Crop Production
Session 5 - Planting Crops
This resource is suitable to support Level 2 Agriculture courses.
Content
This unit on planting crops will contain information on the following:
Session 1 - Planning and Recording Including Choosing the Right Seed Variety
Planting Crops - Planning and Recording
Before planting a crop the viability of the enterprise should be assessed as part of the overall business plan. It is important to assess and predict:
Enterprise Management
Effective enterprise management should be based on effective recording of field characteristics, dates of operations and inputs. The advantages include:
Choosing the Right Seed Variety
There are a number of different seed varieties available for all crops, all with different characteristics.
Choosing the Right Seed Variety
Seed variety affect:
Choosing Varieties
When choosing varieties, producers need to assess their strength and weaknesses and consider important factors such as:
Session 2 - Planting Equipment
Planting Equipment
A wide range of crops are grown in the UK, all with various characteristics and requirements.
Categories of Planting Equipment
These equipments can be categorised into three different types:
Equipment
The equipment must have:
Broadcasters
Seeds can be distributed onto cultivated land using a broadcaster, seed flows from a hopper via a metering device onto a PTO driven mechanism comprising of single or twin disks or an oscillating spout. Seed is thrown behind and to both sides of the broadcaster. Broadcasters are best suited to conditions where precision is of less importance e.g. sowing grass seeds.
Broadcasting Seeds
For best results seeds are broadcasted onto fairly moist, cultivated soil that has been ribbed rolled so that the seeds fall into the furrows made by the roller. Seeds can then be covered with a light harrow, chain harrow or rolled in. When broadcasting cereal seeds, the seed rate should be increased by 5-10% to allow for inaccurate sowing depth.
Drills
Drills have the ability to sow a range of seed sizes from small grass seeds to large beans. They’ve been developed to satisfy the needs of different crops and soil types, there are four main types of drills available:
Drills That Sow Seeds Only
Drills That Sow Seeds and Fertiliser
Drills that sow seeds and fertiliser and also cultivate the soil
Drills that sow seeds directly into uncultivated soil
Drill Components
The main components of a drill are:
Gravity Fed Drill
Seeds can be placed in the coulter to be sown either with gravity or by an air- conveying system.
Pneumatic Drill
This type of drill has a central hopper, seeds are metered underneath and then blown by a fan through the tubes into the coulters. The advantages a pneumatic drill has over a gravity filled drill are:
Tramlines in Crops
Ideally drills should plant all the seeds at the same depth and surround them with firm, moist, warm soil, the coulters are designed to do this.
There are different types of coulters available to suit different soil type and conditions.
When needed individual rows of the drill can be shut at the bottom of the hopper, this is especially useful when creating ‘tramlines’, which are tracks along the field without any plants, these tramlines are later used by sprayers and fertiliser applicators, they minimise plant damage and ensure accurate application.
Tramlines in Crops
Planters
Where crops are grown as individual, spaced plants, it is necessary to plant seeds individually rather than in a stream.
Precision Seeder
Accurately planting individual seeds is achieved with the use of a cell metering device on the planter. Seeds that are to be used have been graded so that they are all of similar size and weight.
Precision Drills
Similar to gravity filled drills, the precision seeder has a number of single row units, each with its own hopper, the row width can be adjusted.
Potato Planter
Once a potato seedbed has been produced, the seed potato (tubers) needs to be introduced into the ridges, this needs to be a delicate procedure to avoid damage, especially so if the seed has been artificially sprouted through being stored in a dark environment.
Potato Planter
A potato planter must be capable of dealing with a large amount of seed material, about 40,000 tubers is acceptable to save on refilling time.
Potato Planters
Tubers are collected from the hopper by a row of cups mounted on a belt and carried towards a slot in the ridge of soil created by a v-shaped soil opener, the ridge is then reformed and the tubers covered by a set of mouldboards.
Two Row Potato Planter
Two row planters are standard but four row planters are available.
Session 3 - Sowing requirements of cereals, forage maize, and potatoes
Sowing Requirements
For a successful crop establishment and production, seeds need to be sown at the correct rate and depth and have an efficient density.
Conditions need to be favourable therefore timing also is important. These factors vary with the type of crop that is grown.
Spring Cereal
Sowing Date
Autumn Sowing of Spring Cereals
Autumn ploughing heavy land is essential to allow winter weather to produce a ‘frost mould’.
Plant Population of Spring Cereals
Population
Seed Rate
The seed rate (kg seed per hectare) is determined by three factors:
Expected Establishment Percentage
This is difficult to determine due to the external factors affecting it such as:
The farmer should use his knowledge, experience and history of a particular field to estimate the expected establishment percentage for each field, an establishment guide would be:
Sowing Depth
The relatively large seed of a cereal has a good carbohydrate store enabling it to germinate from relatively deep sowings, deeply sown cereals will show low early vigour and have a hooped appearance.
Seed Dressing
Most purchased cereal seed have been dressed by the supplier to protect against pests and germination and establishment diseases.
Wintercereal
Sowing Date
Plant Population of Winter Cereals
Population
Winter cereal will tiller sufficiently to give an adequate crop density from a plant population of 100 plants/m², but higher populations of 250 -30 plants/m² are recommended to:
Populations over 350 plants/m² are wasteful and can lead to lodging.
Seed Rate
The basic theory behind seed rate for spring cereal also apply for winter cereal but rates do vary.
Sowing Depth
Sowing depth doesn’t need to vary significantly between spring and winter cereals but the colder autumn soils, the risk of frost damage and the fact that winter cereals have more time to establish mean that a slightly greater depth is beneficial for winter cereals.
| Cereal | Sowing date | Seed rate (kg/Ha) | Sowing depth (cm) | Row width (cm) | Population (plant/m2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Wheat |
Late February - early March Mid March > |
190 - 220 220 - 230 |
2 - 2.5 | 10 - 17 | 400 - 500 |
| Spring Barley |
Feb - March April |
125 - 150 160 - 170 |
2 - 2.5 | 10 - 17 | 350 - 400 |
| Winter Wheat |
Late Sept - mid October Nov - Dec |
140 - 160 180 - 220 |
2.5 - 3 | 10 -17 | 250 - 300 |
| Winter Barley |
Mid Sept - early Oct Mid Oct - Late Oct |
140 - 150 150 - 190 |
2.5 - 3 | 10 - 17 | 250 - 300 |
Forage Maize
Sowing date
Forage maize can be sown on any type of soil, providing that a good, fine tilth can be produced in late April, early May.
Heavy soils aren’t suitable since they are slow to warm up while light, shallow soils aren’t suitable due to being susceptible to drought in summer.
Soil Temperature for Maize Planting
Soil temperature is a large factor in deciding on sowing date. It is advised not to sow until the soil temperature is above 10ºC, this occurs in late April in the south of the UK but it’s early to mid May further north.
Growing Forage Maize Under Plastic
Seed Rate and Population
For a target plant population of 11 plant/m² a seed rate of 12 seeds/m² is used.
Sowing Depth
A precision seeder must be used to plant the seeds at a depth of 5cm in rows that are normally 75cm apart.
Seed Dressing
Purchased seed are usually treated with a fungicide, insecticide and a bird repellent can be added since rooks can devastate a field during germination.
Potatoes
Sowing date
Sowing date depends on a number of factors including:
Timing of Planting
Potatoes are sensitive to frost so shouldn’t be planted until after the last frost of winter.
Seed Size
The larger the size of a seed potato, the more shoots it’s likely to produce, but many shoots from one tuber can have a negative affect due to competition.
Seed Treatment
Seed potatoes can be stored in an environment that allows them to ‘sprout’ i.e. start growing.
Sprouting
Different varieties sprout at different temperatures; all varieties need a temperature of 4ºC or over to sprout while all varieties will grow rapidly or excessively at 10ºC.
Ideally sprout length should be 1.9-2.5cm at planting.
The advantages of sprouting are:
Planting
Care should be taken when planting sprouted tubers since sprout is susceptible to damage, this is why seeds are still planted by hand in very early areas such as Jersey.
Seed Rate
The amount of seed potato in weight to be planted to the hectare depends on a number of factors:
Seed Rate for Different Varieties
For varieties producing large tubers e.g. ‘Desiree’, the seed rate is commonly 2.5-4.5 tonnes/hectare.
