Summer cover crop destruction.

[Wigeon]

Any advice would be welcome on this. I have 80ha of heavy, flinty, hilly land going into winter wheat that currently looks like this:

It's chest/ head high, completely alive with insects, and is mainly spring linseed, buckwheat, sunflowers, phacelia, and a bit of clover and vetch.

I don't have a roller crimper.

Topping it feels like a crime

Cattle would be nice but I don't have any, and it's next to a main road and not fenced.

I don't own a disc drill (see flint comments above)

I want to keep all the nutrition in the field.

I want to drill wheat beginning of October.

What to do?

 

[SilliamWhale]

Get a contracter to disc drill

 

[Wigeon]

No-one round here has them because of the flints. Also, by October all this is going to have set seed surely?

 

[Wigeon]

Also last time I had similar I topped it, ran the shakeartator through it, then drilled with a sprinter. Had a good crop of wheat. Wasn't so much biomass though...

 

[Sheep]

Why does topping feel like a crime? The CC was there to serve a purpose and has it done that?

 

[Wigeon]

Why does topping feel like a crime? The CC was there to serve a purpose and has it done that?

Indeed it has, but from the sunflowers at the top to the linseed at the bottom it is absolutely stuffed full of bees and other insects at the moment

 

[The Gentleman Farmer]

Get a contracter to disc drill

I second that. Also would be drilling it a week or two earlier than you suggest.

 

[Lothian]

Burn it off now and should be fit to drill by October? If not it can be topped then with no worries about bees.

 

[crashbox]

Any advice would be welcome on this. I have 80ha of heavy, flinty, hilly land going into winter wheat that currently looks like this: View attachment 1134649
It's chest/ head high, completely alive with insects, and is mainly spring linseed, buckwheat, sunflowers, phacelia, and a bit of clover and vetch.

I don't have a roller crimper.

Topping it feels like a crime

Cattle would be nice but I don't have any, and it's next to a main road and not fenced.

I don't own a disc drill (see flint comments above)

I want to keep all the nutrition in the field.

I want to drill wheat beginning of October.

What to do?

High tensile wire cheap and quick to put up, cost £25/100m plus labour. Solar energiser.

Get a cattle man to graze it, will improve your crops no end. They provide the fencing.

More difficult if you don't have water.

 

[Wigeon]

High tensile wire cheap and quick to put up, cost £25/100m plus labour. Solar energiser.

Get a cattle man to graze it, will improve your crops no end. They provide the fencing.

More difficult if you don't have water.

I'm with you, but local man doesn't want it as cattle haven't seen electric before, and as most fields are next to the main road he's nervous about breakouts, esp with the number of dog walkers and a recent incident. Also 80ha in 3 weeks is going to take quite a few animals.

 

[crashbox]

I'm with you, but local man doesn't want it as cattle haven't seen electric before, and as most fields are next to the main road he's nervous about breakouts, esp with the number of dog walkers and a recent incident. Also 80ha in 3 weeks is going to take quite a few animals.

Shame we don't farm next to each other!

Good luck with it.

Where fields are not grazed, we use a Kuhn VKM flail topper, which mulches cover crops up nicely.

 

[Phil P]

Any advice would be welcome on this. I have 80ha of heavy, flinty, hilly land going into winter wheat that currently looks like this: View attachment 1134649
It's chest/ head high, completely alive with insects, and is mainly spring linseed, buckwheat, sunflowers, phacelia, and a bit of clover and vetch.

I don't have a roller crimper.

Topping it feels like a crime

Cattle would be nice but I don't have any, and it's next to a main road and not fenced.

I don't own a disc drill (see flint comments above)

I want to keep all the nutrition in the field.

I want to drill wheat beginning of October.

What to do?

How do you intend to establish the wheat?
We usually do a pass with the short discs then plough in with our catch crops.

 

[Wigeon]

How do you intend to establish the wheat?
We usually do a pass with the short discs then plough in with our catch crops. View attachment 1134924

Plan A was top it, reivew. Legs through if necessary, horsch tine drill, roll.

Plan B is find someone who doesn't mind hammering their disc drill on the flints, spray it, drill, roll, slug pellet ad infinitum.

 

[crashbox]

How do you intend to establish the wheat?
We usually do a pass with the short discs then plough in with our catch crops. View attachment 1134924

Lovely looking soil; could you not just drill straight in after the discs, with no need for the plough?

 

[crashbox]

Lovely looking soil; could you not just drill straight in after the discs, with no need for the plough?

Oh yes, sorry, flints.

 

[Phil P]

Lovely looking soil; could you not just drill straight in after the discs, with no need for the plough?

I could, my old man likes a good ploughing session though

Oh yes, sorry, flints.

We don’t have any flint on that ground, plenty of stone on other ground though.

 

[Hindsight]

Indeed it has, but from the sunflowers at the top to the linseed at the bottom it is absolutely stuffed full of bees and other insects at the moment

You will have to give the insects prior notice of intent. Maybe someone walking ahead of the topper to disturb and shoo the insects out before the topper arrives. Maybe apply a pyrethroid insecticide to kill the insects humanely before the topper obliterate them. Not sure I am jesting or serious!!??

Does look good - any blackgrass or brome in there?

 

[Sheep]

I think you'll find many of the insects
a) will migrate elsewhere when you begin topping
b) still be able to survive on topped biomass.

Have you got lots of similar margins?

 

[warksfarmer]

Any advice would be welcome on this. I have 80ha of heavy, flinty, hilly land going into winter wheat that currently looks like this: View attachment 1134649
It's chest/ head high, completely alive with insects, and is mainly spring linseed, buckwheat, sunflowers, phacelia, and a bit of clover and vetch.

I don't have a roller crimper.

Topping it feels like a crime

Cattle would be nice but I don't have any, and it's next to a main road and not fenced.

I don't own a disc drill (see flint comments above)

I want to keep all the nutrition in the field.

I want to drill wheat beginning of October.

What to do?

.

 

[Wigeon]

I may have the option of a contractors cross slot. If so, what's the deal with the pre-em?

Surely the spray will just be going onto a mat of green veg, rather than the soil? Or does the mat negate the need for a pre-em? Be interested to hear what those who regularly drill on the green think!