New drill was the right choice, says Simon Beddows

As I pressed the send button for last month’s piece, I thought this should make it rain. Sure enough it did, so I am getting back on track with the blackgrass spraying.

The best results are usually achieved by autumn applications of Atlantis (iodosulfuron + mesosulfuron), but spray days when they do occur are very short.

We are also busy with the biannual applications of muriate of potash. I have been using the Soyl variable fertiliser system for a number of years and have just had a second set of soil testing carried out. It is now possible to see a general improvement in the indices and also a reduction in some of the variability within fields. We are currently testing the Soyl-opti, a piece of hardware which includes GPS and a screen that sits in the tractor and allows the driver to download the spreading files direct from Soyl. So far it has proved very easy to use.

I recently attended a course on establishing pollen mixes and wild bird seed plots which was sponsored by Syngenta and Natural England. Marek Nowakowski from the Wildlife Farming Company led the course and was an inspiration. We came away armed with many tips on how to establish and manage these important plots. The low yielding margins and areas of fields that are difficult to cultivate should really be used to “grow” wildlife, and the rest of the field should be growing food to feed an ever increasing world population. More than 7bn people and rising is a sobering thought.

The new Kockerling Ultima drill has stimulated a lot of interest, so a final summing up is probably in order. A few teething problems were quickly sorted out. Our abrasive soils mean wearing parts are a major cost. This year we spent 40% less, which is a great saving. Seed-beds were level and germination was even. We are convinced that we made the right choice.

Farmer Focus: Simon Beddows