MICHEL MERCIER: PEAS AS AN AGRONOMIC WEEDING TOOL Written by Frédéric Thomas, TCS Magazine No. 46 - January / February 2008 Like many farmers, Michel Mercier first got into direct drilling based on the economic savings it offered. He first worked with an SE Horsch then onto an AT Köckerling, then onto a SD Kuhn, only to find that the drill is only an ingredient, only part of a solution, purely the way to do something. He soon realised that the key to success lies in the soil, it’s quality and its structure. On his soils with low potential (gravelly to stony silts with a good proportion of flint) in the North-East of Chartres (Eure-et-Loir), he re-taught himself to respect the soil by means of TMCE (Mineral Technology Culture and Breeding – www.tmce.fr) placing a much greater importance on building organic matter whilst developing a more balanced approach to crop nutrition. Now with 12 years of knowledge,
he has been able to reduce his average Nitrogen rates (only 100 kg of product in two applications: 50 kg in the spring and 50 kg in the autumn), he observed straws decomposes more rapidly and the biological activity seems much more efficient. The crops are doing well or better than they did under his previous farming system. This has especially been visible in areas where cereals would not previously grow, with these areas gradually disappearing over time. “Finally, the organic matter levels that initially fell to around 1.5% have risen to about 2.7% and with little plant cover,” says Michel. The proof is evident in February, when the levels of residual N were generally
quite low in this region, the farm’s cereal plots show high levels (between 79 and 80 kg N) with total input calculations reduced to only 65 kg N / ha for a target of yield of 7.5t/ha
Emergence of grassweeds However, after 7 years in a wheat / rapeseed rotation grassweeds have gradually invaded the fields. A return to tillage was naturally the first solution considered. However, the idea of destroying the improved soil structure that took so much time and patience to progress to its current state alongside fears of bringing up dormant weed seed to the surface soon put Michel off that possible solution to the grass weed issue he faced. Rather than simply give up on his zero-
Pea, used as a weeding tool, besides its effectiveness, progressively shows all its agronomic advantages in a rotation
DIRECT DRILLER MAGAZINE
www.directdriller.co.uk 37