Your cut off date for autumn zero drilling?

[Pilatus]

Am I correct in thinking that it is not very advisable to zero till as late in the autumn as with min till or conventional tillage?
If so what is your cut off date in the area where you Farm as I guess it varies according to soil type and height/ exposure of fields you Farm.

 

[rob1]

Am I correct in thinking that it is not very advisable to zero till as late in the autumn as with min till or conventional tillage?
If so what is your cut off date in the area where you Farm as I guess it varies according to soil type and height/ exposure of fields you Farm.

its more to do with what the weather does afterwards than the date IMVHO

 

[clbarclay]

Generally I would go entierly on conditions, rather than date. In practice if its seems too late in the year and the conditions have deteriorated for no till, then I doubt I could achive worth while establishment if I started cultivating then. Ploughing here for example has always needed at least 2 cultivation passes and plenty of weathering to produce a seed bed.

There just comes a point where I start thinking about spring planting rather than winter.

The concept of chasing a plough with a combi drill sounds as rediculous to me as I'm I expect no-till does to some others.

 

[Pilatus]

I quite understand what you say.
Mother Nature/ weather is very much our master,what one can get away with one year might be almost a failure the next year.

 

[James W]

I quite understand what you say.
Mother Nature/ weather is very much our master,what one can get away with one year might be almost a failure the next year.

We find location and altitude and weather govern the winter sowings and soil type and drilling technique. We are sort of involved in a few farms up and down the UK. In Suffolk at 25m above sea level we would plant crops right through the winter behind a beet harvester on light land, but on heavy land , if you cant shut the slot or roll then crop loss is guaranteed so best wait till spring. Central Scotland they like to be drilled up by end of October at the latest if they can... but they rarely see black grass so they can drill right behind the combine.

If you look at the hgca website you will see trials from across the country on crops grown min Nov to end Jan, Siskin wheat has hit 5t/acre drilled late.

If you think its worth a go , get drilling , you can always re-drill

 

[shakerator]

Am I correct in thinking that it is not very advisable to zero till as late in the autumn as with min till or conventional tillage?
If so what is your cut off date in the area where you Farm as I guess it varies according to soil type and height/ exposure of fields you Farm.

When the puddles around the yard don't dry up after 2 rain free days

 

[James W]

I would say that on poorly structured land, after say beet, the land can slump losing all the air and the crop could be lost in a conventional seed bed. A one pass drill will leave more structure for the needs of a seedling even if its the first year of no till. In conclusion i think i would be happier one-pass drilling if its getting late.

 

[SimonD]

I drilled some Mulika beginning of December and it did better than the preceding spring crop. Going into light land and conditions were pretty good.

 

[stroller]

I re-drilled a patch I missed in the dark (originally drilled' 10th Oct)last week, it's now coming up, seems ok, I think most important thing is to have a few days after drilling without too much rain so that the seed can germinate, once it has a shoot it can tolerate a bit of wet. My amazone primera tends to create a gully that fills with water, the smearing has got less after 4 years of dd.

 

[yellow belly]

Here
In 2012 September 25 was too late
This year 20 October would have been fine

Get the bg sorted by rotation then drill wheat 20 September to 25 September
For optimum yields
a week later 200 ft lower
Two we

 

[Will7]

If you look at the hgca website you will see trials from across the country on crops grown min Nov to end Jan, Siskin wheat has hit 5t/acre drilled late.

I hope so!! Finished dd Siskin yesterday on heavy land. Decided there was no point waiting for bg any later.