Min-till test to Tankers liking
Min-till test to Tankers liking
By Brian Lovelidge
GETTING drilling priorities right and relying much more heavily on minimum-tillage helped Kent grower Andrew Martin drill three-quarters of his winter wheat last autumn, despite much of it being on heavy clay.
Crops now look set to fair to yield well, with newcomer Tanker promising up to 1t/ha more than the farms 9.5-10t/ha average for Consort and Claire.
Mr Martin runs Romney Marsh Farms 800ha (1977 acres) on three sites at Brabourne, Godmersham and Eastbridge. Normal cropping is wheat, oilseed rape, linseed and vining peas, with about half the land on Romney Marsh.
"Most of our wheat was drilled before the land began to get very wet, starting with the heaviest on Sept 18. Things came to a grinding halt on Sept 30. We did a bit in the next two weeks, but then nothing until the New Year."
The balance, all on light land, was drilled with spring barley during February and March.
About 70% of the wheat, including 33ha (88 acres) of top Recommended List yielder Tanker, was established after minimum tillage. The system had been assessed on a small scale for several years before a big move into it last autumn.
"After spending a long time fine-tuning our fixed costs were now starting to do the same with our establishment costs," says Mr Martin, who last year spent six weeks on a Canterbury Farmers Club scholarship to the US to study minimum tillage in North and South Dakota and Manitoba.
"Were very encouraged by this seasons results, particularly as we were able to spray many of the minimum tillage fields due to their better soil structure, but not those we had ploughed."
Mr Martin usually tries one or two new wheat varieties every year. This year Tanker was chosen for its high yield potential, drilling date flexibility and the likelihood that its agronomy will fit in well with that of Consort and Claire, his other varieties.
"Although Tanker is a group 4 variety its extra yield income should outweigh any premiums our other varieties, both group 3, might make," he says. "I hope it will produce about 1t/ha more than our average of 9.5-10t/ha, although Ill still be pleased with 0.5t extra."
The Tanker, being grown under a seed contract to Banks-Cargill, followed oilseed rape. Its seed-bed was prepared with 5.5m Simba discs (set at a depth of 7.5-10cm) and 6.6m press behind a John Deere crawler. The seed went in at 140kg/ha using a 4m Vaderstad drill and was ring-rolled to produce a nice finish.
"Ive been pushing down seed rates in recent years, but there is a bit to go yet," says Mr Martin. "I wouldnt go much below 110kg/ha for early crops, although this year I might try a small area under 80kg/ha."
In early April the crop received 130kg/ha (104 units/acre) of nitrogen and a second dose, of 70kg/ha (56 units/acre), went on in early May, just before first node.
As Tanker is rated eight for both standing power and straw shortness Mr Martin and his consultant Tony Hardwick decided an early (GS30) PGR was prudent, so 1.75 litres/ha of chlormequat plus 0.2 litres/ha of Moddus (trinexapac-ethyl) was applied with 0.2 litres/ha of Opus (epoxiconazole) and 2 litres/ha of manganese in mid-April.
That was followed in the second week of May with a T1 spray of 0.5 litres/ha of Opus plus 0.7 litres/ha of Amistar (azoxystrobin), with a reduced rate of Starane (fluroxypyr) to take out the small number of cleavers left by Lexus that were beginning to benefit from the nitrogen top dressings.
"The crop has always looked even and has retained reasonable greenness, although it was a bit yellow in March, but then it picked up quickly after being top-dressed," says Mr Martin. *
Romney Marsh Farms manager Andrew Martin has been impressed with Tankers performance from min-till establishment. Yield looks set to be 1t/ha up on the farms average for Consort and Claire, he says.
TANKERMIN-TILL
• Big min-till move in 2000.
• 75% wheat autumn drilled.
• Tanker looking good.
• Timing and seed rate key.
• 1t/ha up on Consort/Claire average?