schools of thought on the height of the stubble.

If it is sitting high, then you are limited on the effectiveness of slug bait, as it is held up in the residue, and the slugs are protected, and also if the slugs are effected by slug bait, the protection of the residue stops them from drying out, so can live for longer

But residue sitting high does protect the ground from drying out

High stubble defo protects soil from drying out you only have to look at the soil when you are combining usually moist but once it has been cut it a couple of days it is as dry as you like. From experience slugs like trash on the surface to hide under so if left standing as much as possible the better we have found .Last year the high stubble dd rape did not get a pellet put on but other fields that had short chopped straw we had a hell of a job controlling slugs.