Mark Spicer, managing director of Norman and Spicer Agriculture, Hutchinsons Group, has been looking for alternative methods to control weeds including black-grass, rye-grass and wild oats.

Mr Spicer said: “I knew that American farmers were practising weed wiping which is exactly what the name implies, wiping weeds with herbicide from a boom on the back of a sprayer.

“So I spent some time looking at how this would work here on some of the more difficult to control weeds and this has led to a collaboration with Boston Crop Sprayers.”

A weed wiper is a kit attached to the back of the boom made up of a row of sponges that are gravity fed with herbicide.

“A farmer in Bedfordshire had a weep wiper retrofitted to his conventional sprayer to apply glyphosate at a concentrated rate to destroy wild oat and black-grass seeds ahead of the next crop, and there is no doubt that we have been able to kill off a large amount of the black-grass and prevent a huge seed bank being returned to the soil,” said Mr Spicer.

“We need to do some further work to quantify this, but the reduction is significant enough to warrant spending more time on the concept.

“Timing and speed of application of the glyphosate to the weed is critical; the black-grass has to be in flower and not yet filled and the weed really needs to be wetted so a higher speed works better.”

There are also crop factors to take into account, he added. “There needs to be a gap between the weed and the crop to ensure the herbicide is not wiping the crop at the same time as the weed, so a good PGR programme should be used when considering weed wiping.”

The weed wiping approach is in its second year of trials. As well as cereals, it may also have potential for use in weed control in sugar beet and brassica crops, according to Mr Spicer.

Article provided by Marianne Curtis, reporter for Arable Farming magazine. To view more stories like this why not subscribe to FGinsight.com 

Twitter: @ChrisHewis

Biog:  Chris Hewis manages a 280 ha mixed farm in Lincolnshire, growing winter wheat, winter and spring barley and winter oilseed rape. 40 ha of grass supports a suckler beef herd of approximately 65 continental cross cattle, producing stores. He was not born into farming, but was always very interested. “I remember visiting Riseholme College as a 9 year old primary school pupil and thinking how I would love to study there. Nine years later I did exactly that. A three year sandwich course turned out to be a fantastic experience of living student life to the full and also got me the letters NDA to put after my name.  I have been in this job since leaving college 27 years ago. I’ve been married to Katy for 22 years and have a daughter and two sons. I follow Grimsby Town Football Club, have a HGV licence, am BASIS and FACTS qualified and have recently decided to improve my fitness level by joining a running club. I’m involved with the local Rural Training Group and with #clubhectare as one of the original co-founders.

Title: Feed varieties favoured – wheat and barley

Year on year cropping plans don’t vary greatly as I stick to the same 5 year rotation (OSR, winter wheat, winter wheat, spring barley, winter barley) for the whole farm. Winter barley is grown for a number of reasons – being early to harvest it not only spreads workload, but also ensures that there is no delay in getting oilseed rape drilled. The straw is used for the cattle.  I have grown malting varieties in the past but now stick to feed varieties due to the yield benefit and poor premiums from malting markets in the past. Cassia will be planted again this autumn following another successful harvest with it.

Oilseed rape is a crucial part of the rotation due to the benefit of having different chemistry available for grass weeds. I choose to grow hybrid varieties because of their consistently good performance. This year I have planted DK Exalte, Popular and for the first time, a Clearfield variety Imperial, due to a serious and increasing problem with cranesbill in one field.

Winter wheat will be split between three varieties this year. It will all be Group 4 feed varieties because the close proximity of the export facilities only three miles away. Dickens will be the main variety in the 1st wheat slot as it has performed very well here this year. It has been very clean all season, has yielded exceptionally well and has threshed well to produce a good clean sample. I will be trying some Reflection due to its high yield potential and high specific weight.

The choice for 2nd wheat will be Evolution this year, meaning the end of an era for JB Diego which has been grown for quite a few years now. Evolution has good disease ratings, has performed very well in a small but sensible sized plot and seems to tick all the boxes for a second wheat.

Spring barley is grown to spread workload and to aid blackgrass control. The malting variety, Propino, has been grown for the first time this year and has produced exceptional results, so will be chosen again for spring 2016.

Cultivations policy varies across the farm as the soil type varies widely. In one case there are four different soil types in a three hectare field. Generally the policy is to plough rotationally so mainly for spring barley and for winter barley. OSR is drilled conventionally following disc harrowing and subsoiling where necessary. Rape stubbles are left for a couple of weeks after harvest to allow any volunteer rape and some other weeds to grow. These are then sprayed with glyphosate, the tramlines subsoiled, and shallow disced. If any more weeds grow, including blackgrass, the glyphosate is repeated and the discing is repeated to a greater depth, pre-drilling. A power harrow drill combination is used for all crops.

The farmed area is unlikely to change in the near future, but the cropped area is likely to increase slightly due to the areas of Environmental stewardship land being brought back in to arable production. The old ELS scheme brought about some great improvements to the wildlife and environment but the new replacement scheme doesn’t seem to add up.

CropTec 2015:

If you’re considering adopting more efficient cultivation techniques or looking at ways to improve the health of your soils to reduce your crop establishment costs, attending our new Crop Establishment Seminar, sponsored by Horsch, will pay dividends.

In addition to the free advice on offer at this topical, technical and practical seminar, there will be numerous exhibitors you can talk to regarding your cultivation and soil care strategy. This new and important area of CropTec is designed to help you boost yields further and reduce those all important unit costs of production

To encourage knowledge exchange among the British farming community further, this year’s event is FREE for farmers to attend. You MUST pre-register online to ensure you receive your free place.

General pre-registered admission: £12, all visitors will charged £15 on the gate on the day of the event.