Summer of 2010

Well the dragons have been tamed, the chefs at Bannatyne’s Charlton house in Shepton Mallet have enthusiastically embraced Fussels oil and Deborah and I are sorting out a date for her to come and see us. On top of that, I can’t believe how many people watched the show and recognised me and the brand, we only had about 2 minutes of coverage but I suppose that just shows the power of publicity. I would also like to say a big thank you for all the texts and emails people sent in, you’re generous and supportive comments were and are much appreciated. So what else has been happening?

Well what a great summer! Apart from the odd deluge of rain in August we had some lovely weather for haymaking and combining. There was a rumour floating about that in the early summer even Andy Fussell made some great hay, unheard of, as everybody in the farming world locally will tell you. When I cut my hay you can guarantee that it will rain!! I was even congratulated by my two best customers, the notorious Baker Bros, but they still found fault as they cussed me for not making them enough!

Wheat yields were up and down, literally. In some fields, we had one end of the field doing 2.5 t /acre, and the other end doing 4.25 t /acre! This was due to the difference in the soil type, the light brashy soil had dried out in the dry period early summer and the grain didn’t fill properly. Whereas the heavy, stronger ground retained moisture and the grain was able to fill correctly.
Winter Barley, on our clay ground, performed well generally, although we did have a lot of volunteer wheat in it. This was a big problem all over the south west, and so we did have a few issues when loading boats at Southampton for export. The amount of admixture allowed of wheat in barley is 2-3 %. Barley going down to the boats, in some instances had up to 12 / 15 %!! As they say, the life of a farmer is rarely a happy one for too long.

Our oilseed rape was slightly disappointing yielding at 1.4 t/acre, down on last year but the oil content of the seed seems to be very good, judging by the %s we are getting from recent pressings. So I suppose it’s a classic case of swings and roundabouts.

Market prices of all our produce have gone up, mainly due to the weather, but not necessarily our weather! Russia for instance have had such a dry time that President Putin has banned all exports of wheat, and the weather has stopped the planting of next years crop because there is still not enough moisture in the ground .This news then drives up the world price of wheat which in turn drags up the price of barley, great news for British arable farms. However what is good news for some is bad for others i.e. dairy farmers. It all reflects the fact that farming is very much about a cycle and that everything about the land and nature is entwined. So, bad crops elsewhere means good prices for British arable farmers, but in turn this means the price of fodder in the form of wheat / barley for dairy farmers goes up, and this is at a time when hay and straw is scarce due to the dry summer, so again prices go up. As a consequence, many dairy farmers are already putting their animals on what should be winter feed to keep their milk yield up. Those swings and roundabouts can be vicious.

Moving on, we have put the combine to bed for another year. I did 269 hrs in the seat this season, and cut 1416 acres at an average of 5.2 – 6 acres per hour, or so the cab computer told me as it printed out my end of season stats. All I know was it was bxxxxy hard work, our latest finish time was 3.30am for heaven sake, and we only stopped then because it started raining!

This brings me onto thanking my ‘Harvest Team’ for all the long hours haymaking, baling, combining, blending, pressing, bottling, corn carting, storing, repairing and now working ground down and planting .Oh and I mustn’t forget to thank the wives and girlfriends of the team for all the cups of tea, late suppers, washing of endless amounts of dirty overalls, putting up with grumpy moods, loads of yawning and absenteeism from family duties

That reminds me….

” Hey lads, fill that skip next to the workshop with the scrap metal we have left over from the last 4 months, and we’ll use the money for our Harvest meal, I feel a steak and cider night coming on”

Speak to you soon….Andy