Low ground disturbance boosts the fertility in Fife

The Kingsbarn hybrid variety yielded 9.7t/hectare which is on par with last year for the 32 hectares. “We grow just enough to get the wheels in motion and to get an early entry for rape,” explained the arable and poultry farmer. “The Kingsbarn has performed well so we will be planting 50 hectares of it again this year. We are finding hybrid winter barleys leave a better gross margin than second wheats.”

The farm doesn’t plough and runs a low disturbance system which Mr Fisher believes helps improve the soil health. The winter barley is planted after a 4m Grange low disturbance loosener which breaks up the ground at 6-7 inches deep without disturbing the top crust. The seeds go into the ground with a Vaderstad 4m rapid drill then heavy rolled.

The growing conditions of this year's winter barley were very dry, with only 150mm of rain since spring. But the crop was established well in 2021 and the dry winter helped the roots to grow and make the plants well prepared for the summer drought. Most of the ground is classed as 3.1 in the Macaulay Institute maps and grows barley, wheat, oats, oilseeds, and field beans, as well as renting out land for broccoli. Mr Fisher is increasing the spread of the rotation to maximise the fertility in the soil and reduce the amount of inorganic fertiliser used, at the same time spreading the workload at busier times of the year. The winter barley typically gets 170kg of nitrogen per hectare which has been cut back 10kg this year in the face of fertiliser prices tripling.

The winter barley came off the combine at 17% and hit the specification for sale onto the feed market. The straw was sold in the bowt to a local dairy farmer, with a few bales also made for bed-and-breakfast pigs – but the majority of the straw is chopped back into the soil.

Next up was the winter oats which started on August 1, a full two weeks before normal, with the Dalguise variety yielding 9.96t/h destined for Quaker. Mr Fisher is delighted with the yield, which is up around 250kg per hectare than typical. The crop was established well last year and received 150kg of nitrogen per hectare. It was then combined at 15% and had a bushel weight of 56kg. The straw was chopped to put the potash and phosphate back into soil.

The oilseed rape started quickly after the oats on August 10, a full two weeks earlier than usual. The 110 hectares are currently the best paying fields on the farm with current prices. The crop received 30kg of nitrogen in the seed bed with bio solids or DAP for phosphate prior to planting. The varieties used were Aurelia and the club root resistant Scorpion, which both performed well with little yield difference between the two. The crop came off the combine at 7 to 9% with the only requirement to cool it down through the drier. The yield was between 4.8 to 6t/hectare which came to an average of 5.2/h which is 600kg per hectare more than last year.

The oil seed rape is planted following the Grange loosener which has legs set 50cm apart and the drill is lined up behind with the GPS. The drill is then set up to only plant seeds into the slits made by the loosener. The drill also spreads 5kg/hectare of slug pellets through a small mounted seeder on the Vaderstad. This is then heavy rolled and followed by a pre-emerge spray for weeds. Mr Fisher explained he thinks the 50cm spacing is about right with the strong and bushier plants producing good yields. In recent years they have managed to have limited damage from the flea beetle. The biggest issue last year was the largest flocks of pigeons he has seen on the farm munching on the rape over winter.

The biggest crop on the farm is the 263 hectares of wheat, which was 90% first wheats Skyscraper, Spotlight and Elation, and 10% second wheats were all Skyscraper. The first wheats yielded 10.5t/h whilst the seconds only 8t/h. Mr Fisher was a little disappointed in the second wheats which were around 1t/h less than he would have liked. He said: “The seconds looked well coming out of winter but got thinner as the season went on. The dry weather got to them; we lost a lot of tillers.”

Again in an effort to reduce costs Mr Fisher trimmed the amount of nitrogen applied from 220kg/hectare to 180kg/hectare. He explained: “We are basing our decisions on leaf testing and we look for greater efficiency out of the nitrogen we apply. We use liquid nitrogen and are looking at variable rate application in the future. Next year we are trying out some new varieties – hard wheats KWS Dawsum and Insitor.”

Next up for the Claas Lexion combine was the 100 hectares of Canyon variety spring oats which yielded 7.4 to 8.3t/hectare. The fields which received the hen manure were the highest yielding, with an average of 8.2/hectare showing the potency of the organic fertiliser. Across all the fields the spring oats typically receive around 130kg of nitrogen per hectare. This is helped by the nitrogen in the soil as all spring crops are drilled following winter cover crops such as phacelia, radish and vetch. The cover crops are planted straight behind the combine after harvest with the Vaderstad.

Mr Fisher said: “This year they might struggle because it was so dry, but last year they performed well as we had moisture. The cover crops really helps the seed bed in the spring and there is some residual nitrogen. We did a bit of testing this year so we know they work. Over winter the plants keeps the soils stable, and prevent erosion. The fields are grazed lightly by a neighbour's sheep where there are fences which adds a bit more nitrogen in the dung.”

The final crop for the combine was the winter bean variety Tundra which yielded 6.1t/h. The bean harvest started on August 24, a full month head of usual. The strong yields and no need to apply fertiliser means that Mr Fisher is expanding the area of beans to 40 hectares from 12 hectares this year. Also the focus on soil health and widening the rotation also means beans are important to the farm, with Mr Fisher very happy with the condition of the soil after the fields have been cropped.

The fields are soil sampled every five years and the farm uses the Omnia programme for making lime, seed and fertiliser plans from Hutchinsons, and ensure they are improving their soil health. Over the 1500 acres of cereals the farm grows, they typically apply a couple hundred tons of lime.