Wide spacing cereal crops... pictures please

alomy75

Member
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
I harvested the trial in this field today. I can hardly believe it but the KWS Cochise on metcalfes did 8-8.5t/ha through a plot combine with a proper weigher. Kilburn in a different field with narrow coulters did 7. But a very different field. Winter wheat wide vs narrow rows; literally nothing in it. Wide rows here to stay now. Have also found a suitable frame and headstock to squeeze between my flatliner and tractor to hold a set of opening discs…anyone want the legs?!
 

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Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
Every grain we cut this season was drilled on 250mm rows zerotill and i think we have just had the highest average yield harvest across all cereals grown wheat, barley and rye that i can recall

conclusion is wide rows and zerotill are certainly not costing us yield, however both are saving significant amounts of money
 

ajd132

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
Every grain we cut this season was drilled on 250mm rows zerotill and i think we have just had the highest average yield harvest across all cereals grown wheat, barley and rye that i can recall

conclusion is wide rows and zerotill are certainly not costing us yield, however both are saving significant amounts of money
I am fairly convinced wide rows are increasing our bushel weights.
 

alomy75

Member
Every grain we cut this season was drilled on 250mm rows zerotill and i think we have just had the highest average yield harvest across all cereals grown wheat, barley and rye that i can recall

conclusion is wide rows and zerotill are certainly not costing us yield, however both are saving significant amounts of money
I completely agree with you; do you include both your avatar and CO in that statement for wide rows? Saving money on pulling them? My wide rows enable less prep beforehand as they will take more trash without blocking but with your disc drill I was just interested where you attribute the savings as (I assume) you could nearly drag that through anything?
 

alomy75

Member
I am fairly convinced wide rows are increasing our bushel weights.
I agree; this photo was from the same trial. Look at the test (spec) weight! I had to take a photo for proof!
 

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Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
I completely agree with you; do you include both your avatar and CO in that statement for wide rows? Saving money on pulling them? My wide rows enable less prep beforehand as they will take more trash without blocking but with your disc drill I was just interested where you attribute the savings as (I assume) you could nearly drag that through anything?

yes avatar and co both 250mm included

avatar represents the biggest £ saving however as a 240 hp could not pull 12m if spacing was closer and certainly would not be using 3L/ha to establish a crop

6m Co on same tractor uses circa 4.5L/ha
 
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Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
I completely agree with you; do you include both your avatar and CO in that statement for wide rows? Saving money on pulling them? My wide rows enable less prep beforehand as they will take more trash without blocking but with your disc drill I was just interested where you attribute the savings as (I assume) you could nearly drag that through anything?

believe me, we can have plenty of situations with stubble that can still block disc machines such as the JD or Avatar

wider rows make a huge difference with trash flow when you are retaining ALL your crop stubble


ps - don’t listen to the stereotypes of “1/2 ton to the acre” or “deserts” bulls**t
 

ajd132

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Suffolk
yes avatar and co both 250mm included

avatar represents the biggest £ saving however as a 240 hp could bot pull 12m if spacing was closer and certainly would not be using 3L/ha to establish a crop

6m Co on same tractor uses circa 4.5L/ha
on heavy land 12m avatar about 4.5 l/ha and 12m sprinter on 2 inch dutch points about 6l/ha
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
on heavy land 12m avatar about 4.5 l/ha and 12m sprinter on 2 inch dutch points about 6l/ha

hills make the biggest difference here - even a gentle slope soon puts the consumption up

we don’t have heavy like you but consumption on the “heavier” end of the farm are not massively different to the light stuff
 

Wombat

Member
BASIS
Location
East yorks
wondering if a light tractor and 6m weaving tine drill with 24 sabretines in would tickle wheat in 1" in November, direct into stubble.
250mm spacings. 12mm wide point.
Easy, we pulled 18 in a 3m this year with 115hp in miserable stuff at 8kph. It’s only a foot of cultivation surface at 1inch deep
 
our bushel weights are very good this year- im told thats not the case for some ?
Interesting that the old work suggested more than 7" spacing reduced yield. Mind you the ADAS timing for pollen beetle has always been b#llocks. Blend of Volume 6 row and Pearl 2 row both sown at half rate on 8" rows has in the past further North put the world record barley yield to shame. Tenants! "Aye laddie it was a big crop of straw but the grain was hardly worth the harvesting"! Conclusion was and still is that better light interception to the lower leaves increased yield plus better ventilation reduced disease.
 

alomy75

Member
wondering if a light tractor and 6m weaving tine drill with 24 sabretines in would tickle wheat in 1" in November, direct into stubble.
250mm spacings. 12mm wide point.
You got a crawler? I drilled some 20th November last year which was borderline too wet and then it got more rain half way through. Crop came fine in the second half apart from the wheelings. Just stubble with a LD flatlift through it. The truth is no amount of planning can help when the weather is like it is these last few years; all we can do is prepare for the worst. 6m sabretine not a bad idea; less frequent wheelings but it can hardly be pulled/lifted by a ‘light’ tractor…be a nice rig on a challenger though.
 

Warnesworth

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Chipping Norton
why? when else am i supposed to drill?
heavy blackgrass fields - spring drilling isnt the answer to blackgrass
if i drill in Nov, i can nearly get away with no herbicides.
You asked me that question on twitter, I told you to phone me, but to date I've not heard from you so either the problem isn't too bad, or you don't want to hear my answer....
Simple answer, a competitive crop is essential for blackgrass suppression, you wont get a good competitive crop DD'ing wheat in Nov.
 

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