For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By TheFarmer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1828871
Nick wrote:In that case would it not be better, to not plant on the tramlines and therefore save a lot of seed? As alluded to by Skydriller above.

Nick


I plant at about 25 degrees to the last crop each year, so that would be impossible. The leading legs on the drill effectively ‘rip’ the soil and do a cultivation a split second before the seeding tine passes through. Going at a different angle each year creates a nice criss-cross underground drainage network of slots.

Most drills have a system where every ‘x’ number of passes it shuts of two seeder tines at the wheelbase width of the tractor passing though the season. When the crop come through the tramlines are then already there.

This means you have to drill each pass in turn, taking more time to turn at each end, to go back right next to where you’ve just come up. There’s also the chance of putting them in the wrong place and they then look silly all year.

I could do this, but I prefer to just go for absolute drilling output. It costs around £700 of seed each year to do it my way, from a total seed cost of £34,000, so I decide that £35 per day (20 days drilling) is worth the cost to make my life easier. :thumright:
Sooty25, skydriller, mick w and 2 others liked this
#1828923
Not that I have any real regrets about my own career, but I've often thought if I come back again what I'd like to do. I used to think I'd like to be a doctor - probably a surgeon. However, I actually think being a farmer would be a great career.

There is definitely something special about working outdoors. You get so close to nature, and even cutting my grass gets me out in the open and gives me a lot of satisfaction, but growing and harvesting crops must be something else. Not just that, but as this thread shows, there is a lot of intellectual stimulus from the science that goes with farming these days. And, let's face it, you get to play with some great toys. I'm sure it isn't all wonderful, like most jobs, but most of the farmers I know really love the work.

My second choice might be to be a groundskeeper of a golf course. For much the same reasons. Or maybe forestry work.
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By TheFarmer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1828926
It’s a great life, but it’s very anti-social at times. It’s also not as lucrative as it has a reputation to be. Profits can swing hugely, and future planning isn’t easy.

Saying that, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do. Farming, once in your blood, almost makes a person unable to do anything else, especially in a work environment that has lots of different departments, and where toes mustn’t be stepped on. I’d get sacked within a week of a corporate job that required subtlety and lip-biting.

With farming, you think on your feet, you react with the weather, seasons, markets and gut feeling. Nobody to answer to, and nobody to hide behind. You have to make a decision and go with it.

Farmers are often forthright as characters. I think that’s because they have to be.
Paultheparaglider, Nick liked this
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By TheFarmer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1828932
:D

Must admit, I sometimes listen to friends at social events discussing their work, and it sends shivers down my spine. It sounds like 5% output, and 95% brown-nosing and tactical manoeuvring for promotion.
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By TheKentishFledgling
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1828967
TheFarmer wrote::D

Must admit, I sometimes listen to friends at social events discussing their work, and it sends shivers down my spine. It sounds like 5% output, and 95% brown-nosing and tactical manoeuvring for promotion.


I'm now 18 months into self employment, and the only thing I'd change is to have taken the leap to that a good few years earlier. It's only in hindsight I realise how unhappy I was in that office environment, and how much I disliked working for other people. My new boss is much more reasonable :D
TheFarmer liked this
#1829046
TheFarmer wrote:Must admit, I sometimes listen to friends at social events discussing their work, and it sends shivers down my spine. It sounds like 5% output, and 95% brown-nosing and tactical manoeuvring for promotion.


There is no getting away from the fact that office work can be extremely dull. However, the above stereotype, like many, just really isn't true. People like this do exist in large organisations, but they rarely get far.

I worked my whole career in large organisations. Pretty much without exception, all the people I knew in senior positions got there on merit. They were all very hard working, extremely competent, and mostly highly intelligent.

Ask yourself if you would rather have someone working for you who is capable of doing their job well, or whether you want someone who gives 5% output, but blows wonderful smoke up your backside.
By Nick
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1829080
It makes sense now you have explained that you change the planting direction each year. I read it that you just carried on and on with the same 'motorway' tramlines.

Do you plough each year or direct drill?

Nick
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By TheFarmer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1829104
Haven’t ploughed for 33 years! That’s yesteryear farming.

In fact, I haven’t used a cultivator for 9 years!

Moving soil burns diesel, releases valuable carbon, and does nothing but make the surface look pretty. My view is that the seed only needs moisture, oxygen and soil contact. If I can do that without burning tonnes of fuel and wasting carbon, then that’s better.

If you look back to the start of this thread, you’ll see that I use a single pass drill system.
PeteSpencer, Nick liked this
#1829150
A valid approach for cereal crops, not so for root crops and vegetables.

A carefully controlled soil tilth throughout the rooting zone is important for uniform growth of crops like carrots and potatoes, and also enables mechanical harvesting with minimal crop damage.

Perhaps though, we’ll leave that for another day - this thread is about growing wheat. :thumleft:
By Bill McCarthy
#1835107
Ground is not warm enough for sowing oats yet but getting the dust off the power harrow/drill combo ready for action. Full sister of the ewe which produced quads last years has four on the ground and ready for going out today. Last years ewe has been scanned with four again this year - due to drop within a couple of days. An adoption hassle.
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