Plan before leaping into lucerne

01-09-2010 | Not Specified

Both the Griggs and Turnbulls are following the trend and plan to sow lucerne following their winter crops. Lucerne with prairie grass will be sown together at Meadowbank.

Before going in guns blazing, experienced lucerne farmer Doug Avery cautioned against sowing before the soil structure is right.

"Don't drill if the surface is not suitable.

"If it is too wet you should wait and sow in December."

Tony Turnbull was hoping to drill his Interval rape with lucerne this spring but the farmers at the field day expressed concern that the large storksbill and horehound weeds must be eliminated first.

The consensus was to deal with the weed problem by spraying with something in spring that would "do the business", then going through a second winter crop.

The pH of the paddock (at 5.8) was also deemed below optimal for lucerne. It was suggested lime be applied to lift pH to 6, but not in tandem with glyphosate. This is because the spray effectiveness is reduced.

Optimising pellets in the short-term, followed by ag lime longer term, was floated as an option. Soil scientist Richard Hunter said the sulphur level (up around 32) was high in the block, probably because of proximity to the sea. Sulphur can be associated with rape scald so sulphur fertilisers should be avoided.

Doug Avery summed up the day when he said that you need at least a two-year lead in to lucerne.

"Take a systems approach."

William Grigg agreed.

"When we've only done one winter crop, we had trouble with weeds like barley grass."

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