Farmer Focus: More and more litter in the countryside
© MAG/Colin Miller The rain switch is now flipped to off, so we are catching up with field work, including mowing the Countryside Stewardship two-year legume fallow fields.
Previously, I successfully mowed a few hectares, but this has now expanded on the worst soil and blackgrass areas.
See also: Farmer focus: Good rotation is key for weed control in no-till system
About the author
Hopefully, I can avoid ploughing any patches for grassweeds this year, but if the rain switch gets jammed in the off position I may have to use the technique to guard against roadside field fires after last year’s experience.
I may also need to use it against excessive wandering over grass margins. I’m all for public enjoyment of the countryside and have permissive paths.
However, I’m finding more and more litter everywhere and it doesn’t help the wildlife, never mind the health and safety risk.
I am, therefore, concerned about how increased right-to-roam proposals would work.
As usual, the blackgrass amazingly manages to head again about a week after being mown.
As long as we keep on top of the grassweed in the first year, it does seem to keep it under control.
Although as far as I can see, it’s not quite as effective as rotating herbal leys around.
Mind you, you do get paid less for these and need some of those tricky woolly things.
Unfortunately, our trial of planting spring barley in wide rows with clover in between, to be followed by inter-row mowing, has not quite made it.
While we had enough good bits to take a picture that looked like it had worked, there were too many areas of no clover and too much groundsel, or blank/slightly out-of-line barley rows, to continue.
We will have a crop, but this is thanks to herbicides rather than mowing.
A couple of other farmers I was working with do have successful wheat plots like this, so we will have to watch them and maybe try again in the autumn.
