Newsletter September 2022 – Issue 7

Newsletter September 2022 – Issue 7

This month’s newsletter focuses on the start of Autumn Cereal drilling and as we look to a more sustainable future, I wanted to write this month’s edition on a crop of Winter wheat that is due to be direct drilled into a standing cover crop and explain the resonating behind it.

After a crop of winter Barley was harvested a multi specie cover crop was planted on a few days later which included the following:

Cover Crop mix

• Sunflowers
• Buckwheat
• Phacelia
• Linseed
• Tillage Radish
• Fodder Radish
• Vetch
• White Clover

with only a token gesture of rain falling after planting the crop grew away well all considering, providing an excellent habitat for the soil food web. The tillage radish as you can see didn’t suffer to much and managed to provide a long tap root working the soil to make it more friable come drilling.

The plan was to keep this cover crop over winter and plant with spring barley, however a few weeks ago the decision was made to make a change and drill into the standing crop with winter wheat.

As we look to transition away from chemicals, Minimal soil disturbance will be achieved by drilling this crop with a low disturbance disc drill. No pre-Emergence chemicals will be used on this crop, and neither will any fungicidal seed dressings. This for me a step forward in the right direction! Long gone are the days where we should rely on a crop to grow from purchased inputs which seem to have become ever so more dominant. Farming and Food quality really will benefit from lower inputs over time.

The Variety of wheat to be grown is Costello and using the seed test results we shall be sowing this crop at 210kg/ha.

To follow this crops progress, Look on our Blog page for regular updates on the progression of this winter wheat crop throughout the year!