Cover Crops 3.0

That is an interesting and thought provoking statement.

If you have time at some stage I would love to read more of your thoughts about what your aims and objectives would be with this new way of doing things, the benefits and how they can be achieved.

Call in some time, maybe @Bog Man would load the Rolls and i'll roll out red carpet for him and order in cakes

No seriously though more than welcome to call down and we'll have a look and chat

I don't claim to have all answers but I know direction I need to go
 
Call in some time, maybe @Bog Man would load the Rolls and i'll roll out red carpet for him and order in cakes

No seriously though more than welcome to call down and we'll have a look and chat

I don't claim to have all answers but I know direction I need to go

Whats the earliest date do you usually have strawberries and cream for visitors?
 
That’s looks to be a fine CC and top class yields too, well done. Can I ask is the 7 way mix bought that way or do you buy straights and mix yourself. I have only ever managed to buy a 4 way mix.
I’m interested as I am limited in rotation too and don’t have easy access to FYM.
Germinal made mixes for me
 
Is that a special order for you or is it a standard product they supply?
The one I use is Germinal soil booster and has 4 species.
Yes its a special order one, I formulate a few and they make them

second best farmer in Carlow @Bog Man used one of them for winter cover.

I had a pre-legume mix and a summer cover mix for the real thrill seekers

I will be making more this summer and can post details before harvest
 
Yes its a special order one, I formulate a few and they make them

second best farmer in Carlow @Bog Man used one of them for winter cover.

I had a pre-legume mix and a summer cover mix for the real thrill seekers

I will be making more this summer and can post details before harvest
If you could post the details of the mix it would be great. Thanks.
Only trouble is we Cork lads have only a small bit of ground each compared to the prairies ye have in Carlow.
 
Ah your very modest, you don’t like looking down on us lads with small acres. A true gent you are
You are doing a fine job on the CC yourself too.
 
How do you find out if a fella is from Cork?

You don’t need to because he’ll tell you.
Cork, the city of drisheen, the four-faced liar, the English market, "What's de craic?"... Overall, where the people are far too proud of where they come from. As comedian Tommy Tiernan once joked, with just a hint of truth, "I'm the president of Ireland... but more importantly, I'm from Cork".
 
@Ugo Schtiglitz how is the Duncan drill going? Was looking at an erth drill the other day which is limited to grass only but seemingly does a good job.
Yah. Tis grand. Haven't busted anything off it yet. Handy having the two bins. Testing autumn for system tbf but have crops of wheat away ok...little slower to move than conv cos of nitrogen release. Meant to sow oats as well but didn't get there in the perpetual weather versus time versus civilian life struggle. No big deal. Happy out. Haven't seen a diesel lorry since I don't know when. Never even got a calendar. Think he's taken it personally. It all works but a bit of a rollercoaster. And I suppose important not to be too religious about it all.
 
Yah. Tis grand. Haven't busted anything off it yet. Handy having the two bins. Testing autumn for system tbf but have crops of wheat away ok...little slower to move than conv cos of nitrogen release. Meant to sow oats as well but didn't get there in the perpetual weather versus time versus civilian life struggle. No big deal. Happy out. Haven't seen a diesel lorry since I don't know when. Never even got a calendar. Think he's taken it personally. It all works but a bit of a rollercoaster. And I suppose important not to be too religious about it all.
Can I ask what your farming system was previously? What drove the change to direct drilling and what have you learnt along the way/ done differently if you had your time over?
 
Can I ask what your farming system was previously? What drove the change to direct drilling and what have you learnt along the way/ done differently if you had your time over?
It was mixed. Sheep and tillage. Then all tillage. Plough first then min till now no till. Cereals and combinanle breaks mostly. Tbh it was a mix of things. Time, labour, contrariness and I suppose most honestly light soils getting spun out. That had started to see yields dipping away in spring cereals in particular. I was spending more and more to maintain and I wasn't the better of it. Light bulb moment was when I realised the state of the soil was exactly related to my bank balance. So.....
Looking for a better way for me i guess.
I'm not sure it's the answer entirely but after first full year...winter crops were easy with no major yield dip. Spring stuff was a bit more variable...but meh. Any dips are more or less evened out in costs.
I couldn't have done it without the support network of some likeminded nutcases either because the learning curve is too steep to tackle alone.
Read Kinseys book. Practical agronomy for a primer. That blew my mind tbh. And start looking at ca mg ratios early. Unbelievable magic in getting that working in the right direction. I can tell now after a year walking across a field if it'll no till successfully. And when it probably needs to be moved. The covers are the most important part by far imv. If the covers grow well you can almost do what you want when you want. If they don't....you probably have to move it a bit imv. Others will disagree.
Bit of a old chestnut but the drill doesn't really matter. Any of them will do a job.
The painful part I guess is the discomfort of learning on the job.
 
Cover crop sat on the 22 Aug 4kg / ac. Soil booster plus radish,rape, phacelia and added another kg of phacelea/ac
 

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