Sowing season 2025. Crop summary

It has been a few weeks since we finished the sowing campaign, and we would like to summarise our crops and also take this opportunity to introduce you to our friend Nemesio's Gil seed drill.

Regarding the crops we sow, as we have mentioned on other occasions, we mainly rotate crops with pulse vegetables and some sunflowers. Pulse vegetables are working quite well for us because they are inexpensive to grow (mainly because they do not need fertiliser) and also leave very good stubble for the following year's cereal crop... hence why they are called soil-improving crops. We notice this especially with the yeros, which means that the barley for the following year is always slightly more advanced in its growth than ther fields that have not had yeros. The problem with yeros this year is the very low selling price (€170/tonne).

Another pulse crop that is performing very well is pardina and verdina (Ston) lentils. This type of lentil is not as delicate as the Castilian lentil, as it can be harvested with a combine harvester, and its selling price is quite attractive (around €600/tonne). This year we have also sown vetch, whose main challenge is harvesting, as it tends to stay very close to the ground… so we will tell you later how this crop turns out.

As for cereals, we continue to avoid wheat and focus on barley. We have been using Medinaceli barley for years with excellent results, but this year we were short on seed and sowed Záncara barley, which also yielded good results for many farmers in our village last year. Finally, we have sown some Rumboso triticale in areas with a high rabbit population… Some fields are seriously affected by rabbits, which cause significant damage.

We would also like to take advantage of this sowing-related post to introduce you to our friend Nemesio's Gil seed drill. What makes it special? As you can see, the hopper is mounted at the front of the tractor, while the rear only carries the sowing system. This has one main advantage: it allows you to use a high-capacity seed drill with a smaller tractor (Nemesio has the Fendt 314 Vario Profi+). As you know, seed drills (colloquially known as “octopuses”) usually require high-powered tractors to operate smoothly, especially when transporting them and when manoeuvring on slopes at the headlands. With this type of seed drill, a medium-power tractor works without any problems as the weight of the machine is distributed. It is a very good option!

Versión en español.

Gil short disc harrows

A few weeks ago, the Spanish manufacturer Gil provided us with one of their disc harrows to test on different terrains, and we’ve had the opportunity to conduct the necessary trials on our farm. Before sharing our impressions, we would like to point out that Gil specialises in cereal seed drills, but for years they've also developed a strong line of sprayers and soil preparation implements. The fast harrows are one of the implements that have recently been added to its portfolio.

As for the Gil short disc harrows, we could comment:

• There are from 3 to 6 metres working width. 24 discs (3m) to 48 discs (6m).
• Discs of 22‘ or 24’.
• Ring or cage roller.
• Weights range from 1,210kg (3m) to 3,500kg (6m).
• Disc support can be with tichk rubber or vibro arm.
• All disc harrows are suspended.
• It is a maintenance free implement.
• Hydraulic folding with automatic locking.
• Its construction makes it light and very robust, ideal for all types of terrain.

We still need to test it under more temperate conditions, as the summer in our area is very dry and the soil is extremely hard. However, we’ve already used the disc harrow on fallow fields and stubbles with promising results. The work was done with a 4 metre discs harrow paired with our Deutz-Fahr M600 Agrotron tractor (130hp). The tractor performed exceptionally well with the implement, both in transport and in the field. Based on our tests, we can draw several conclusions:

• This implement is ideal for shallow tillage.
• It provides a very uniform mixture of straw and soil on stubble.
• Its high working speed allows for covering many hectares in a short time.
• It is maintenance-free, ensuring no time is wasted when heading out to work.
• The cage roller works effectively in sunflower stubble, breaking up the residue.
• On fields where there is a lot of residue or weeds, it is the ideal implement to work with.

In conclusion, the Gil folding short disc harrow has proven to be a reliable and efficient implement for shallow tillage, even under the challenging conditions of our dry and hardened summer soil. We look forward to further testing under different conditions, but so far, the results are promising, indicating that this implement could become a key tool in our soil preparation processes.

 Short videos on our YouTube channel:

• (I) Gil disc harrow.
• (II) Gil disc harrow.

Versión en español.

Sowing days 2023. Camelina

With the beginning of November, we start the sowing season with renewed hopes after a disastrous last season due to the drought we are suffering. In this way, we recharged our strength and hitched the seed drill to the tractor to start the cultivation of Camelina... this is a new crop for us, although some farmers have been sowing it in our village for years. Camelina cultivation will help us to meet the CAP requirements and we will be able to comply with the required rotations... and it also leaves a good fallow for the following year's cereal. 

Once we decided that we were going to sow Camelina, we contacted the Camelina Company that provided us with the seed. This company has been working with this crop in Spain for more than 10 years. They will give us technical advice during the crop life cycle and they also will buy the harvested crop. 

As for the sowing work that we show you in the video and our photos, we can highlight the size of the seed, which is the first thing that catches our attention. It is a micro seed, so we need to completely change the configuration of the seeder to throw 8 kg/ha and leave it as shallow as possible, although it shall be covered. In this respect, the Gil seed drill works exceptionally well and does an outstanding job. 

With respect to camelina, and in order to give you a better understanding of this crop, we can highlight the following characteristics: 

• Drought resistant crop. 
• Early sowing to reach about 6 leaves before winter frosts. 
• Crop that can be sown with the direct seeding (no-till) technique. 
• Average yield is around 1,200 kg/ha. 
• Background fertilisation is recommended and cover fertilisation is essential. 
• Rabbits do not attack this crop significantly. 
• As far as the CAP is concerned, it complies with the P3 and P5 Eco-regimes. 
• Camelina Company is the company that supplies the seed and buys the production once it has been harvested. 

We will monitor the crop and we will keep you posted on the blog and our social networks... the results are sure to be very interesting.

Versión en español.