stuppers Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 The rape fields are being cut in my area and i thought that it was a bit earlier. i was wondering whether the fields are being cut in your area or whether this was unique to where i am. i can not wait to et on the stubbles and i will be watching the fields closely for pigeons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardo Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 first field cut this evening (and i'm bloody away for the weekend then working all next week, grr ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 (edited) If the weather continues like this we should be starting next week Edited July 23, 2009 by EdwardtheloneShooter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 They have been harvesting rape all this week on my permissions and for the first time they are baling the "straw" in massive 750kg bales, apparently its for horse bedding. Unfortunately, the baler is following the combine and the tractor pulling the set of discs is right behind the baler. I have shot every day this week and been on a different field every day. Today I had to move fields early afternoon, as the "disc jockey" was on his way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 That's interesting to hear about the bales of OSR straw, Cranfield. Essex is a fairly horsey county, but as far as I am aware, nobody bales rape straw for the equestrian market here. It's a valuable source of nitrogen and potash, so I have no qualms about ploughing or discing it all back in. People began swathing rape in the first week of July in the south of Essex, where it is as dry as the Kalahari. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badshot Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 Burdens are baling it to send to the continent for the horses over there. Not paying enough for me though, as you say wouldn't cover the nutrients removed. My direct drilling neighbour is doing it, the swath behind his 480 is pathetically small as it is almost as if it had been through the chopper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kron Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 We've been having monsoon type conditions here which I think has put it back. Sunny all morning, cloud over in the afternoon and hammer down at about 3.30pm. Similar every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asap Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 We started last week but have just got going well today ,thanks to the weather. This is our 2nd year of having the rape straw bailed. They pay us good money and we also save a fortune on diesel not running the chopper. Downside is a little bit more compaction from baler plus chaser etc. Im pretty sure our contractor is selling it to the power station. pigeons everywhere and its just pizzed it down so I'm now shooting tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 Badshot, I heard on the grapevine today that a local contractor has just taken delivery of a £110k, 9-metre Horsch drill, the first in the UK. That must be like pulling a London bus sideways - no wonder it's to be hooked up to a 575hp Challenger. In contrast, a mate of mine was today praising his Autocast system on the Lexion header, as having paid for itself in the first 300ac of OSR it sowed in 2005. He's been on a WW-OSR-WW rotation for 5 years now using non-inversion till, with no significant sclerotinia or blackgrass issues. Food for thought? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossy835 Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 575 hp thats some power on the land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 I know it won't be up your street, mossy, but the new Holmer Terra Variant offers 612hp. It's a huge, lumbering beast though, totally unsuited to British agriculture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badshot Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 Badshot, I heard on the grapevine today that a local contractor has just taken delivery of a £110k, 9-metre Horsch drill, the first in the UK. That must be like pulling a London bus sideways - no wonder it's to be hooked up to a 575hp Challenger. In contrast, a mate of mine was today praising his Autocast system on the Lexion header, as having paid for itself in the first 300ac of OSR it sowed in 2005. He's been on a WW-OSR-WW rotation for 5 years now using non-inversion till, with no significant sclerotinia or blackgrass issues. Food for thought? How do you get a nine metre drill in to a 3 by 4 metre box for transport? Nightmare I would think. Autocast is a system I believe has been grossly underestimated, the problem comes when people think they can plant a really quick growing tall variety of rape early with it. It will all fall over. Also if not managed correctly the establishment can be somewhat patchy. A very good friend of mine has been on a wheat rape wheat rape rotation for about the same time and is giving up rape this year as 1 tonne is not enough. He had bad sclerotinia this year as well as last. Some of this is down to poor agronomy in my opinion though, however I did try it myself on a couple of fields for a couple of rotations and the rape grown in this rotation was a LOT dirtier and did not yield as well as the wheat rape wheat beans, so I did not pursue it further. However I do believe HGCA or somebody is doing a study on the effects of continuous rape, as well as several other rotations, it would be my first port of call to find information. Blackgrass however is THE sourge of the heavy land farmer and we are no exception in this area, at the moment by keeping the different modes of action and using different cultural control it is possible to keep resistant blackgrass at bay. However we lost topic very quickly in a w-w-r rotation, I do not wish to lose atlantis so quickly. Back to rape though, have you tried any HOLL rape yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 I know it won't be up your street, mossy, but the new Holmer Terra Variant offers 612hp. It's a huge, lumbering beast though, totally unsuited to British agriculture. I saw that a sima, its nuts!! But I can see its place in russia and the ukraine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryantidgwell Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 swathed rape as all been done today i was sat watching for a good hour and surprised how much seed they actually get out them pods , farmer must of done at least 5 trips in a hour must get some good money from all that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 (edited) We were talked into drilling 15 acres of 'Splendor' HOLL rape for trials this year (that's 'high oleic, low linolenic' to those that are interested, i.e. premium-grade oil for food), as an alternative to the Castille variety that we've sown for several years. The HOLL rape looks encouraging and established well, and should be harvested over the next week. I can't see any reason why we shouldn't pursue HOLL rape if there are contracts available for next summer. Edited July 24, 2009 by Baldrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikee Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 all the rape around my way is being cut, no one seems to be swathing it just running the combine straight through it, there are no stubbles to shoot though, with the changable weather when the farmers cant cut they are ploughing up the cut fields when its not dry enough to cut, i was watching them cut yesterday pm when it started to rain, they changed the grain trailers for big cultivator attachments on the tractors and then ripped the fields up, there is a guy round here baldrick who bails his rape and uses them in a straw bale wood burner thingy in his barn for heating and hot water for the houses in the farm yard, quite a machine with an auto feed system with several bales on rollers that self loads a bale every day or two mikee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 all the rape around my way is being cut, no one seems to be swathing it just running the combine straight through it, there are no stubbles to shoot though, with the changable weather when the farmers cant cut they are ploughing up the cut fields when its not dry enough to cut, i was watching them cut yesterday pm when it started to rain, they changed the grain trailers for big cultivator attachments on the tractors and then ripped the fields up, there is a guy round here baldrick who bails his rape and uses them in a straw bale wood burner thingy in his barn for heating and hot water for the houses in the farm yard, quite a machine with an auto feed system with several bales on rollers that self loads a bale every day or two mikee That self-loading bale-fuelled burner sounds interesting, but I don't fancy having to store 700 bales of OSR straw, and spend time in the telehandler to keep the system topped up. Whilst I was out last night dealing with yet more marauding didds last night, I noticed that many other local farmers were also out discing their rape stubble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 used to be a straw burner on one of the farms I worked on used 4 foot round bales and used one every 2 days. Not a lot of maintenance 5 mins to put a bale in and every few weeks clear out the ash. Not bad as a green source of heating always noticed the farmhouse was rather warm all winter but then it made little difference to the "fuel bill" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 That's interesting, al4x. I might have to investigate it further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 The almost biblical hail we've just experienced here is not going to help our OSR yields. Badshot, that 'Pod Stick' sounds like a great thing, in hindsight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badshot Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 The almost biblical hail we've just experienced here is not going to help our OSR yields. Badshot, that 'Pod Stick' sounds like a great thing, in hindsight. Hope it hasn't done too much damage. V141 is supposed to be the variety to grow. There are contracts I this area for it at £45/t above base with the oil bonuses paid on the full amount. Seed licence is the main downside as far as I can see, too many volunteers and you have grown some expensive castille really. Gonna leave it a year and stick to castille and cabernet myself. Interestingly some of the main osr weeds can put it over the limit for linolenic content. Excellent agronomy is a must with this stuff, for now anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 (edited) It hasn't done too much damage - and at least we've got some of the OSR in the sheds already, which is more than can be said for some round here. V141 is what's sitting in our field being hammered by the rain. If it performs as well as we hope, it should be an interesting and less troublesome alternative to the borage we'd grown in previous years. Edit: there's a good article about OSR establishment in today's Farmers Weekly, plus a piece about CTF. Edited July 24, 2009 by Baldrick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badshot Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 Must admit don't buy farmers weekly any more, just go on website. This means I'll have to go get one now, actually in true recycling fashion I'll nab my neighbours copy tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 Badshot, I pay £95 per year for my subscription to FW, and it proves a lot more useful than the other dross I take, like Shooting Times etc. I find FWi rather unwieldy and prefer flicking through the magazine when I have a moment on a Friday. And I have had a lot of spare time today, most of it spent wondering if the seemingly incessant rain will relent and allow us to progress with the OSR. Stephen Carr's article in the Comment section today about public rights of way and s31(6) declarations should be compulsory reading for any landowner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badshot Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 There is something in that argument that I cannot fault, it is much more pleasurable to read a mag than search a website. Didn't quite get time to go find it today though. Found the moderator on my .17 was shot to bits, so had to go get a replacement. Got whisper for .17 and sak for .22. Just beginning to realise I am surrounded by some pretty large farms these days, another 600 tt working next door in their rape, done about 120 acres today. At least when you get to cut some rape eventually it should be well and truly fit and go fairly quickly. Had a guy on the stubbles this afternoon, he got 48 in couple hours and was well chuffed, so he gave me a dozen of them as I can't hit **** with a shottie. Did hear that up sheppey way they are expecting to start on wheat next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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