Wide spacing cereal crops... pictures please

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
With way too much uncovered ground for weeds to establish and soil to wash way too much wasted ground wide spacing in those respects is dumb and anymore than a natural space between sown plants has no place here being totally inappropriate with our moisture levels and size of operation.

Edit. Forgot the ' :sneaky: '
 
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Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
With way too much uncovered ground for weeds to establish and soil to wash way too much wasted ground wide spacing in those respects is dumb and anymore than a natural space between sown plants has no place here being totally inappropriate with our moisture levels and size of operation.

Edit. Forgot the ' :sneaky: '

we encourage lots of tillering & lower plant populations . . .
 

Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
Lower populations & more space between plants encourage much more root growth & stronger root systems, which are important for any crop but especially important to be able to survive longer dry periods, which, according to all the TFF posts I’ve been reading, seem to be more of an issue now in the UK
If plants have bigger, stronger root systems, they are better able to access nutrients & moisture & survive “1976 Mk II” when it doesn’t rain for two weeks or more . . .
 

Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
Durum on 333mm ( harvested Nov ) & mungbean on 1metre ( harvested 2 weeks ago ), with winter wheat going in today at 50kg / ha, on a full profile of moisture
1DEC2A7F-0270-4207-9114-3866BDC5F127.jpeg
, on
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Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
we encourage lots of tillering & lower plant populations . . .
Yes for low moisture situation ,i know I've spent time in dry cropping areas of Australia. it was the big difference from the start of a crop sown, the seed rate,from ours.
I broadcast all seed at the moment and that fits in with my overall strategy.it helps stop soil wash in fert and sprayer wheelmarks ie no tramlines,its easy to do and no complications of drill blockages leaving bare strips etc on less than clean seed. iyswim.
Lower populations & more space between plants encourage much more root growth & stronger root systems, which are important for any crop but especially important to be able to survive longer dry periods, which, according to all the TFF posts I’ve been reading, seem to be more of an issue now in the UK
If plants have bigger, stronger root systems, they are better able to access nutrients & moisture & survive “1976 Mk II” when it doesn’t rain for two weeks or more . . .
I dont take a lot of what is written on here to heart ,here im my time (50 ish yrs :sneaky:) in all that time including up to now (weve had 90ml in the last 10 days ) overall our rainfall has always been in or around 40 inches annually, that's including the drought of 1976.
Im not saying it will always be like that and I'm not a disbeliever in climate change , notably for us the 'unormal' 'jet stream 'deviation' (which is the difference that's happened in the last decade or so.)


We have an interest in the weather , thats why we complain :sneaky:talk about it as farmers and growers i wont be changing that any day soon just because someone on the internet from overseas doesnt think its cool.(y)
 
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alomy75

Member
With way too much uncovered ground for weeds to establish and soil to wash way too much wasted ground wide spacing in those respects is dumb and anymore than a natural space between sown plants has no place here being totally inappropriate with our moisture levels and size of operation.

Edit. Forgot the ' :sneaky: '

Dumb? Really? Why wade into the direct drilling section and specifically the wide spacing thread to call the people interested in it, dumb? Not very constructive at all...
 
Very pleased with my wide-spaced Spring Wheat; ear numbers are higher than narrow spaced but ears are shorter. Have got trials in both so will be able to get a yield comparison
Yield is number of ears/sqm X number of seeds/ear X TGWeight. Extra light interception may result in higher TGW. Short ears may be Zinc shortage at ear formation. If it's Extase then cold climate as per this year especially in the North results in sterility. One or more may be your problem or saviour. B
 

alomy75

Member
Yield is number of ears/sqm X number of seeds/ear X TGWeight. Extra light interception may result in higher TGW. Short ears may be Zinc shortage at ear formation. If it's Extase then cold climate as per this year especially in the North results in sterility. One or more may be your problem or saviour. B
Spring Wheat (KWS Cochise I think from memory) and in south lincs. Both fields have trials in requiring tissue analysis; everything in the green apart from Boron…will get yield and tgw off the plot combine for comparison. I’m wondering if the short ears are as a result of being bunched up in the narrow, wide-spaced row(?) twice as thick=half the ear length???
 
Spring Wheat (KWS Cochise I think from memory) and in south lincs. Both fields have trials in requiring tissue analysis; everything in the green apart from Boron…will get yield and tgw off the plot combine for comparison. I’m wondering if the short ears are as a result of being bunched up in the narrow, wide-spaced row(?) twice as thick=half the ear length???
Got it one. More ears less seeds or TGW.
The magic is getting long ears, high nos. but if cold||||
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
Nice looking wheat in the pic above. I’d be proud to be the farmer of that. Here in Manitoba wider spacing is common in low moisture areas and thinner soils. I use a 71/2 inch spacing jd 1890 where my neighbour runs a 10 inch version. We farm inches from each other and are constantly sharing input info and comparing yields to help both of us. All things being the same input wise the narrower spacing will outyield the wider in cereals but in canola and beans there is little difference.
 

alomy75

Member
Nice looking wheat in the pic above. I’d be proud to be the farmer of that. Here in Manitoba wider spacing is common in low moisture areas and thinner soils. I use a 71/2 inch spacing jd 1890 where my neighbour runs a 10 inch version. We farm inches from each other and are constantly sharing input info and comparing yields to help both of us. All things being the same input wise the narrower spacing will outyield the wider in cereals but in canola and beans there is little difference.
Are there any benefits to the wider spacing in that case?
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
Alomy75. Better air flow in damp humid conditions help with disease pressure and with short podding crops like soya beans the closer plant spacing helps push them up before setting pods. In canola it is supposed to encourage cabbaging. The trend here is towards canola on 15 inch rows or wider but this leaves a very open canopy and less soil shading. The crowding of plants in my mind isn’t the best way to get a strong crop. A quick look at headland overlap confirms this for me. Wider rows I think are driven by the need for more complex row units and the cost to buy and maintain. When I joined this forum a short time ago I was surprised at the number of direct drilling enthusiasts. When I left 20 years ago the trendy farmers had tried it in the late 80s and couldn’t control black grass then reverted back to the plough. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for trying a new approach to crop production but I’d be more towards growing a better crop and having healthier soil than re equipping to save a couple of bucks/pounds an acre. our soil is the best asset we have and I’d like to have cover crops in my farming system but the short season here doesn’t allow this. I see many farmer talking of cover crops in the uk and it must help a lot with organic matter accumulation which is great for fertility,water retention and less leaching of nitrates. Rule of thumb here is ten units of N per acre released each year for every 1 percent OM We chop every acre of crop residue and incorporate it. Oh boy did I every drift off row spacing. Lol
 

alomy75

Member
Alomy75. Better air flow in damp humid conditions help with disease pressure and with short podding crops like soya beans the closer plant spacing helps push them up before setting pods. In canola it is supposed to encourage cabbaging. The trend here is towards canola on 15 inch rows or wider but this leaves a very open canopy and less soil shading. The crowding of plants in my mind isn’t the best way to get a strong crop. A quick look at headland overlap confirms this for me. Wider rows I think are driven by the need for more complex row units and the cost to buy and maintain. When I joined this forum a short time ago I was surprised at the number of direct drilling enthusiasts. When I left 20 years ago the trendy farmers had tried it in the late 80s and couldn’t control black grass then reverted back to the plough. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for trying a new approach to crop production but I’d be more towards growing a better crop and having healthier soil than re equipping to save a couple of bucks/pounds an acre. our soil is the best asset we have and I’d like to have cover crops in my farming system but the short season here doesn’t allow this. I see many farmer talking of cover crops in the uk and it must help a lot with organic matter accumulation which is great for fertility,water retention and less leaching of nitrates. Rule of thumb here is ten units of N per acre released each year for every 1 percent OM We chop every acre of crop residue and incorporate it. Oh boy did I every drift off row spacing. Lol
I’m all up for wide row spacing which to you is probably not wide at all at 250mm on my drill but I was more intrigued if you’re super-wide neighbour is considering to narrow up just a little to match your drill to enjoy the slightly higher wheat yields or was there a benefit to his extra wide coulters?
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
Most 10 inch spacing John Deere drills have nh3 between the rows. Mine doesn’t As on 7 inch rows there isn’t enough room to mount the extra units. All my N is either fall applied or broadcast ahead of seeding and incorporated. Nit the best in dry conditions but being on my own it speeds seeding up not having to have three products to get to the field and pull also. As for going super wide I know a guy that seeded canola on 20 inch. Flee beetle did a number on it this s year but he only seeded 3 lbs an acre. Im at four but most are at 5 plus. Depends on seeding tool accuracy and level of comfort with plant count. I’m a 5 to 6 per square footer but other like 10. This year less will be more. I hope lol
 

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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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