 |
|
|
| Case Study 6 - Large business adopting tined and
plough cultivations to suit soils and cropping |
| |
|
Location |
|
West of Salisbury |
|
|
|
|
|
Size, average field size and spread |
|
1630ha (four landowners) |
|
|
|
|
|
Soils and landscape |
|
The land, which is frequently steep, lies between
115 and 200m OD and is dominated by shallow flinty clay loam and silt clay
loam soils over chalk (Upton and Andover associations). The highest land
has deep well drained silty over clayey soils (Carstens association) formed
in clay-with-flints which cap the hills. |
|
|
|
|
|
Cropping |
|
Cropping includes 480ha of winter wheat (mostly),
115ha winter barley, 280ha spring barley for malting, 220ha oilseed rape,
220ha peas, 85ha beans, 163ha set-aside, plus grass and an Environmentally
Sensitive Area (ESA). |
|
|
|
|
|
Workforce |
|
A farm manager, with 2 full time staff, manages the
farms on a flexible basis, bringing in self-employed and/or casual labour
as needed. |
|
|
|
|
|
Equipment and cultivation machinery |
|
Case MX270 tractor on contract hire, with further
tractors hired in for autumn cultivation and harvest. Case SP 3000 –
24m self-propelled sprayer on hire, with three Case 2388 combine harvesters.
Five furrow plough + press, light weight Parmeter 3.25m discs and press,
new 7.5m Horsch FG stubble cultivator, 7.6m Cambridge rolls, 6m Vaderstad
NZ spring-tine cultivator, and a new 6m Vaderstad Rapide drill fitted with
“system disc” replaced the existing Suffolk coulter drill. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cultivation Policy |
|
|
|
The established system,
typical of Wiltshire, is plough and press, spring tine then drill. Reduced
cultivation was used for the first time in autumn 2000 for the 1 st wheat,
40% of winter barley, and all the oilseed rape. Spring barley was also established
this way. A plough-based system is preferred to establish peas and beans
at present, but the farm is experimenting with reduced cultivation on these
crops. |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
Costings and Work rates |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Operation |
|
Output (ha/hr) |
Cost (£/ha) |
Time taken (min/ha) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Horsch FG cultivator |
|
8.8 |
not available |
7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Disc and press |
|
3.8-5.0 |
not available |
12-16 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vaderstad drill |
|
6.3-7.5 |
not available |
8-10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sprayer |
|
18.8 |
not available |
7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Plough and press |
|
1.5 |
not available |
40 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vaderstad NZ spring-tine cultivator |
|
5.0-6.3 |
not available |
10-12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Suffolk Coulter drill |
|
5.0 |
not available |
12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Discussion |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Decision to change |
|
The established system was relatively slow and expensive
with a requirement for a highly trained workforce. Casual labour was employed
to overcome peak workload, but the quality of ploughing was reduced. Plough
maintenance was high on the flint soils with a need to replace plough metal
twice a day under dry conditions and the existing Suffolk coulter drill
had come to the end of it’s useful life. |
|
|
|
|
|
How |
|
An immediate change to use of reduced cultivation
for the most suitable parts of the rotation was brought in for autumn 2000.
80% of this is was carried out with two passes of the FG cultivator consolidated
with Cambridge rolls, 20% with one pass of light discs and press, to establish
seedbeds for wheat, barley and oilseed rape. The FG cultivator was brought
as it was the ideal tool for the stony ground, and has a lower horsepower
need than a disc and press on the slopes. Weeds are sprayed out and crops
then drilled with the new Vaderstad Rapide drill. The drill was chosen as
it provides a secondary cultivation, has a lower horsepower requirement
than some other cultivator drills, can compensate to some extent for uneven
slopes, and copes with straw unlike the old Accord. Meanwhile, the plough
followed by Vaderstad spring tine cultivator is used to prepare seed beds
for Peas and Beans drilled with the Vaderstad Rapide, as this system is
felt to provide ideal drilling depth. 60% of the Barley is still established
after ploughing. However, progressively more of the land will move to reduced
cultivation as experience grows. |
|
|
|
|
|
Benefits |
|
Easier management of drilling process and increased
drill outputs. Seedbeds are more level and are firmer providing better crop
establishment. Reductions in cost are still to be quantified. Less soil
erosion has been seen when comparing crops established by minimal and ploughed
cultivation, particularly those that were established earlier and have good
root structure. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Problems |
|
The biggest problem is that the new cultivation and
drilling equipment enables fast progress to be made, with the inevitable
frustration when wet weather intervenes. Continuing to drill in poor conditions
would not only bring poor crop establishment but also damage soil structure
and must be resisted. Ensuring best establishment in difficult autumns.
Do not be tempted to drill directly onto unpressed ploughed land. With the
desire to increase the area under reduced cultivation there is still insufficient
cultivation capacity as the current disc harrows are not wide enough. |
|
|
|
|
| |
Solutions Found |
|
Learning to be patient, and using the drill’s
higher output to drill more in better conditions! Ensure a good crop and
spread of straw, cultivate and consolidate early, and do not cultivate too
deep. Planned purchase of 6.5m Vaderstad Rexius C discs to replace current
disc harrows in 2001. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
SMI COMMENT |
|
|
|
|
|
Improved rate of work; CAT
challenger relevant to “old” system; low ground pressure tyres
clearly advantageous. Insufficient machinery work days for a whole farm
plough based system in a wet year, risks have been minimised by the adoption
of reduced cultivation systems. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Soil Group |
|
Type of Year |
M.W.D.s' |
 |
|
M.W.D.s' |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Upto Andover |
|
Normal
Wet |
79
57 |
 |
|
21
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Carstens |
|
Normal
Wet |
69
47 |
 |
|
16
0 |
|
|
