You would normally be fairly safe from frost in mid May in the southern half of England, but the weather just seems to keep us on our toes this season. Excessive rain over the winter, followed by cold easterlies sucking the moisture from the soil as we tried to catch up with drilling in March. A lack of rain in the first part of April … Continue reading Jack Frost pays a visit.
I am a glass half full type of person as I am sure most farmers probably are. Otherwise, why would you plant something 10 months in advance of harvesting, not knowing what the weather was going to throw at you? My precision agriculture problems of the last few weeks are slowly progressing towards a solution, but we are not there yet. Thanks to long conversations … Continue reading Glass half full.
When I sit down to write these blogs it is always with a sense of anxious anticipation. Although thoughts about what I might write next are often passing through my addled brain, it’s not until I start typing that I actually find out what topics will appear. Earlier in the week I decided it must be lack of rainfall. Could we be on to a … Continue reading An April shower leaves the records in tatters.
Spring oats are on their way now despite the efforts of the crows. You can just see the empty husk of an oat seed bottom left of the photo. Anywhere the slot left by the drill had not been closed, they were in looking for seed to eat. So did cultivation type make any difference to which block emerged first? Was it autumn cultivated and … Continue reading Which one came first?
We are taking social distancing to the limit here in this photo. No gatherings over 2 people and at least 2 metres apart. I think we have ticked those boxes. We meet each morning in the large and airy workshop. We started off 2 metres apart and are now nearer 5 metres. The three tractors that we run are all 215 horsepower John Deere but … Continue reading Three’s a crowd
Farmers are never happy! First it’s too wet then it’s too dry. Actually, it is just really good to be doing something at long last. Soils that a few days ago were soaking wet are rapidly drying out and turning to concrete. We all knew that when it stopped raining it was odds on things would swing in the other direction. The sun and the … Continue reading From bog to concrete in a week.
Amazingly this winter linseed has spent most of the last few months submerged, mostly for just a week at a time, but it is still hanging in there. I am hopeful that it will recover and the surrounding fields that we failed to get drilled over the winter might still get a crop in for harvest. The sun, working with the wind last week, has … Continue reading Time for some optimism?
