With the Autumn break yet to eventuate, farmers have begun, or are preparing to, begin dry sowing winter crops.
The benefits to dry sowing include; ensuring each variety is sown to a calendar date, being able to sow the whole farm on time and spreading labour requirements. Summer rain has germinated most volunteer cereals, so they should not be a problem when dry sown crops establish.
BCG Research Leader, Claire Browne, shared some of the key tips to getting the most out of dry sowing, including:
- clean paddocks are the preference to avoid weeds emerging in crop
- sow paddocks that you would sow regardless of the break e.g. livestock feed, green manure and hay
- don’t commit to long season varieties yet. If the break is late, shorter season varieties may be a better option.
- ensure you don’t restrict crop options (with the use of certain pre-emergent herbicides) should establishment fail. Think about what crop you may sow if you need to re-sow later
- understand the likely weed species that may occur in the paddock and what your ability is to control them in crop
- understand the herbicide chemistry that will be the most beneficial in a dry sowing situation.
This article was published in the Stock and Land, Thursday 2 May.
