FEATURE
FARMER FOCUS
NEIL WHITE 2021 has seen me, after 5 years, drill into cover crops for the first time. I had a big volunteer oat crop due to cutting wet oats at harvest, which I left into winter. Every cloud has a silver lining though as this then provided some winter grazing for a neighbour’s sheep. The field was then limed, snowboarded on (behind a speeding pick-up), sprayed off and finally in March, we sowed Diablo spring barley. I must admit the winter’s heavy rain combined with the grazing did result in some capping prior to sowing, which combined with the subsequent dry weather after sowing, did play a part in the slower emergence of the crop, so I wonder if it was a good choice? I have also sown spring rape into a cover crop for a neighbour. While the cover was not that thick, the root system in the top layer did cause some open slots and a folding under the turf from the cover crop roots. My neighbour and I are a bit worried as the slug and beetle activity looks to have already decimated the crop. The spring rape crop I did for the same neighbour last year, without the cover crop, was a great success, so it is interesting to see the good and bad effects of cover crops first-hand and whether the cover provided a slug habitat through winter. Cover crops are difficult to grow here in Scotland and over winter cover crops are probably the most popular and effective. I am still going to try a bean, buckwheat and phacelia mix ahead of my spring oats this winter. We need soil to dry and create tilth for spring sowing, however I am nervous that the cover prevents the top drying enough to sow into without smearing. I have chosen spring beans and the buckwheat as they may not require glyphosate to kill them off, just some good hard frosts and this will thin the cover and allow the top layer to dry. This spring I have used the Mzuri to sow Diablo spring malting barley on some ploughed ground and over wintered stubble and it has made an interesting trial. The advantage of placed/ banded fertiliser was obvious in the barley where it resulted in a far stronger, thicker crop especially in the first month. The
98 DIRECT DRILLER MAGAZINE
Mzuri + fertiliser on ploughing looks the best crop as of May 30th, then the Mzuri seed only and combi look similar, with the direct Mzuri with fertilizer crop a little backward as I described earlier. But it may improve now the weather has warmed up! I have gone to variable rate on the bean, oat and barley crops this spring and it seems to be worth the effort, crops look uniform across the fields. Applying VR has not been too difficult in the cab, although I thought Isobus was a 1 cable fits all solution. I was wrong! I have very variable soil types at home, so I hope the variable seed rate will allow me to continue non variable fertiliser inputs if I can get even establishment across the fields and then just treat the crops needs. I used the dual coulter this year when sowing my beans after a chat with Ben at Mzuri we felt the extra soil movement may be a benefit in the sticky conditions. I think this worked and the spacing looks to be better even at my higher seed rate. The beans have had a huge amount of insect damage, but I have resisted insecticides as I’m hoping the beneficials will save the day! I have purchased a refractor with the intention next year of testing then tailoring my nitrogen to the crop requirements. I am a low nitrogen inputter and tend to use harvest protein results to gauge whether my inputs were correct but hopefully the refractor will help me adjust as I go and achieve the full potential of some wheat and barley crops. The wheat is looking full of potential here this year despite difficult growing conditions. The rake did its job of reducing slug numbers and the second pass destroyed some of the volunteers even before spraying so a good start was had. The Extase then Barrel/Elicit mix are probably the front runners so far. I think the last few years have shown that good drainage is the most important start to any system. I regret letting some of my small drainage issues become bigger, assuming they will be ok. I now plan to do drainage jobs on my ground annually and will budget for it. I don’t think I need to mention the weather ‘events’ that
ISSUE 14 | JULY 2021
