Rob G Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 This is my first year as a part-time keeper on a local farm.The farmer is realy pleased with the way the season and shooting went.Next year he is looking at changing the cover crops.At the moment we have a strip of maize with a strip of sorghum,I think this has worked well there is food with the maize and cover with the sorghum.For some reason he wants to put canarie grass in next year,i feel there will be no food value to this so it will be a waste of time.What have you got in your covers and why i.e food,warmth.etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ91 Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 This is my first year as a part-time keeper on a local farm.The farmer is realy pleased with the way the season and shooting went.Next year he is looking at changing the cover crops.At the moment we have a strip of maize with a strip of sorghum,I think this has worked well there is food with the maize and cover with the sorghum.For some reason he wants to put canarie grass in next year,i feel there will be no food value to this so it will be a waste of time.What have you got in your covers and why i.e food,warmth.etc. id stick with the cover crops you hav canarie grass dnt realy provide a good food sorce and it dnt realy provide good cover as wind soon blows it over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 canary grass can be very good if left to establish in permanant areas of cover, What we've had work really well this year is on land destined for spring planting we had mustard spread on the stubble after harvest and its been brilliant. The plus point is the cost is minimal and if you leave strips of stubble between it the birds love it. otherwise maize and sorgum work well, sunflowers can be mixed in as can artichokes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nav54 Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 Same here mate mustard seed spread on the stubble with our milder winters it will last all season and it is dirt cheap the only problem i had this year was the lack of rain at the end of harvest but with a little bit of nitrogen on at the right time it soon picked up. This all so puts goodness back in to the soil so the farmer is on a winner all round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted January 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 Thanks for the quick replys,i have heard good reports about mustard.Im of to see him at the week end to have a chat about next season so will reccomend he trys mustard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nav54 Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 If ya can mate just pull a cultivator through first not deep just scratch the service and broadcast by hand so you can put a few thicker bits down then a couple of hoppers with a few small bales and ya are well away. Good luck shame you have to wait so lnog to try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 ours goes on with a slug pellet spinner seems to do a great job, you just want nice big areas of stubble between the strips of mustard and they will love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferretboy111 Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 We have sorghum around the edges of maize, works very well. However last year i put some areas of mustard down, it worked a treat and held pheasants very well, also holds partridges very well as its dense. Got around 3/4 more strips going in and they will be mainly mustard/kale etc. Some patches of my mustard which was planted in july is still up. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 It might depend on the scheme the farm is involved in as to what you can/can't grow but for sheer value for money, cover/feed for the game birds and then, and then, pigeon fodder after 01st Feb you can't beat maize. Sow that with strips of mustard and it works a treat. A lot of the other mixes are great if you want to encourage a lot of songbirds but absolutely useless for gamebirds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 Get hold of a copy of the latest 'Kings Seeds' catalogue, it lists all sorts of mixes and gives tips, it also gives details of their local advisers who may also be able to give you best advice based on where you are in the UK, soil type, etc. David PS there is a free Kings catalogue with the Feb issue of Shooting Gazette i think. D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
young airgunner Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 on one of the shoots i work on we have strips of maize mainly. we also have sougham, millet and a bit of wild bird mix. all depends on the lay of the land etc for holding of birds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 It depends on your feeding regime really. I help out on a shoot which uses a quad for feeding daily. Here you don't want feed crops in the gamecrops - at least in the middle of the shoot- as this will mean the birds can get a good feed from the foodstuffs in the gamecrops and spend the rest of the day wandering. Small seed gamecrop (good for grants as the small birds love it), i think millet and quinoa are two are ideal as even when the pheasants try to feed on them it takes a lot of time for them to get a crop full which reduces wandering. On outside bits a bit of gamecrop with feed value does no harm, likewise if you are hopper feeding you might as well have tritikale etc in gamecrops as it gives you both food and cover to drive the birds out of. Maize is always a great driving and holding crop, but it doesn't qualify for any grants, you really have to have several species in a mix to get some cash for growing the crops which all helps to lower your costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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