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David Lucas is convinced he has solved the recurring problem of chickweed control on his 500 acre dairy and arable unit at Haglow House Farm Blakeney in south-west Gloucestershire.

"Chickweed is a big problem in our grassland," says Mr. Lucas."For years we've been trying to tear it out with chain harrows because there was no other tool available but they are pretty useless. They leave the grass nice and stripy, like a lawn, but they simply don't get rid of the chickweed and we have had to resort to spraying the grass with Starane twice a year in spring and autumn."

Now Mr. Lucas has replaced his chain harrows with a new 6 metre OPICO Grass Harrow. "It's the best bit of money I've spent for quite a while," says Mr. Lucas. "Chickweed is very shallow rooted and spreads like a carpet but this new machine rips it out beautifully with the rake of the tines set in the middle of the range. I reckon it has paid for itself in two years with the money I have saved by not having to spray."

"We went over most of the grass once in the autumn, twice where necessary, and again this spring," says Mr. Lucas. "The machine folds up under hydraulic power so getting through gates is easy. We started early at the beginning of February but had to stop for a while when the land became too wet. The harrow itself wasn't a problem because I was using the depth control wheels to keep the tines up on the surface but the tractor wheels were sinking in and tearing up the sward."

"We keep our dry cows out at grass right through to December and because they're on a dryish diet they leave very hard dung pats like little molehills. This new tool breaks them down completely though and grass has grown back on the bare patches underneath."