FARM UPDATE 79 DIRECT DRILL TRIAL RESULTS, START BUILDING THE HOUSE & DEMO WITH BEDNAR CULTIVATOR 

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I've done alot of footings but never anything as like as wet as that! Certainly never pass then slump test🤣

Thank you. That’s very interesting that you’ve found it interesting. 👌😃

Cheers Nick, appreciate the comments

Spot on Layton. 😃👍

Cheers Paul

Thanks Keith, pleased you enjoyed the updates and trial. Tech in farming is amazing and only going 1 way.

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Cheers Phil, yes it did!

That would take some commitment from the manufacturers and why we’ve got the 22 acre field in the system to compare. We’ve had numerous different drills over the 8 year trial but none compare well to the end result of the field next door in our standard system.

Cheers Richard. Your best bet would be to go to S & K sprayers in Lincs and get stainless front tank and pipe it to your drill and put on liquid. They specialise in them, they’ve fine no end. We have one on our rape drill, works really well.

Agreed, speed with small disc machines is vital.

We used to plough but since we stopped in 2003 and used the solo instead, our yields went up and costs dropped. Our high clay content soils don’t plough well. The plough won’t turn the soil over, leaves it very rough, needing multiply passes after to beat the soil into submission.

@@WardysWaffleAndrewWard Thanks for explaining Andrew. I've been working mainly on livestock farms but there was a good progressive farmer I onced worked for who gave me some arable experience. I find it much more interesting as I get older!

Exactly but we’ve managed to get rid of blackgrass even with cultivations.

That might get the same result. 😃👍

I know Ben Whiles there so will give him a shout. 😃👍

That’s because that end and the western side headland was run on by all the drills when they were setting up. The plots where the drills were running were only run on at drilling.

Agrii have a strong connection with Lemken. I had a cultivation open day 3 years ago, run identically to the drill day and I had the Karat running and their small disc machine. Both did a good job.

I know Terry and was going to contact him.

I liked the drill.

🤣🤣 She is turning out to be a lovely dog, she’s not 7 months old yet. Her markings are great but will keep changing. My last Shepherd started off black but ended up golden, fawn and black.

@@WardysWaffleAndrewWard the house looks interesting going to have a great Outlook. The trial rests look interesting. What are your thoughts on grain prices over the comming year.

I wish they were back at £350/ t! along way to go yet, ive still got 70% to sell.

@@WardysWaffleAndrewWard i can see as a livestock farmer our prices to the retailers need to rise for us to remain viable. Here in NZ were heading towards election year (2023) the govt is now hammering supermarkets over their huge profits. Sadly we don't see it only feel see the increase in weekly shopping bills. As the accountant said 4 months and it's Christmas and summer.

It’s the same here as well but sometimes our supermarkets have a price war with each other and say it’s important the public has cheap food. That’s so wrong when input costs to produce the food are rocketing.

The thing is we aren’t getting a small reduction on yield, year after year it’s around 2 ton/ hectare. We also are not getting any establishment savings because we have to drill the cover crop and there’s the seed and usually a dose of slug pellets. This year the £500+ a hectare difference cannot be recovered any where near through no till. I know all our machinery costs to the penny and fuel consumption of every operation or combination of various tractors and implements.

@@WardysWaffleAndrewWard thanks for the reply, it makes a lot of sense

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It’s only a thought so not spoken to any manufacturers yet!

@@WardysWaffleAndrewWard don’t worry you crack on you’ll get a huge turnout of visitors if you can pull it off. As all the brochure / pub talk of output and losses stops it put up or shut up and most of the big players don’t have the courage! You crack on and we’ll all come!

🤣🤣🤣 Thanks, watch this space!!

I have thought about it but would be too late for this autumn, the last one took 6 months to plan. Not sure about the 10.90 but think you’re right.

@@WardysWaffleAndrewWard Think the record still stands,couple of ton short of 800 t in 8 hrs,Wragby Lincs 2014,They always say a combine is the best drill,seems to grow after combining what has gone over the back

www.agrii.co.uk/

Thanks Robert. I didn’t make any adjustments in the end because the seed in the tramline rows is distributed out among the other rows so in effect the none TL rows get more seed. If the seed had been saved such as in a drill with a feed roller like our Simba, I would if adjusted it.

@@WardysWaffleAndrewWard no it isn't andrew, when tramlining the seed rate is lowered by a % depending on width of drill and whether 4 rows are shut off or 6 rows. The % reduction when tramlining is inputted by the operator once then every tramline pass has a reduced kg/ha to account for 4 or 6 rows being shut off.

Thanks for that, I’d been told wring then. I’ll see if I can make an adjustment and discuss with Agrii. I did like the drill. What’s your vested interest?

@@WardysWaffleAndrewWard I have one Andrew, I like it, so simple, easy to work on simple to set up. Bad points - not the greatest on uneven fields and price of tyres. At the moment I think they only do 6 metre model

Our Freeflow is good on even fields, it levels them out!

If you mean under floor heating, then yes.

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None now! Looking at a cultivator instead!

Not much to choose but in our trial, the Sky gave a slightly better % emergence. We’ve tried it a few times over the last 7 years and it’s always performed well.

It wasn’t in the trial but we have tried it at another time, it does t like it drilled wet and dry out after, the seed slot opens up. But I think it would be fine in the autumn.

Not sure, I’m not in spuds. Look on 4 extra hands. www.4xtrahands.com/

Modern design, open plan with lots of big glass windows.

I’m not sure, I talk about the stuff in many videos!

Yes, with Rhonda. 😃👍

I know Terry Birch and do intend to try something.

@@WardysWaffleAndrewWard i would love to see test of his machinery on your farn. I've worked in lincolnshire with TWB SUBSOILER, magic mole, eliminator few years back.

One pass with the Solo at £65/ ha but that was with the Quadtrac, not sure with the new tractor.

Ok that’s impressive low cost 👍👍👍 be interesting to see a similar winter wheat trial. Will you do one ?? SB worst crop to Direct drill IMV

You mean a winter wheat direct drill trial with different drills?

Yes 👍

Try telling the no till taliban that!

@@WardysWaffleAndrewWard Do you remember DD bettinson drills and gramoxone?. It eventually died a death. If glyphosate gets the chop the plough will be the way forward. I am pissed off with picking up every farming journal and being told the re-gen is the way forward and that soil health can only be maintained by this approach. We plough and press everything and this year had 4th wheat Skyscraper yielding 4.8 tons/acre. If the soil was not in good condition no way would that be achievable.

Ditto!!

We do apply slug pellets after drilling cc. Biggest problem is getting them to grow and loss of income! Will watch the concrete, thanks.

🤣🤣🤣 I’d soon sort the buggers out!!!

A builder with 45 years experience is building the house. He always does the foundation’s like that and never a problem.

I beg to differ. The trials might not help you but to many they are extremely useful, I’ve had hundreds of positive comments from farmers who visited the field and the machinery manufacturers who took part. You are totally ignoring blackgrass. I’ve got rid of it which has required 70% of the farm in spring cropping for 10 years. Early dd in the autumn does not work in getting rid of blackgrass. In our early years of the cc trial field we had winter cropping but bg was getting worse.

@@WardysWaffleAndrewWard I beg to differ too! The reason why I went for DD’ing is precisely because of very severe Blackgrass problems. My farm does not grow good Spring crops reliably. Blackgrass will not grow if it isn’t disturbed. Therefore by absolute minimal soil disturbance in the Autumn when establishing a winter cereal, you can continue to avoid the need for being forced into Spring cropping to cope with Blackgrass. It is very easy for those inexperienced with any technique to wrongly malign it. Until you have tried it, following sound advice from those who are experienced with the system, it might be best to remain open minded. The problem being when somebody well know and respected in the (farming) media doesn’t really know much about the subject on which he is referring too, mistakenly TOTALLY puts others off. I strongly suspect that within 10 years (root crops establishment aside) DD will become the default/norm and that many will wonder why on earth it took so long for us all to get there and how much money we all waisted in delaying the inevitable! I was just the same until I tried it and learned how to use it properly. I have since had to eat an awful lot of humble pie.

In our conventional system we reliable get 8-10 t/ha of sp wheat or a barley depending on season. Dd over 10 years of winter wheat or spring crop much less. I’ll have £10 bet with you you’re wrong re drilling system of choice!! What % sand silt and clay are your soils?

@@WardysWaffleAndrewWard I farm on the edge of the North Cotswolds on the Glos, Oxon Warks Border. We have no brash, but just about every other soil type from heavy Warks clay (they make cement out of) to Banbury ironstone to a bit of sandy light stuff. DD works on it all, but you have to get the timing right, including when you start to DD on which parts of the farm and starting it over a 3 year period rather than all in one go. It’s a totally different way of farming that takes a huge mindset change. I used to think that there was no way it would work on parts of the farm, only to discover that ‘oh yes it will!’ Of course every farm is different and nobody knows our farms better than we individually do. IIRC, even though we share the same surname but are not related, we do have a mutual contact who used to live in my area and I’ll try to make contact through that person. Just imagine that I or a group of fellow DD users could show you a system that would work on your farm and save you an enormously cost each year, including reducing the fortune you spend on hand rouging BG each year, but still give you the yields you are used to. Would you be interested to find out more? I’m not saying it is full proof or that mistakes wont be made - we all do that. There is a lot to learn, but I’m certain you would see the logic, understanding and sense in it. I’m pretty sure you would be impressed. I was and still am dumbfounded by it! Anyway, take care. Hopefully we’ll speak soon.

Have you just messaged Rhonda?

Less shovelling to do!!!! Thanks also for your comment! 😃👍