August farming Diary

 ‘Records Go ‘

Well into August and hardly any wheat cut , we have only managed to cut 40 acres out of 875 that we need to get through this harvest ! But as my grandmother always used to say….

 “There is always a time to get it in and there is always a time to get it out “

She was also partial to the saying “The world has come off its axis my boy. “, and looking at what‘s been going on lately all over the world and in our towns and cities, she wouldn’t be far from the mark! 

So, how did your rapeseed harvest go I hear you ask , well it was superb, we managed a yield of over two tonnes per acre in two fields and ended up with an overall average of 1.81 tons /ac over the whole farm, which is record breaking stuff. 

Remember the winter Barley I was telling you about? The fields that are on both sides of straight lane on the way out to the A36, well they yielded an average of 3.75t/ac! Again another record broken. What is the reason for this especially when we had such a dry spring?Well my answer is that the crop got off to a good early start last year and managed to get established well before

Christmas. The Barley was drilled early into fine seedbeds with plenty of good old chicken manure, an essential ingredient, and of course we had lots of rain. Come the spring we encountered plenty of warmth and sun and the soil managed to retain moisture due to a good plant coverage, which led to good tiller establishment and so the end result is a tremendous yield. Mind you, it’s more luck than judgment as I cannot control the weather as we know!

The Sunflowers are out at last on the roundabout by the Texaco garage, on the Beckington bypass. They look fantastic and have already been used as part of a local wedding! After a dodgy start in May, they have come on leaps and bounds and are already drawing admiring glances from the passing traffic, and rightly so, even to a hardened and cynical farmer they are a wonderful sight. Hopefully they will give a great yield, but we have a while to wait before harvest. As you might of seen and smelt we are already working grounds down ready for next years crops, so lots of very long hours in tractor and combine seats to come! 

The new fishing lake is beginning to take place and hopefully progress will be swift, so that we don’t get caught out by the winter. Penny’s are doing a grand job at the moment, but we can’t keep thieves out despite the huge gate that was erected and their machines have been robbed of batteries and diesel THREE times in the last four weeks, what did I say earlier about the world! If anyone does see anybody by the gate late at night then please ring me as I would relish the opportunity to tackle these perpetrators!!

Just one moan ( one more moan ) while I’m writing ,and that is in the field called Ten Acres, behind the house called Ten Acres on crooked lane, I had a lovely field of wheat , apart from along the green lane footpath . Three parts up the lane there was about quarter of an acre that had been walked over, rolled in, run about in, you name it, and it had been done to it! You could see where dogs have been running all through the wheat , it really is not necessary .The damage was horrendous , please ,if you see this happening then tell the people concerned to stop or retrieve their dog from whatever crop it happens to be , that would be great.

Combine calling……

Andy