Cultivating quality yield
By Nick Fone
LAST AUTUMN farm advisory group Masstock set up crop establishment trials to compare different cultivation systems. The mid-term results are encouraging, reports Andrew Richards, Masstock agronomist.
“Our aim is to try and quantify the differences in establishment and yield between different cultivation techniques,” he says.
“Oilseed rape now accounts for 30% of cropping on many farms. Its profitability is similar to wheat and it offers significant potential, yielding up to 7.5t/ha in certain trials.
“If we can develop ways to cut costs then there”s good scope for improvement in OSR margins.
” The company set up trials comparing shallow cultivation techniques, direct-drilling and what it views as a fairly typical establishment system.
In the first, stubble was worked with a Vaderstad Carrier shallow disc cultivator and seed was drilled with a disc-drill. This establishment system worked out at 73.50/ha (30/ha).
A heavy set of Simba discs was used in the second trial. Running deeper than the Carrier these were found to produce a cloddier finish and a second pass was required for a workable seed-bed. This pushed costs up to 97.50/ha (40/acre).
In the final trial rapeseed was direct drilled into the stubble at a cost of 57.50/ha (23/acre).
“We found that establishment rates were best in the direct drilled crops at around 75%,” says Mr Richards. “Stubbles lightly cultivated with the Carrier followed this and the disced ground trailed with an establishment rate of just 63%.
“Much of this can be attributed to the wet conditions last autumn. The more passes with heavy machinery, the greater the soil damage.
“Interestingly we”ve seen that seed broadcasters mounted on sub-soilers, presses and cultivators are gaining in popularity as a low cost means of getting OSR crops going – it”s definitely worth considering.”