In this series, we’re following farmers around the world.
We’ll look at what they’re up to on the farm, hear their concerns, and celebrate their triumphs.
Here’s the link to the farmers’ bios, in case you missed them.

What Have You Been Up To, Hugh?

Christmas happened and, with it falling on a weekend, very little occurred for 14 days either side, as far as I could see. My farm cat was present through the whole period, though.

And, while I think of it, Happy New Year! May it be a profitable one for those involved.

Nature ignored the holiday season and carried on as normal. When I say ‘normal,’ I actually mean it was very warm. Whilst delivering sugar beet, my lorry, made by a reliable Scandinavian firm, assured me that the temperature outside was 17°C, which is about 10°C warmer than normal.

Happily, most lorry drivers were not at work, so deliveries ran smoothly, although my sucrose yields dropped as clamped beet doesn’t like sitting out in the heat. Those left in the ground, about 50% at Christmas, continue gain weight and sucrose, though.

We continue to lift small areas of beet to match the delivery schedule as best we can. This should be the pattern until mid-February, after which we’ll lift the balance and put it into clamp as the beet plant will think its spring and want to use the sucrose it’s stored for new growth, which will just be bad.

What Stage Are Your Crops At?

Our winter crops are now dormant, more or less, due to reduced daylight hours, but growth in the wheat and oilseed rape crops has just quietly carried on. This must be good for potential yields in the main, and is true of the late planted wheat, as well as snow drops.

Looking at the long-range probability maps recently issued by the UK Met Office, we can expect an early spring, which should set these winter crops up well for yield.

Warm temperatures, though, are good for aphids and these insects keep me awake at night as I don’t think we really understand them, and we certainly cannot kill them very well. Having said that, our Agricultural Minister has kindly allowed us to use neonics this coming spring on the beet seed, subject to many things, of course…

What’s Your Biggest Concern?

Today, my new concerns centre around the domestic sugar beet industry. I used to always fret that the processor would be the one to close down the industry. The simple argument being that the parent company could make more money by building houses, for instance, on the factory sites. Whilst this may still happen, I think it’s the grower that is going to kill the industry.

I think this for two main reasons.

Firstly, the grower is detached from the crop. Other than supplying the land and spraying the crop with pesticides, the grower is doing less and less. By this, I mean the contractor is taking over. This gradually de-skills the farmer, so when it goes wrong, they see crops harvested late and are left with fields of mud and destroyed structure, which usually takes two years to recover. So, why bother? Why not grow dandelions? With the general direction of travel for English agriculture, I don’t know how this is addressed.

My second reason centres around price. Czarnikow’s beet pricing tool has printed prices as high as GBP 34 pmt since its inception. Whilst this has been an improvement versus the processor fixed price offering, my straw poll suggested that a price of 40 GBP/mt would be needed to stop the decline in grower numbers, all other things equal. History says that this is not an unobtainable price but, even if we make this number, I’m not sure many growers will enter the sector (yes, those left may increase area).

And What Are You Doing Differently This Year?

Diversification at times of stress is always dangerous, so my plans for the coming year are just to do what I do better than last year, which includes growing sugar beet and keeping the wife happy. Happy wife, happy life.