Preparing for winter planting on the Tramline farms

Stuart Fitzgerald is preparing for winter cereal planting at present. He is choosing varieties and will begin planting in about 10 days’ time, weather permitting.

Winter cereals will go in with a direct drill so planting will be early for that reason.

Stuart began planting winter oilseed rape on 17 August. He planted three varieties – Aurelia, Ambassador and PT303. The oilseed rape was undersown with berseem clover at a rate of 1.6kg/ha. This should help to supply nitrogen to the crop.

Chicken manure was applied to the soil before planting.

The final crop to be harvested on the farm was spring beans.

The crop was planted at the end of January and yielded approximately 2.5t/ac at 15-18% moisture content. The straw was chopped.

Winter wheat yielded 3.8-4.5t/ac on the farm, with higher yields after beans and oilseed rape.

Kilogramme per hectolitre (KPH) was in the 70s on winter wheat crops planted after winter oats, while the KPH went into the low 80s after beans and oilseed rape.

Moisture contents were at 17-18% for the majority of the winter wheat.

Spring barley was cut at moisture levels as low as 9.9%, but the majority came in at 15-16%.

One crop cut at 11-12% moisture content yielded 3.2t/ac, while another crop came in at 3.8t/ac at 17-18% moisture content.

The majority of the spring barley came in at approximately 3.5t/ac, while one crop which received chicken manure but did not receive artificial fertiliser, yielded 3.2t/ac.

Stuart has been using chicken manure for some time now, but it is becoming harder to source as demand is increasing with an increase in artificial fertiliser prices.

Stuart has planted two different cover crop mixes on the farm. One contains radishes, mustard, forage rape, vetch, linseed and phacelia.

The second is a mix Stuart chose himself and does not contain brassica crops. It includes vetch, phacelia, buckwheat, linseed and clover.

The oilseed rape on James English’s farm was flying at the start of the week. It was planted two weeks’ ago on Monday and while it had come up, the rain of recent days was really pushing growth. He is keeping a close eye on it for any slug activity.

A pre-emergence spray, Katamaran, was applied at a half rate and a herbicide will be applied for grass weeds and volunteers later in the season.

James has increased his area of oilseed rape this year and has also increased the area planted to the HEAR crop. HEAR is oilseed rape which is used in the production of lubricants, often used in the food service and cosmetics industries.

All of the land has been cultivated on the farm to encourage the germination of grass weeds and volunteers. James also put in some cover crops under the Green, Low-carbon, Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS). Oats and phacelia were both in the mix and they will stay in place ahead of spring crops.

The focus is now turning to preparations for winter planting. The hedge cutter is out and there is plenty to be done around the yard and with machinery. James has finalised his varieties and the plan is to start planting after 20 September which is only around the corner.

The winter rye variety will be KWS Tayo, while Graham and Dawsum are on the winter wheat list.

On the winter barley front, James will try SY Armadillo this year. It is a hybrid variety with good disease resistance levels.

Belfry and Bazooka will also be planted. James did well from his winter barley this year and is keeping the hybrid varieties in his fields.

Shane Nolan can’t remember finishing the harvest in August before. Shane finished up two weeks ago. Straw is baled and the majority is gone out of the field. He is busy moving straw at present.

Spring barley yielded from 2.5t/ac to 3.5t/ac.

Moisture contents were from 13.7% to 18.5% and the crop had KPH values of around 68.

Shane said there was variation in yields between fields, but also within fields and yield went down in dry spots and light land.

While some grain has been delivered to a local merchant, an amount has also been sold to local farmers and the majority remains in the shed.

He is conscious of rising costs and prices. He is frustrated by grain imports and says his grain will stay in the shed unless a reasonable price is paid for it. More local farmers will purchase barley and oats through the winter. Shane is blowing air through the grain and checks temperatures regularly.

His spring oats yielded around 3t/ac, on average. Shane said that they were clean and good quality. There is demand for oats from local farmers.

Straw yields were at eight to 10 bales (4X4) per acre in the spring barley fields and eight to nine bales per acre in the spring oat fields.

Shane cultivated stubbles after straw was removed, but noted that the rules are constantly changing and it’s hard to keep track of it all. He plans to plant about 40ac of winter barley in the coming weeks, so this area will not need to be cultivated.

The majority of his beet crops look well, but he has one field which has been hit badly by weeds, despite being treated the same as other fields. He is happy with his beet though. Crops look healthy and promising. A fungicide was applied recently.

Aside from that, the workshop is busy. Shane is a contractor so there is always work to be done on machinery. He said that many of his customers did not make a second cut of silage because of the drought, but in general feed stocks are in good shape in the area for the winter.