Insight Focus
- Hot dry June helps start of harvest.
- Forage rye already harvested (to be used for gas for electricity).
- Oil seed rape harvest imminent.
What’s Happening on the Farm?
Harvest time again, it still catches me by surprise. Although a smaller area than previous, forage rye has come and gone into a clamp to make gas for electricity manufacture – exciting. I’ve forgotten how to work harvest yield software, so analysis is much delayed!
The speed of this harvest is probably down to the total lack of rainfall in June, 18% of normal and its been very hot.
We start again, though.
Crop Stage
Oil seed rape has now turned brown and harvest will be in about 5 days’ time, unless rain stops play.
For wheat, grain fill is over and we are about 2 weeks from harvest. This grain fill has finished some 5 days quicker than normal, due to heat, which implies lower yield. This, by calculation, will be a reduction of circa 1 tonne/ha, but of course we don’t know what the yield was before all of this happened. We are part of ADAS’s YEN programme (study of yield) so maybe we will be able to put a potential yield after deep analysis.
Sugar beet continue to grow with enthusiasm but are still behind. Aphids have been found in the crop but at very low numbers, helped greatly by the use of a neonic seed dressing. Consequently, we have not sprayed insecticides this year. Surely a better result for everyone. The Processor has been to see and encourages.
New to us this year, we have sunflowers. Our beekeeper is delighted.
Big Concerns
The “deck chairs” have been rearranged once again on the Titanic by HM Government who have helpfully issued a 150-page document for me to “flick through at my leisure” which will guide me to prosperity, at least that’s what I was told one morning at 5:45 am when I was woken by the radio programme “Farming Today”. Shortly afterwards I discovered that HM Government was back-tracking on an agreement they have with me by a factor of 20%.
This month I’ve attended at First Aid Course, not sure if the two are connected.
Ambitions for the Year
Failed with the “round thing”, see last month, but now we are happily setting up a small holding (“does she know what I do for a day job?” I ask myself in moments of silence) which includes lettuce and chickens.
When the bomb is dropped, we shall be OK. If anyone wishes to purchase wheat, before it’s all gone, please send money.
And if there is a demand for sugar, please send more money.
