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 Farm News July 2011 |
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Looking back over the last year, it would best be described as one of extremes. Firstly, the weather has been rather uncooperative and somewhat out of synchronisation with the farming calendar. The year started with one of the coldest winters in recent memory which, although chaotic for those travelling on the roads, didn’t cause too many problems on the farm and did provide some natural pest and disease control for the crops. It also provided some opportunities to earn some extra income with the snowplough, as well as providing the odd tow up Bumpers Hill for stranded parents! Once the snow finally melted and spring came, Mother Nature appeared to go into overdrive with what ended up being one of the hottest, driest springs ever. The spring sown linseed struggled to germinate in the dry conditions and the cereals have suffered some |
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| yield penalty without sufficient
rain. Many of the insect pests (thought to have perished in the cold winter) had an ideal time of it, especially in the oilseed rape and field beans, both of which needed several sprays to avoid yield loss and protect seed quality. Rain in July helped save the day to some extent and crops in this part of the country are faring better than the ones in the eastern counties. Now with harvest about to start, it’s raining and the forecast for next few weeks is not looking good, let’s hope we don’t have a wet harvest. The second extreme to affect the farm has been the prices we receive for the crops we produce. Over the last twelve months, prices have more than doubled for commodities such as wheat. This has come as somewhat of a shock to all concerned, since a year ago experts weren’t forecasting any upward movement in prices, but the failure of much of the Russian crop in 2010 due to drought and wild fires, led to a global contraction of supply and an increase in prices which was then inflated by the actions of speculators within the market place. This has been a welcome relief for the farm as the low prices of recent years have made it difficult to make ends meet, but the recent high prices have a knock on effect, as we are having to pay much more for the inputs such as seed and fertiliser which we need to grow next year’s crops and recent reports of Russia staring to export its grain from this harvest have already caused the markets to contract by twenty-five percent with further drops forecast. Thus, it’s becoming a real headache for farmers as selling at the wrong time (for the wrong price) can make a big difference to the income of the business and the profits or losses made... The farms workshop has been busy over the last few months with the welder coming into good use. The home made oilseed rape drill which was made two years ago has been redesigned to fit the new Sumo Trio cultivator. This means that we will be able to sow the rape in one operation, saving both time and helping to conserve valuable moisture which should lead to rapid crop establishment. A combined weight frame and mounting bracket for the slug pellet applicator has also been made so that we can apply slug pellets whilst spraying, thus we can now do both jobs at the same time and a tractor mounted brush was made for the grounds department, so that they can make perfect stripes across the cricket pitches! With the amount of rural crime we are witnessing at the moment, we have decided to have immobilisers fitted to all the tractors and the telehandler. Like most farms in the area we have had our share of petty theft recently, with scrap metal and tractor weights being stolen from the yard and buildings, plus the ongoing problem of trespass and poaching over the land. One of the most annoying incidents was having a field of linseed driven over within hours of it being planted. Now most of the gateways on the farm have been blocked using trees and soon we will have more trees in gateways than there are in Sheephouse Copse! Last summer we completed our application for the renewal of the Entry Level Stewardship Scheme (ELS), which means that we will have more land around the farm dedicated to wildlife habitat. From a practical farming point of view this causes little inconvenience since most of the ELS options can be sited in corners or around field margins; however weed control can at times be problematic. Generally ELS areas on the farm consist of either tussocky grass margins to provide habitat for ground nesting birds and small mammals, flower mixtures to provide nectar for insects, or seed producing crops to provide birds with a winter food source. Other areas include hedgerow management and in crop nesting sites for skylarks. The farm and the CCF have also spent part of last winter planting a new area of woodland to mark the 150th Anniversary of the cadets. The trees used include oak, ash, hornbeam, wild cherry and hazel and a hedgerow has been planted in the same area using a mixture of species including blackthorn, hawthorn, and guilder rose. The trees used were donated by the Woodland Trust and Simon Butler, (1995 Sutton) of Greenhills Nursery, kindly donated further trees as well as the tree guards and stakes. As part of the farms ongoing machinery replacement policy the decision was taken in February to replace the remaining John Deere tractor. After much thought, it was decided to buy another Massey Ferguson since we are pleased with the one bought last year as it has performed well without any problems. It’s amazing how much tractors have changed over what it a relatively short space of time. Nowadays, four wheel drive, axel and cab suspension, clutchless gear changes, and air conditioned cabs are the norm, with satellite guidance now becoming more popular, especially on large farms, far different from the Fordson Major father had on the farm when I was growing up! |
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Paul Sigley, Farm Manager |
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