Oakley Estate Farms

[weblet375]

Well done alex hats off to you and your crew.hope u have a good spud harvest.

[Oakley Farms]

Thanks chaps, no second wheats this year but some of this years wheat was so we could get the rotation back where it should be after the wet 2012 year with failed rape crops we plots of spring crops all over the place, this year has really helped us get back on track with everything and we haven't been in such as good position going into Autumn for a long time. Just need to concentrate on spuds now, little secondary cultivations and getting everything all drilled up

[Light Land]

Interesting, I'd always thought England were big growers of 2nd year wheat, from what I've read. What sort of yields did you get off the wheats? We grown 9t/ha of 12.5% protein spring sown 2nd year wheat most years exp this year as feed barley is worth more than milling wheat  .

[Oakley Farms]

I think over in the East its more popular to grow second wheats but here we have higher disease pressure such as septoria. Our highest record was set this year with 10.2t/ha on JB Diego

[Oakley Farms]

This week we have been concentrating on lifting spuds at Atherstone, making good progress, perfect conditions apart from not seeing for dust from the front topper, we havent had such good conditions like this for 8 years. The pic shows Dan queuing for the grader and the black 16 tonner loaded with stockfeed for a local dairy farmer. Steve is cultivating the bean ground at North Cadbury and then into The Park tomorrow. Phil is on the sprayer with blight sprays now finished and spuds all burned down and topped his work load has eased slightly, working his way around the emerged rape with insecticide as its getting a battering from flea beatle since we cant use neonics now! Then onto round up ahead of wheat drilling. Iv had my waterproofs on this week and washed the 780 off ready for winter hibernation.

[Paul Palmer]

roundup before cultivations Alex?

[Oakley Farms]

Not normally Paul as we round up pre harvest so stubbles are always very clean, we are then on the ball with primary cultivations to get a chit then spray off

Edited September 12, 2014 by Oakley Farms

[Light Land]

Your able to spray round up on milling wheat pre harvest Alex? it's against the law here. 

[Oakley Farms]

Yes we are but timings are crucial so not to have residual effect on grain, some say it has to reach a moisture content of at least 30% but we play safe and leave it longer, to be honest we are finding ourselves steering away from milling varieties as we are struggling to get the required quality, over avenues are being explored

[Light Land]

Interesting thanks, I've often wondered how you get on growing milling wheat while reading your fine topic.

[Oakley Farms]

Yesterday saw our Bailey trailers leave the yard as they were sold locally. Joe who is our acting assistant manager/yard foreman is coming to the end of his five year training program and is due to leave us at the end of October. Spuds are still coming in well, a little too well up until Mark swiped the windrow kit off the harvester whist turning on the headland and doing a spot of hedgecutting with it, now back in the yard being welded back together, no work tomorrow except for Steve coming in to cultivate the 40 acres of bean stubble in The Park. Also this week we have been going through the Rapid replacing tyres and worn bushes, changing bearings etc ahead of the autumn drilling campaign starting in roughly 10 days

[Oakley Farms]

A quiet day in Somerset today, no digging spuds so the grading students have set about taking the roof and doors down off the pack house, im off to direct drill 30 acres of stubble turnips for a Matthew Lampy in Chard, he is a new customer of stockfeed too as he has 800 head of beef cattle. This afternoon im also off on a jolly to Dorchester to take our 12 meter header back to Vaughan Agri as we have sold it, so now we have one combine with no header!

[Light Land]

You'd need fairly soft ground for that drill to direct drill wouldn't you Alex? 

What will you put in the yard were the spud shed is coming down?

[Oakley Farms]

Its not too bad Ol as it has 2 sets of angled discs like a sumo to create a top 5cm tilth to drill into, but your right it works better on light ground. We are moving the box park to where the pack house is as this is where it needs to be right beside the grading shed to save time transporting boxes up from the bottom yard. We will then make use of the area where the boxes were for another grain store and a new farm office

[CX820Joe]

why sell the combine header?

[Oakley Farms]

why sell the combine header?

We are having a different one next year

[CX820Joe]

V1350?

[Oakley Farms]

Have to wait and see i said to myself last year im not going bigger than a V1200, that didnt last long! Spud digging continues in Pooles, Orchard are in hauling and spreading compost for us on Speaks ground, great service from Orchard after a split second decision on friday after Viridor rings and say they have 1500 tonne of compost to get rid off do i want it, after talking the price down i agreed and fits in perfect with timing of the 3rd stale seedbed of cultural blackgrass control at Speaks and putting some very much needed organic matter back into this heavy soil, hopefully in a couple years we will reap the benefits of this and CTF with better yeilds, drainage, moisture retention and workable soils!

Edited September 16, 2014 by Oakley Farms

[tractorboy]

 We here in the posh part of the UK always refer to the term "   potatoe lifting rather then spud digging as that sounds like you re all in my garden ha ha! & did you sell them trailers too ?? ha ha! x

[Niels]

The V1200 doesn't actually cut 12m wide so you'd need a V1350 to fit in snugly with a 12m CTF system and still have some room left to manoeuvre.

[Oakley Farms]

Nope we are having a V1230 for A true 12 meter CTF, so far we have been running at 11.9 to accommodate the V1200

Edited September 16, 2014 by Oakley Farms

[Light Land]

Would them headers have wheels on the ends to steady them Alex?

If you could get one in model size would you run a claydon drill instead?

[Oakley Farms]

These Claas ones don't usless your going for a draper unit. I like the look of the Claydon especially their morals on compaction and blackgrass control, i like the look of the new Hybrid but they need to make a 12m version!

[Light Land]

Begs the question if one is in a long term Calydon system of drilling with a 6mtr drill do you need to do a full CTF system when growing basic combinable arable crops. Now I'm abit beter on making models I intend to have a go at a Claydon drill over Christmas.

[Niels]

Ok Alex I didn't knew there was a V1230. Will make life easier when cutting rape also. Looking forward in seeing you convert a Wiking header ). Ref the Claydon drill it requires 50 hp per metre to work comfortably so 12m would require 600 hp which means you need a Challenger 875E or Quadtrac 620 to pull it. One can wonder how much good your doing if you are working in such a way... I am not convinced!

 

Ol: The Claydon and any other drill that only minimally moves the soil will be turning your field a lot stiffer so you get less traffic. Jeff Claydon's trailers are on super singles yet no wheelings in his field whilst he unloads on the move. Equally tractors are not on overly wide rubber. After 13 years of direct drilling the land is very strong, doesn't compact very easily and can carry a lot of weight. Even after a year or two you notice massive differences. You could easily use a 6m drill and cut & cart 12m I think but it needs time to settle. Also the plants on top, whether it is a crop or a cover, will give your soil strength and allow you to drill with minimal wheelings under whet conditions.

 

I'm very curious to see how you get on with the Claydon drill model ). Keep us posted. A friend of mine is building a 4m for himself and for me as I have two left hands.. Hopefully a straw harrow is to follow after that.