John Glover
John Glover
John Glover currently milks 65 cows plus followers on a 20ha (51-acre) county
council holding near Lutterworth, Leicestershire, with a further 13ha (32 acres) of rented land.
He is due to move farms,
having gained tenancy of another 40ha (100-acre) county council farm.
WE HAVE been trying a spot of alchemy, turning green wheat into gold, or that is what the man from FSL Bells says. What we have done is to store a crop of moist grain in a clamp.
The crop of Buster winter wheat, sown after maize last October, was grown conventionally until harvest. The combine went into the crop on Jul 28 when the grain was still just green and had a moisture content of 35-40%. The main problems were getting the grain out of the combine tank, which was helped by unloading on the move, the other, bindweed on the headlands.
Before the grain is clamped it is crimped or rolled, and an acid-based additive applied. This was done at up to 5t/hour.
Estimated yield was 94t from 19 acres, the high yield due in part to the higher moisture content and less shedding and combining losses as all the little grains go into the tank – wild oats as well. The heap of grain to be crimped seemed to be growing rapidly until a puncture in the combine allowed us to catch up.
The clamp was made of large straw bales lined with plywood and a plastic sheet, rolled with the Matbro as it was built, and weighted down with bales of hay. After one month the grain is ready to feed. The straw left in the field was still very green and took several more days to dry, but once baled is more like barley than wheat straw and should feed well.
We still have 12 acres of Riband winter wheat to harvest. We are playing a waiting game to try and avoid drying costs, and with nowhere to store it this must be sold off the combine.
There are several advantages of crimping for us: It means harvest is less reliant on the weather, the grain can be stored outside, we get straw with a higher feed value, fields are cleared sooner to allow earlier entry for following crops and the crimped grain is ready to feed, saving time in the winter.
As you can see I have listened to the salesman. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating – or milk in the tank. *
John Glover has crimped, added additive and then clamped a crop of winter wheat, which will be ready to feed out in about a months time.