LUXIMO® ON FARM: David Hurn
About David
David is a third-generation farmer. He went to Eastern Agricultural College to study agriculture for four years, including a gap year which he spent in the United States. On finishing college, David spent another year overseas, harvesting green beans up and down the eastern seaboard, from Florida to New York state. He returned to the UK to work on the 150ha family farm in Norfolk.
Fast forward to now, and David has adopted min-till, the use of cover crops and a robust approach to black-grass management. While there’s a reduced tillage system in place, David uses the plough rotationally, or after sugar beet if the season has been wet.
Traditionally David’s priority has been high yields, but with rising input costs and falling prices, margins have become more of a focus in the last 12-18 months.
With no local millers nearby, and diesel prices driving up the cost of transport, David has moved away from milling wheats, and what he describes as the associated high input costs. This year’s (harvest 2023) winter wheat varieties are Dawsum, Gleam and Skyscraper.
Black-grass
Black-grass hasn’t been a huge problem but it is ‘a problem’ on the farm. “We used to grow potatoes which meant the rotation was wider and, with few effective chemical options, black-grass has become an increasing issue,” explains David.
“We’re using a wide range of cultural tools in combination with chemical options to a keep a lid on the issue as best we can. It’s a continuing war of attrition.”
David is using stale seedbeds and delayed drilling, aiming to get, and spray-off, two flushes before drilling autumn crops. Hand-rogueing tidies up any surviving black-grass in early summer.
Rotation
Sitting on the heavy silts of the Wash, the farm’s rotation has changed in recent years. Today, a rotation of two wheats, sugar beet, two wheats and spring barley, is fairly typical. Depending on the circumstances, pulses also feature.
Ahead of the spring crops, David has started sowing cover crops: “We’ve a four species in the mix – clover, phacelia, buckwheat and linseed. There’s a fine balance to be achieved. We want the cover crop to be competitive against the black-grass but not so much that it prevents germination. Otherwise, when we desiccate the cover crop, we’ll find a big flush of black-grass just before or after drilling the cash crop.”
Longer term, David is hoping the cover crops will improve organic matter and soil structure, meaning land drains better and is less ‘habitable’ for the black-grass.
Autumn 2022
Autumn 2022 was almost textbook according to David: “We had moisture but also dry spells, seedbeds were good and we were able to spray quickly after drilling. We didn’t struggle with the weather.
“I feel that I drilled a little earlier than I should of. There was talk in the forecast of the weather closing in, and after 2019, we thought we’d better get started. The first autumn crops were sown 12th October, but I would have liked to have waited another week or two. Hindsight is a wonderful thing – that weather never came, and I could have been drilling into November. But it takes a brave man to sit on the fence at that time of year.”
Spring 2023
Early spring played out well for David. He walked the fields a couple of times and couldn’t find much black-grass. “There’s only one field with some black-grass,” he says. “I suspect it was late germinating, coming through when the temperatures started to rise this spring.”
Looking ahead
Later in the year, David will be controlling black-grass in the autumn with stale seedbeds and late drilling. He’ll be aiming to sow the 23/24 winter wheat mid to late October, and time herbicide applications soon after drilling.
“We will be using Luximo and DFF across the board, then we’ll play it by ear. I might apply another 2 litres of Crystal, if and where I feel it’s needed.”
