Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
So... who's started wheat drilling? Or when are you thinking of starting?
Winter wheat drilling
- Thread starter Feldspar
- Start date
- Location
- Lincolnshire
About a month after I've rolled these seedbeds.
Hindsight
Member
- Location
- Lincolnshire
A few will be thinking of starting, its when they start that is the point - as you infer.
I stood today by a big Vaderstad hooked to a even bigger tractor. As the farm has had 125mm of rain since August 15 I doubt anything is going to stop the farmer hitting the fields later this week.
I said three things: BYDV, Blackgrass and Lodging. All fell of deaf ears I fear. Hey ho. Now going to work out how much Avadex, flufanacet and other goodies I can load onto a winter wheat crop in the next three weeks. Oh and pyrethroid - hope the aphids are susceptible. And from past experience it is quite a lot!!
When you starting??
- Location
- Darlington
Later in the week, if conditions are ideal. My best crop this year. Kerrin HS seed 200 kg/ha on the 13/09/19.
- Location
- Shropshire
We've started today with Claire at 110kg/ha, no blackgrass and not a particularly early area. 600ft above sea level
Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
We have a very peculiar situation this year and I really don't quite know what to do. In our stewardship scheme we are going crop - fallow - crop - fallow. So we have kept our stubbles from our fallow last year which had zero black-grass seed return (we hope) because we didn't want to cultivate and ruin the clean surface we had created. The problem is that this means we are no-tilling into a cereal stubble with a disc drill which has caused us problems in the past. I think in the next week were are going to get as close to perfect drilling conditions that we could hope for. The land is quite heavy and with a mat of straw on top a few good rains and shortening days could easily be the end of chances of good establishment. I am thinking we will start next week sometime and accept we will face issues that you identify that we normally would avoid.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Ran a light disc over the top 2" of some ab6 fallows. Well, that's got enough BG growing for me to book 30ac more grass seed.
Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
I've applied for another scheme hopefully starting next year with a lot more grass. But this year I have nearly 2000ac of 1st wheat to drill, so I want to get started as more than half of it is no-till into cereal residue on not too awful clay.
Last year we had lightly cultivated fields which I could have drilled without a pre-drilling glyphosate. I surprised myself by how clean many of the fields were coming out of winter. Some spring crop fields we just sprayed off the headland.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
I've taken out all my worst fields, and now look forward to a more leisurely spring roguing season. Even so, this year will all be after oats, which kindly shed all over the shop and I want them dead before the wheat goes in, so early October will be ideal.
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
Plenty of people still have fields to clear of last years crop first!
Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
Had a similar issue with our oats. Fortunatley they are going to be / have been cultivated which will force an October drilling timing.
Hindsight
Member
- Location
- Lincolnshire
At least oats can be killed reliably in winter wheat. I have wheat following spring barley. And my experience is that Atlantis / Broadway will kill barley if you do not want it to, but does beggar all when you want it to! Hey ho. And the combine trails will smother out wheat.
Hindsight
Member
- Location
- Lincolnshire
Do what YOU think is the way to go.
Ok for agronomists to say “hold your nerve to drill later”, but their cash flow is not being effected by the worst harvest many have experienced in their farming career.
Agronomists are playing with clients money not their own.
Many of their cash flows was and is affected, but that is another issue and I take your point. But all depends on the farmer taking responsibility for BYDV and blackgrass next June and possibly a lodged crop. Oh and not complaining when the agronomist sends pallet after pallet of herbicides and fungicides. Takes two to tango!!
Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
Do what YOU think is the way to go.
Ok for agronomists to say “hold your nerve to drill later”, but their cash flow is not being effected by the worst harvest many have experienced in their farming career.
Agronomists are playing with clients money not their own.
I feel like I'm definitely going to be accused of farming for last year, but honestly this plan was hatched before last autumn even happened when we designed the Mid Tier scheme. Doesn't mean it will work though. I am prepared to end up with dirty crops which will be somewhat mitigated by a fallow that follows and will then inevitably have to change the strategy (probably going to light discing and normal time for drilling around here).
Feldspar
Member
- Location
- Essex, Cambs and Suffolk
I choose my chemicals so it will be a tango of one. Aiming to do Avadex straight behind drill with rolls. Equivalent of 4l Crystal + DFF within two weeks depending on rain. Then probably something else with a BYDV spray. I've never drilled this early before, so it will be a learning curve, but I have seen a lot of black-grass coming through late drilled crops which were very uncompetitive and let it through later on. That said, I know from all the Agrii trials that drilling in September in this area using a normal system is a recipe for disaster. I expect to do this at most twice on any one field.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
A few oats, yes. But I'm thinking 10x the normal sowing rate
barley volunteers when the whole head falls off just won't grow without some soil contact I have found. I'm moving the soil to avoid a huge, huge oaty carpet. Although I have one field of ab6 after oats which already looks like a carpet so goodness knows what it will be like come next June.
- Location
- Lincolnshire
I'll have to refresh myself on the rules. It's basically a "leave it be". After wheat it left the soil full of worms but very structureless hence I went for oats this year. Will be the best margin I expect. Even if the oats self set, what's a few more oats in the blanket of oats!
i‘m thinking of harvesting 2020 crops first