"Oz" wrote in message
...
Gordon Couger writes

No till is not likely to be a big an advantage to the high rainfall and
cool
temperatures of the UK an the EU as it is in the hotter dryer parts of
the
world.

In 1976 (and for several years afterwards) I no-tilled my entire farm.
We used paraquat in those days but we were able to burn the straw.

Grassweeds became a major problem, and they still are.

Blackgrass (mysuroides something-or-other) is now resistant to dimfops
over much of the UK, with wild oat following on behind.

Personally I would expect a roundup-resistant blackgrass to be found
within a few years of a RR wheat being introduced.

So in the UK (particularly) weeds are still the major problem.
Remember weeds can and do germinate at any time during the year due to
our rainfall pattern.

Wild oats are one of the reasons I would like to see RR wheat.

I don't think that you can continuously raise one crop in high rain fall
high weed pressure areas conveniently till or no till with out developing
serious problems. I can do it longer in low rain fall areas but I still have
to rotate out.

I was talking to the guy that farms my home place about a place he bought
that had been in cotton for 75 years straight. I had custom farmed it for
the previous owner a few years. It was still making cotton but not very good
cotton. It took him about 7 years to get it back in production. He put it in
alfalfa for 5 years and the took care of all the trace elements problems.
The kicker was boron something that we are no short on.

GM crops are not the total answer to weed problems but they are one of the
best tools we ever have had.

I was able to control things like black grass and wild oats with cotton and
winter tillage to kill the winter weeds. But January and February are our
driest months so killing stuff in the winter is easy. If we have 2 or 3
inches of rain in that period it would be hell killing winter weeds.

We also have a richer choice of herbicides than you have. Having a state and
federal goverment that is pro farming is a real help. I still can't
understand the UK an EU postion on agriculture. How they turn their back on
an industry that is vital to their well being and makes up such a large part
of their GNP when you take it all in to consideration from field to fork.

We have stupid politicians but not that stupid.
Gordon