 |
Location |
|
Worcestershire |
|
|
|
|
|
Size, average field size and spread |
|
320ha; 6.4ha with land spread over 14.5km. |
|
|
|
|
|
Soils and landscape |
|
Heavy clay loam over dense slowly permeable red clay
soils. Locally stony at the surface they are subject, in varying degrees,
to seasonal surface wetness (Brockhurst and Whimple associations). Occasional
steep banks are dominantly clay in texture (Worcester series). |
|
|
|
|
|
Cropping |
|
152ha winter wheat (milling varieties), 56ha winter
oilseed rape, 72ha winter/spring beans and 40ha (permanent set aside/grass). |
|
|
|
|
|
Workforce |
|
Managed by family labour (father and two sons) and
also employs a part-time secretary and an independent agronomist. |
|
|
|
|
|
Equipment and cultivation machinery |
|
Kuhn 4m discs; Weaving 3m ‘Sub-lift’
fitted with 5 legs; Bullock 6m Lo-Till rake; Marstig 6m folding rolls; Kuhn
SD4000 4m folding direct drill; 150hp JCB Fastrac 2155 (2 years old); 130hp
John Deere 6900 (3 years old); 90hp 2M-F 600 series (15 years old) tractor. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cultivation Policy |
|
|
|
The basic policy is to obtain
a good stale seedbed, then Spray 
Direct-Drill |
|
|
|
|
|
Wheat 
oilseed rape |
|
Oilseed rape 
wheat |
|
|
|
|
|
Winter beans
wheat |
|
Disc
Roll; |
|
|
|
|
|
Spring beans
wheat |
|
Rake (x2); |
|
|
|
|
|
Wheat
wheat |
|
Bale straw
Rake |
|
|
|
|
|
Wheat
beans |
|
Rake (?)
Sub-soil (?) - Rake or sub-soiling only when necessary |
|
|
|
|
|
Oilseed rape
wheat |
|
Either Disc (x2)
Roll or Rake (x2)
Direct-Drill |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Discussion |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Decision to change |
|
Reduction in commodity prices and area aid; problems
in achieving reasonable seed beds in wet autumns (short access window);
difficulty moving large machinery on busy roads & into small fields;
soil erosion was becoming more of a problem. |
|
|
|
|
|
How |
|
Change to reduced cultivations/direct drilling from
a plough & power/ harrow-drill system phased in over three years (drills
hired during first two seasons): a drill purchased (year 3) partly by sale
of redundant equipment. Now the farm does not own a plough or power harrow. |
|
|
|
|
|
Benefits |
|
Yields maintained on a field for field basis; overall
farm output increased due to better
timeliness (cultivations/spray and fertiliser applications) and better land
trafficability.
Improved soil structure and significant increase in worms have added to
overall fertility of
the soil. With the change now complete, the farm shows an overall crop establishment
cost saving of > 45% and 40% saving in time. This has allowed over 120ha
of contract
drilling to be done, which has helped to fund the change. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Problems |
|
Most significant problem has been uneven spread of
chaff and chopped straw behind the
combine. This led to “hair pinning”, toxins from rotting crop
residues and increased slug
problems in the early days resulting in poor crop establishment. Some drilling
days have
been lost waiting for suitable glyphosate spraying conditions in a difficult
autumn. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Solutions Found |
|
Problems overcome by use of stubble rake; a more
efficient combine will be
purchased in the long term. The use of glyphosate eased “Harvest Management”.
Weed
control has not been a problem - good stale seedbeds pre-drilling and the
rotation
allowed various strategies for grass weed control. |
|
|
|
|
| |
