Today was a very exciting day. My BRAND NEW Aitchison Seedmatic direct drill arrived. It’s the first time I’ve ever bought a brand new machine, and it’s going to bring really positive changes to how I’m farming. Looking forward to the future!
All of 17hp per metre. And it loads itself. Our first crop going in today, exciting and scary at the same time. Play currently postponed due to one headlight not being quite enough. Half a tonne left to go in after work tomorrow.
Had a real feeling of achievement and satisfaction at the end of last week. We’ve managed to get a wheat crop as far as this with a 50 yr old tractor, a drill costing 3 figures, a sprayer that was consigned to the scrap heap and a trusty wagtail spreader. Harvest coming shortly!
I've driven brand new 500hp Fendts and 45ft combines, but this is probably the most exciting bit of tractor driving I've done so far. We're having a go on our own.... watch this space
Put the last of the N+S on last night while there was still some rain in the forecast. Also any later and I’d be looking for some bigger wheels for the 35X!
Today was my last day in the world of Employment. Tomorrow I’m starting a new and exciting chapter with a new boss: Me!
Looking forward to a new challenge and sharing how I get on.
Made a little make-life-easier contraption. Now hitching up the spreader is easier and safer, and it can be moved out the way without having to hitch it up.
Baler went a lot better in straw with the bigger 10m acrobat swaths than in the hay with the 3m haybob rows. Lesson learnt, acrobat bought, improvement made. Onwards!
Only using the best ingredients. Seed processed by
@AngliaGrainSeed
, first wheats Vibrance Duo/Signal/Startup Maxx, 2nd wheat Beret Gold/Latitude/Startup Maxx
This trolley makes dropping off the sprayer safer easier and faster. Once the link arms are down the engine goes off, and no need to squeeze in between. Also much easier to move around in the shed without the tractor. Video is double speed but start to finish was 3 mins
I guess it’s basically the same thing as a
@VaderstadUK
carrier?! The field needed discing and rolling, and some of us have full time jobs to go back to on Monday
#improviseadaptovercome
Harvesting spring beans and admiring my super trendy under-sown multi species cover crop that I didn’t even have to sow, I just allowed the field to express it’s natural choice of vegetation.
Having got on so well with the fert spreader trolley, I’ve made a bigger one for the sprayer. Hitching up is now a lot safer and easier, as is moving it around in storage. The casters are rated to 1600kg total for a 600kg sprayer
The fleet grew at the weekend. Brought home this new to us Case JXU 105. This will be a huge upgrade for us with lots of things that will make the job safer, more efficient and more comfortable. It’s been out on the tedder already.
New front LED light upgrade is working well. Forgot about unloading though, luckily I had my magnetic workshop light with me that did the job. Another 1.7ha ticked off last night, same again in that field and it’ll be done
What. A. Day.
Red Tractor audit this morning ✅
Rowed up the hay at lunch, took a gamble and baled it (only just ready) ahead of forecast rain, expected 200, got 340, carted and stacked 280 by hand 🥴 and left the rest under sheets. Really hope it rains now!
Last night made the most of the very brief drop in the wind to get some glyphosate on the stubbles which I’ve greened up well. Hopefully a good amount of blackgrass has chitted outside of the crop. Our first direct drilled wheat crop is nearly underway
We had a “learning experience” at the weekend. My new Aitchison does not handle trash well. I’d be interested to hear any suggestions from other users as to how to drill my remaining 2 fields of wheat, which are currently untouched after the combine with chopped straw.
Started on some spring work this weekend. Roundup on grass yesterday, TSP on the wheat today. New favourite gadget is the bag dispenser, making it easy and safe to put an easy load on the 35. Ran out of fert within 10 metres of the end of the field, I’ll take that!
Attended my first monitor farm meeting yesterday and came away with a lot of ideas about improving soil, but refreshing not to hear any gimmicks or preaching, just good practical science based discussion. Anyone got a MF35-sized muck spreader for sale? Oh, and some muck?!
Great start to winter
@AHDB_Cereals
monitor farm meetings today with
@LizzieSagoo
@ajbennett_tweet
@Cereals_EA
and many others. Good discussions on soil structure, health and livestock integration to arable.. next meeting is cover cropping and nutrition on 7th Dec.
Probably my last day driving a combine for quite a while, if not ever. After 6 months and about 11000ac of wheat, canola, soybeans, milo and corn I’ve just about got the hang of it.
Last weekend before it rained we planted some AB8 flower margin mix from
@Kingscrops
I was planning to direct drill but a few areas were a bit tight so I ran the tines and then discs through to make some tilth. First time running the Aitchison mounted too, took 5 mins to convert.
We only got 1 field of Extase drilled last autumn, but I’m really pleased with it. Applied 70kg N yesterday, taking it to 100kg total. Wondering how far to push it?
While Sarah and her mum take the trailer (yes it’s a team effort!!) I’m left with Lola and tea. I think the dog is only interested in the burgers though
We’ve made it to Montana. Currently on a farm that was part of the biggest privately owned wheat farm in the world (95,000ac) back in the 1920’s. Fields anywhere between 199 and 680ac
If you ever feel like your work has no purpose or consequence, just remember there are people out there who design, test and fit screenwash systems to tractors.
Quite pleased with my very low input cover crop holding the field until spring beans. Not just no-till, it was no-drill. Sheep will be along shortly. Obviously I meant to throw this much wheat over the back…..
Rounded off a busy weekend by applying pre em to the beans. Much better start than the failed crop of last year. Accidentally overfilled the water on sprayer so had to spray at 6kph, but actually made everything much calmer and steadier. Might do it on purpose next time!
Amount other things recent weekends have involved a few road trips in order to assemble a crack team of crop-producing machines. They may not be new and shiny, but they also aren't depreciating or compacting, so I'll take that.
Fert spreading got a bit easier this year with my DIY hydraulic conversion for the Varispread. No more running round with the window open, reaching out for the lever and getting a cab full of fert. Used a trailer brake hyd ram with spring return. I even painted the bracket!!
Savouring the last few days of the summer harvest in North Dakota, cutting canola by the Missouri River. My two biggest decisions each day are what snacks to buy and what music to put on. It could be worse....
Looking in my slug traps I found a few of these beetles. After some research it seems they’re ground beetles and they can eat slugs? Great! But are killed by most insecticides, so I’m glad avoiding them might be paying off. Overall slug pressure seems low even in trashy 2nd ww
The Haymaking Rollercoaster of Emotion continues. Long story short it was baled last weekend in high humidity so the bales sweated. Turns out pure ryegrass is hard to make hay from at the best of times.
Coming in nicely now though after a few days out in dry sun
This has been my lockdown project. A 1973 Honda CD175. It was parked in the back of a shed in 1985 and I managed to get it going this weekend. It’s so much fun to pootle round on. Next in the queue is a fergie 35
Got our Lynx spring bean seed processed and ready for planting when it dries up. Trying some Newton Biostimulant to help out with germination. Also have an untreated bag for comparison
Off we go with
#farminginthedark23
bit of glyphosate ahead of spring beans. Really starting to get the equipment working nicely now, less faffing more farming
Making a start on next years wheat crop. The
@Agricision
ontrak is a great addition this year, and even more so the “new” “big” tractor is a huge luxury
These two have done it again. About half a hectare last year turned into 6ha of hay for this year. Very enjoyable job. Won’t be long making as it’s quite a thin crop (no N fert) but nice and clean stand of ryegrass.
I'm trying to develop a simple Excel spreadsheet for the farm that works like a basic Gatekeeper. Stock in/out, costs/incomes, but not proper accounting, just mgmt info. Before I spend ages trialling and error-ing has anyone got one I may be able to use/look at for a start?
Recent farm news roundup. Bought some magic beans (cost infers magical ability), sheep are doing some topping for us and the shepherds hut is nearly ready for guests
Back on the day job after a fairly successful first weekend harvesting. Approx 4.4ha out of our 9.2ha of wheat done. Broken belt yesterday but luckily had spares. Rained off last night but only 1mm so might lift moisture from low 12's. 1% mc is worth £20/ha to us.
One of the most valuable things I've learned about statistics is what the Least Significant Difference value means when looking at trials data. It's surprising how often it uncovers false claims.....
The beans are on their way. Much better start than last year. They’ve already had more rain than the crop had altogether last year. Pigeons will be the next hurdle
Really enjoying the sprayer and tractor setup we have now. Puts in perspective how we started a couple of years ago. Still the same sprayer though that I was given because it was “no good at all”. 2yrs and an nsts test later I’m still not sure what’s supposed to be wrong with it
First step towards Harvest 23 this morning.
@AngliaGrainSeed
doing a great job (of course!) Vibrance Duo, Signal, Startup Maxx on the first wheats, Beret Gold, Latitude and Startup Maxx on the second wheats. Fairly high TGW at 56.5, germ 99%, aiming for 300 seeds/m2 in the ground
Was initially disappointed with the figure, but on reflection with only 155kg/ha N, and a good price with a small milling bonus, the gross margin is in the low 4 figures so overall a good result. Next year slightly more N planned and some other tweaks to hopefully improve
@RTKfarmer
It used to be "This is a pic of my tractor" and you got a reply of "nice tractor" or "lovely view". Now it seems to be constant arguments and there's a lot more politics, which I don't come on here for. I just want farming ideas! Trying to be harsh with the buttons too
Listening to
@R1Dance
as we convoy 400 miles from Colorado to South Dakota in the USA with the High Plains Harvesting crew, raving at 10.30am local time 🙌🏻
@mistajam
This was interesting just now in the wheat stubble. The soil in my hand is from the 2 holes 30cm apart in the second picture. Left is under vol ww and dry and crumbly, right is under chop straw and is wet enough to make a ball when squeezed.