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Case Study 8 - Simba Solo (discs/press/subsoil)/cultivator drill

	Location		Suffolk

	Size, average field size and spread		752ha, 18ha

	Soils and landscape		Farm is on relatively flat Chalky Boulder Clay. The land is dominated by dense, slowly permeable calcareous clayey soils (Hanslope association) with slight seasonal water logging. Locally, well-drained clay loam and sandy loam over clay with moderate permeability are typical (Melford Association).

	Cropping		Crops comprise 327ha winter wheat (48% 1st, 52% 2nd) 101ha winter and 96ha spring barley, 57ha winter beans, 38ha winter oilseed rape and 67ha sugar beet.

	Workforce		Three family members plus one employee manage the farm; there is no casual help over the harvest autumn period.

	Equipment and cultivation machinery		Caterpillar 85 – 375 hp (3 years old bought second-hand 2000); John Deere 8400 – 260 hp; John Deere 6910 –140 hp; John Deere 6800 –120 hp; 24m pneumatic fertiliser spreader; Atlas Cleanacres Airtec sprayer; John Deere CTS combine new 2000; 10- and 6-furrow ploughs; 4.5m Simba Solo; 7m Toptilth; 8m Simba Double Press; 6m Vaderstad Rapide drill with front tines; 9m rolls.


	Cultivation Policy
	Seventy-four percent of 2nd winter wheat was established after ploughing and 26% established with the Solo after glyphosate has been applied to kill off any weed growth, whereas the 61% of winter barley after wheat was established with the Solo and 39% ploughed. Apart from Solo established oilseed rape, all other crops and sequences were established following the plough.

Crop sequence
Operation	System	System Cost (£/ha)	Time taken (min/ha)

Winter wheat winter wheat	Plough (74%)	£96	94

Winter wheat winter wheat	Solo (26%)	£76	47

Winter wheat winter barley	Solo (61%)	£76	47

Winter wheat winter barley	Plough (74%)	£96	94

Winter barley oil seed rape	Solo (100%)	£76	47

Sugar Beet winter wheat	Plough (39%)	£79	79

Winter wheat winter barley	Plough (60%)	£76	79

Winter barley sugar beet	Plough	4	47

	Discussion

	Decision to change		The farm has a good reputation for high yields, work and up to date machinery. It needs to have quicker and alternative establishment methods since realising the difficulty, the cost and timeliness of continuing to plough set against plans for expansion when land becomes available at a sensible price. Wheat yields are regularly more than 9.5 t/ha with high volumes of straw.

	How		Part of the hectarage in rotation will be ploughed for the foreseeable future with the remainder established with the Solo system, which has shown undoubted promise.

	Benefits		The advantages of taking out compaction during cultivation were well illustrated in some fields and this will result in fewer separate remedial operations overall. The farm is changing the 6m Rapide drill, bought second-hand and now 7 years old for an 8m System Disc version. They anticipate advantages of added mixing with more straw on the surface and enhanced opportunities for a much reduced scratch and drill cultivation, especially to establish the oilseed rape.

	Problems		Following the very wet autumn in 2000 (860mm rainfall) and experiments with the new implement, fewer hectares were established with the Solo than had been expected. The Solo worked reasonably well with much promise but with the very high straw yields the soil/straw mix required another pass which limited the area in the autumn. Some 80ha were still to be drilled at the turn of the year (2000). Under the wet conditions the chop and straw spread from the CTS combine was not as good as expected.

	Solutions Found		Concerns about discing and smearing in wet conditions were allayed with the incorporation of subsoil tines in the Simba Solo. A small amount of base N was added to the P and K fertiliser applied by a contractor in the autumn to overcome the lock up of nitrogen found. Advantages for keeping the press separate from the Solo (24h later) were foreseen. The farm press needs upgrading with mixing tines and a levelling bar for best effect in tandem with the Solo, as a separate operation or working on ploughed land.

	SMI COMMENT

	First year with the Solo; difficult year to start; family farm keen to expand but original plough too slow; therefore need to adopt some reduced cultivation approaches. Decision needed on most appropriate system. Insufficient machinery working days for use of plough to establish autumn crops without damaging soil.

Soil Group	Type of Year	M.W.D.s'	M.W.D.s'

Hanslope	Normal Wet	86 65	28 7
Melford	Normal Wet	122 105	43 22

	Man days required for use of plough on all autumn cultivations

	520ha


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