The final wheat of the year to harvest was our wide row crop with an inter-row legume mulch. It was equal measures of trepidation and anticipation putting the combine into field. With a strong stand of legumes and the Roman’s to blame for a handful of fat hen plants, green matter in the sample was a slight concern. Cutting the crop as low as I dared go whilst not missing any ears, I soon had a visual in the tank of largely clean sample. With grain moisture at 16%, requiring a pass through our batch drier anyway, I need not have worried. The small amount was soon ejected out of the top, leaving a behind a perfect sample.
Once the combine was correctly set up it was an enjoyable job, our combine header matching up perfectly with 10 wide rows of wheat, revealing beneath, vibrant green strips. Yield matched almost precisely half that of the farm average. In truth spring wheat was always the wrong crop for the situation given its lack of propensity to tiller and therefore not commercially viable, but it is useful to capture the information to inform future practice. Whereas winter wheat at the same spacing yielded 9.56t/ha last harvest, equating to 80% of the farm average that year.
Clean lines of clover beneath the header
Lucerne has been another legume we have trialled
A close up of the Clover
Pre-harvest in our inter-row companion field
Share this: 
