We have had a pretty hectic time recently as we have been picking our cotton and implementing our sowing program. The drier weather we have been experiencing allowed us to pick our cotton without too many delays for a pretty good result considering the tougher season.
Our long fallows were still full at harvest time last year due to flooding in October and we have carried this moisture through with an additional 250mm since then. Long fallows planted now couldn’t really be in a better position. Short fallow from cotton, has very little moisture at all.
We practice no-till farming sowing with our NDF planter and harvesting our cereals with a Shelbourne Stripper front all using controlled traffic. For the past three years, we have been rolling our stubble early in the fallow with a 12-metre-wide field roller to create a blanket over our soil conserving soil moisture and hopefully some improvement in soil health. With the predicted drier seasons upon us I am interested to see the benefits of this practice moving forward as the past few years have been too wet to fully analyse.
As sowing and picking is completed, I am now focused on in crop sprays and our soil nutrition programs. With the relief in urea pricing, I am a lot more at ease spreading now. Additionally, I am looking to update some key equipment.
