OLLIE STOBO
Meet the Fundatis® Herbicide Grower Group
OVERVIEW
The land is made up primarily of Grade 2 stoney brash and crops are established via low disturbance, minimum tillage cultivations.
The cropping plan is based on a four-year rotation made up of two years of winter wheat, spring barley and finally a break crop of either peas or spring oats. Variety wise, Ollie grows Extase, Palladium and Skyfall, with the aim of selling into milling markets, and Laureat barley for malting.
CASE STUDY
OLLIE STOBO CASE STUDY
(Runtime: 110)
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What is your biggest grassweed problem?
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Blackgrass is our main issue. That said, while I have places where blackgrass could be better, we're a lot better off than a lot of people. Some areas are very clean, but on the rest of the farm we do have our bad years. We see most of the issues in our second wheats.
What is your standard programme for controlling Blackgrass?
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Our main approach comes via cultural methods. We use low disturbance, minimum tillage to establish crops and then sheep come in to graze the cover crops which we find helps with the weed management too.
Chemistry-wise, we typically do six passes – desiccation, pre-emergence, spring herbicides, nutrition and then finally an ear wash.
FARM FACTS
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Location: Oxfordshire
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Arable hectares: 174ha
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Average wheat hectarage: 89ha
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Soil type: Grade 2 stoney brash
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Crops in rotation: Winter wheat, spring barley, peas, oats
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Grass weed issue: Blackgrass and ryegrass
TOP TIP FOR TACKLING BLACKGRAS
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Our main approach comes via cultural methods. We use low disturbance, minimum tillage to establish crops