fat hen

  1. M

    Simtech questions

    Not a DDer currently but considering it, and from what I gather many would recommend a T-SEM as a good option for a small farm with a limited budget, which we are. Any general advice welcome, but specifically what are people's thoughts re row spacing? We bale all our straw but aim to spread...
  2. Blaithin

    Kiss The Ground

    Just came out on Netflix here. Giving it a watch. It’s been mentioned in a couple other threads but deserves one of its own. Message is simple and fairly clear. Keep the soil healthy. Keep the soil covered. There are parts that are annoying. Spray planes when talking about glyphosate. GMOs...
  3. Greg101

    Mowing before/after rotaional grazing.

    I've been wondering how many other people have the same ideas as to whether or not you should mow in a rotational grazing system as I do? I should propably clarify that the type of mowing i am refering to is the mowing most people do to keep brush and invasive species down. I think if you have...
  4. P

    Drying peas

    What are peas like to dry on underfloor dryer? Currently 18.5% in field!! What do they weigh like compared to wheat??
  5. MX7

    End of season combine blow down time?

    Just out of interest how long do you( or your boss allow) you to do a very thorough end of season blown down on the farms/ estates combine?
  6. H

    Fathen in silage

    Is a lot of fathen in silage bales harmful to cattle ......or does it not matter
  7. F

    Vaderstad 400 rapid making sure wings are same depth as middle section

    Any tips please. Going against the grain I have bought one of these cheap (very old) for my early autumn sowing requirements. Very impressed with establishment behind these but seen several locally where the wings have been putting it in at a different depth to the middle? Anything I need to do...
  8. Zippy768

    Harvesting Spring Beans

    Hopefully make a start this week. Never grown before, any tips?? Cut with moisture between 16%-20%? Unload on tickover? Speed? What is safe long term storage moisture? Will be going into neighbours store.
  9. D

    Fruity Smell in Grain Shed

    In the year that just keeps on giving I can smell something like fruit in the grain shed where I store the wet grain ready for drying. It’s not much over 17% at the most and I have been all over it with the spear but can’t find a hot spot or a hard area. The drier has broken down of course and...
  10. Banana Bar

    Wide cereal rows

    Has anyone got yield comparisons of wide ( 250mm) cereal rows vs conventional narrower rows? BB
  11. Grassman

    Dummies guide to germination!

    I was wondering why seeds can sit in the ground for many years and not germinate. Then all of a sudden they choose to spring up and spoil your crop. They have moisture. They have soil contact. They have warmth. They cant know what crop is there as they haven't a brain! Daylight they don't have...
  12. C

    Dirty fields

    We changed from a Sumo / Plough / Vaderstad system to Mzuri rake / Claydon hybrid system last year. Having now completed a whole season we are now left wondering if it was the correct decision. Our fields have never been so dirty it's almost as if we have drilled companion crops everywhere ...
  13. D

    dormancy of charlock

    Local folklaw is that charlock will live in the soil for 100 years. As a brassica grower including swedes under nets, I certaily have fields that will never be used for swedes in my lifetime. I do dispute the 100 year figure, my Dad bought land in 1986 totally infested. It has been arable...
  14. Devon lad

    Dock control in high clover swards

    We’re incorporating more and more clover into our grazing swards, but docks are always a problem after a while. We try to direct drill 1/2 spring 1/2 autumn reseeds with clover in the mix now and spray out the seedling docks at the 2-3 leaf stage more recently with squire. Before we would...
  15. J

    Convince me to not plough

    We have a small field that has been in a cereal/rape/legume rotation for a good few years now and needs to be put back to grass. I would like to get away from using the plough every time we drill but I'm never sure our soils are quite light enough to min till (we are mostly clay with some loam)...
  16. J

    Holiday Cottage Lets.

    Does anyone on the forum who lets holiday cottages know who the best letting agents are? Or who most people use? We have just had some guests from hell who have flooded the bathroom,left all the towels on the floor to try and mop it up.Moved the furniture around and then left a page of...
  17. Kevtherev

    Grass Renovation thread

  18. The Ruminant

    Should we farm without N?

    A really interesting podcast here about the use of N and K and how soils and organic matter responds. Really thought-provoking and confirms a lot of anecdotal things we and other farmers find.
  19. S

    grass seeds on rented land

    I'm looking for recommendations for which grass seed to use. I run some dairy heifers quite extensively on rented ground. Ph, P and K aren't the best but I dont want to spend a fortune correcting it. I just would rather the cows were not eating Yorkshire fog. I have planted British seed houses...
  20. Honest john

    Harvest/Yields 2020

    Very quite on here so far.