A three-year study on conventional farms investigated different establishment systems, while comparing systems in a replicated trial.

The key parts of this study were:

  • Plough, min-till and direct-drill systems were compared.
  • Trials on 21 farms for three years.
  • 63 fields of first wheat crops monitored.
  • All fields were within 65km of Oak Park on medium textured soils.

    • All fields were in tillage for 10-plus years, ploughed or min-tilled for five-plus years or direct drilled for three-plus years.

  • Establishment, growth and yield were monitored along with all inputs and management.
  • Environmental performance was assessed with life cycle assessment analysis to determine the carbon footprint of wheat grown in the different systems.
  • All inputs and outputs were costed using a standardised approach to allow fair comparison between growers and systems.
  • Analysis of production costs, income and margins were undertaken.
  • A tightly controlled replicated trial in Knockbeg, in the same seasons, allowed the same establishment systems to be compared, but in this case there was one site, under identical management.

    • What we already know

  • There were differences in yield between the systems on the farms with direct drilled fields yielding less than both ploughed and min-tilled fields
    • .

  • However, there were differences in spend across many categories of inputs, between the systems on farms.
  • There was no difference in yield between the systems in the replicated experiment.

    • What you will see at the open day

  • The main differences in spend on farms, between the different systems.
  • How the spend difference impacted on production costs.
  • Whether lower-yielding production systems, with lower costs, can return similar or better margins than higher-cost systems.
  • How systems may impact on the carbon footprint of the grain grown.