The Farmers Mart Dec-Jan 2020 - Issue 66 | Page 18

18 FARM NEWS
DEC/JAN 2020 • farmers-mart.co.uk
Beans before
treatment
RECOVERY CROPPING
STRATEGY AFTER
THE WET AUTUMN
AGRONOMISTS have estimated that
between 65% and 85% of winter cereal
land has not been drilled in some coun-
ties of northern England, leaving many
growers with radically changed cropping
options for next year.
“I’d estimate that in Lincolnshire around
15% is sown and in Yorkshire it’s nearer
35% although there are big differences
across the county,” says Simon Vaux,
regional head (north) for Agrovista. “Free-
draining areas of the Wolds are generally
OK but on heavy land there may be
nothing in at all.”
The obvious choice for many will be
to turn to spring barley, but, with its slim
margins and late harvest, this might not
always be best for business, or for the
crop rotation.
“While there’s likely to be a shortage
of winter wheat next year which could
keep the market strong, if everyone turns
to spring barley instead, there could be
a surplus, which may affect its price,” he
says.
Crimped barley
One option for growers is to crimp
a crop of spring barley rather than
harvest it dry which brings harvest
forward by around three weeks.
“Crimping barley requires no more
than a contractor to turn up on the
farm to roll the barley and apply the
crimping preservative, before the
crop is stored in a clamp or plastic
tube,” says Michael Carpenter from
feed preservation specialists, Kelvin
Cave Ltd. “Crimped cereals make a
high quality animal feed which can be
traded between farms, and can also be
a cost-effective feedstock for anaerobic
digestion.”
The earlier harvest for crimped
cereals will help get the crop rotation
back on track but also has positive
implications for blackgrass control.
“The harvest tends to come at a time
when the blackgrass seed is less viable
while recent trials have shown that the
crimping process itself – when the right
preservative is used – completely kills the
blackgrass seed,” he says.
Pulses
However, with increasing pressure on
producers to grow protein crops, spring
sowing may present opportunities for
introducing pulses.
Mr Vaux says: “If conditions are still
wet next spring, peas may be best
avoided but spring beans could be a
good option.
“Their seeds are large and vigorous,
can germinate from deep in the ground,
and although the best results come
from drilling, the traditional method, of
broadcasting and ploughing in, could
still be used,” he says.
“Drilling would normally be carried out
from February to April but growers would
need to be sure they had an outlet for the
crop,” he says. “They could either opt
to harvest them as whole-crop silage or
combine them to produce a high protein,
concentrate feed.”
Mr Carpenter concurs and says he
knows many growers having success
with either process, who are also
making savings on bought-in protein
feeds.
“Those who whole-crop must ensure
a successful fermentation but this can
be achieved through good compaction,
a suitable choice of preservative and the
usual good practices at silage making,”
he says.
“Alternatively, if they choose to
combine the beans, they have the
option of harvesting at a range of
moisture contents, giving a good chance
of getting the crop in between mid-Sep-
tember and early-October, hopefully
before the wet weather sets in,” he
says.
“The beans can then be stored in one of
a variety of ways using modern preserv-
atives, including crimping and clamping
with a moist feed such as brewers grains
or draff, or storing aerobically using
non-corrosive Propcorn,” he says.
“This way, there are no expensive
drying costs, which can potentially be high
for large pulses,” he adds.
Cover crops
However, Mr Vaux believes that some
farmers may struggle to do much with
wet land at all, without undue risk to soil
structure.
“Some fields on the heaviest land
will definitely go fallow over winter
and growers may even struggle to drill
them in spring,” he says. “But fallow
land should be avoided if possible as it
increases surface run-off and erosion.”
He says cover crops are a further
option to consider, which could restore
heart to the soil.
“Ideally, cover crops such as black oats
or phacelia would have been drilled in
autumn, but there could still be an oppor-
tunity to drill phacelia in spring,” he says.
“This crop is easy to establish and has a
dense and extensive rooting structure
which gives it a brilliant ability to break
soil compaction.
“Cereals could then be direct-drilled
next autumn into a better-structured soil,
and hopefully bring the rotation back on
track,” he says.
Options for spring sowing if
autumn drilling has failed
• Spring barley – worth crimping to
bring harvest forward and give better
feed quality
• Spring beans – could be whole-
cropped or combined early at <25%
to 35% moisture
• Cover crop – still possible to sow
phacelia next spring and improve soil
structure