ÄDELHOLM 2024: SOWING
(2024-04-18, sow +0 days, 0 degree-days_base3, 0 mm rain)
The clock has started. Sowing was complete on 18 April, with the first seed planted at ca. kl14.
- Variety: Smart Iberia KWS
- Seeding rate: ca.105 000/ ha = ca 5.5 seed per meter = one seed every 18.3 cm
- Depth: ca. 3.2 cm
- Row width: 48 cm
- Area: ca. 4.5 ha (ca. 4 ha of the field will be sown as part of Summer Meeting 2024, including with FarmDroid, with sowing rigs that place fert., with other trials, and with flower strips).
18 April is 11 days later than sowing 2023, which wasn’t particularly early either. That means the potential for the crop is definitely reduced. We usually say 1% in potential yield is lost per day after 15 April. The last three days have been pretty cold, so that is probably overstating it. If we take 25 March as the preferred sow date, we’ve lost about 125 growing degree days (base 3 degrees). That is a fair few.
We’ve also lost about 47 vernalisation hours. That is likewise a fair few and suggests that we won’t have problems with bolters. At least not from the seed sown this year.
There was a fair bit of debate about seed placement during set up of the machine. With the weather forecast for not much rain, we could sow without fear of capping, i.e. deep was OK. With the soil being fairly dry up top after harrowing, we wanted a bit of depth to ensure the seed sat in moisture and on a more stable bottom. At the same time, given all the moisture down deep, it is expected that moisture will rise in the profile. And shallow is always quicker (when there is moisture). In the end, we landed a little deeper than 3 cm. Basically, the setting the machine was at.
SUMMER MEETING 2024
One part of Summer Meeting 2024 will be an area sown and mechanically weed controlled with FarmDroid. The photo shows the machine being used to mark out the boundaries of the area to be FarmDroid-ed.
