A three-year study on conventional farms investigated different establishment systems, while comparing systems in a replicated trial.
The key parts of this study were:
Plough, min-till and direct-drill systems were compared.Trials on 21 farms for three years.63 fields of first wheat crops monitored.All fields were within 65km of Oak Park on medium textured soils.All fields were in tillage for 10-plus years, ploughed or min-tilled for five-plus years or direct drilled for three-plus years.
Establishment, growth and yield were monitored along with all inputs and management. Environmental performance was assessed with life cycle assessment analysis to determine the carbon footprint of wheat grown in the different systems.All inputs and outputs were costed using a standardised approach to allow fair comparison between growers and systems.Analysis of production costs, income and margins were undertaken.A tightly controlled replicated trial in Knockbeg, in the same seasons, allowed the same establishment systems to be compared, but in this case there was one site, under identical management.What we already know
There were differences in yield between the systems on the farms with direct drilled fields yielding less than both ploughed and min-tilled fields.
However, there were differences in spend across many categories of inputs, between the systems on farms.There was no difference in yield between the systems in the replicated experiment.What you will see at the open day
The main differences in spend on farms, between the different systems.How the spend difference impacted on production costs.Whether lower-yielding production systems, with lower costs, can return similar or better margins than higher-cost systems.How systems may impact on the carbon footprint of the grain grown.
A three-year study on conventional farms investigated different establishment systems, while comparing systems in a replicated trial.
The key parts of this study were:
Plough, min-till and direct-drill systems were compared.Trials on 21 farms for three years.63 fields of first wheat crops monitored.All fields were within 65km of Oak Park on medium textured soils.All fields were in tillage for 10-plus years, ploughed or min-tilled for five-plus years or direct drilled for three-plus years.
Establishment, growth and yield were monitored along with all inputs and management. Environmental performance was assessed with life cycle assessment analysis to determine the carbon footprint of wheat grown in the different systems.All inputs and outputs were costed using a standardised approach to allow fair comparison between growers and systems.Analysis of production costs, income and margins were undertaken.A tightly controlled replicated trial in Knockbeg, in the same seasons, allowed the same establishment systems to be compared, but in this case there was one site, under identical management.What we already know
There were differences in yield between the systems on the farms with direct drilled fields yielding less than both ploughed and min-tilled fields.
However, there were differences in spend across many categories of inputs, between the systems on farms.There was no difference in yield between the systems in the replicated experiment.What you will see at the open day
The main differences in spend on farms, between the different systems.How the spend difference impacted on production costs.Whether lower-yielding production systems, with lower costs, can return similar or better margins than higher-cost systems.How systems may impact on the carbon footprint of the grain grown. 
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