Wholecrop questions

[BenAdamsAgri]

I’m an arable farmer looking to use wholecrop as a break crop, I’d like it to be quite diverse and have as many legumes in as possible.
Ideally id like to drill it in September, have fairly minimal spend on it and then sell it as a standing crop and have it taken off in June before the blackgrass seeds.
Currently have a good relationship with two local beef farms we do straw for muck with.

What kind of price and yield can I expect?
Is it worth mine and a customers time?
Is there anything else I’m not thinking of?

 

[jackrussell101]

Winter sown crops will be 10 to 12 tonne freshweight.

Spring sown crops will be around 8 tonnes freshweight.

If I was you I would recommend a triticale/lupin mix.

@Great In Grass

 

[Flatlander]

Lots of that type of deal done here. Generally the understanding goes along the lines of grain yield value. Nothing fir straw. Grower covers all cost up to cutting then it’s down to the buyer. Some will factor in harvesting storage and labour thru not combining as a sweetener. Either way it’s expensive feed in my mind. If your keen to go that route might want to consider a land swap for a few years. Fraught with danger but seen it done.

 

[BenAdamsAgri]

Winter sown crops will be 10 to 12 tonne freshweight.

Spring sown crops will be around 8 tonnes freshweight.

If I was you I would recommend a triticale/lupin mix.

@Great In Grass

And what kind of price are people paying fresh weight?
That would be along what I’d want to grow as long as I could get seed

 

[BenAdamsAgri]

Lots of that type of deal done here. Generally the understanding goes along the lines of grain yield value. Nothing fir straw. Grower covers all cost up to cutting then it’s down to the buyer. Some will factor in harvesting storage and labour thru not combining as a sweetener. Either way it’s expensive feed in my mind. If your keen to go that route might want to consider a land swap for a few years. Fraught with danger but seen it done.

Thanks, that makes sense, I’d rather not go down the land swap route

 

[Global ovine]

Triticale is the best cereal option as the window of harvest opportunity is around 10 days compared to others which have half the number of days.
Feed peas (purple flowers) will give a huge tonnage and easier to wilt than Lupins without hard stems.

The harvested DM should not be more than 60% legume, as it ferments better when the carbohydrate level from the grain is higher to feed the bacteria.

Obviously I cannot comment on price, but yield/ha and digestibility would be near maximum.

 

[Al R]

Rye/Triticale should do 17t/ac fresh weight. Sell at roughly £1 per tonne per Dry Matter, less probably as the £1/t/DM is usually for ex clamp so all the harvesting costs have been taken up in that price.

 

[harperfarmer]

I sell spring sown cereal wholecrop for between £0.70 - £0.80 /% DM (no harvesting costs). Oats have been doing around 11.6t/acre at 35% DM. That was drilled on 30th April. Perfect growing year from when drilled, could quite easily have yielded 4t/acre less in a different year so can be riskier than a winter sown.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I sell spring sown cereal wholecrop for between £0.70 - £0.80 /% DM (no harvesting costs). Oats have been doing around 11.6t/acre at 35% DM. That was drilled on 30th April. Perfect growing year from when drilled, could quite easily have yielded 4t/acre less in a different year so can be riskier than a winter sown.

You would struggle to get that off in June
Biggest seller with me is Westerwolds, cheap as chips to grow ,lot put it in after maize , winter Graze lambs on it then take a cut in Spring before ploughing