One of the biggest problems faced by us all in arable farming
is the price of our commodities. I have never been so interested in
the value of sterling against the euro - it seems it only has to
move up or down by a cent and the price of wheat moves a
pound.
This seems to be all that is driving the markets and, as the
recession shows, we are not very good at reading what currencies
do. It means is almost daily conversations to try to catch the
market at the right time. The harsh reality is it is time to be
office-bound and reduce the heaps of paper that have built up while
out doing the fun stuff on the estate.
There is, however, still plenty of time being allocated for
field walking, with slugs on the march and an ever-increasing list
of fields that need autumn Atlantis as dormant blackgrass leaps
into life after the rain.
Add to this the Kerb to go on the oilseed rape, and our new
sprayer operator should know his way around the Bateman by
Christmas. It's time to get the marketing right so the cash flow
can cover the cost of all these inputs.
I have been astonished to hear of fellow farmers who have not
received their maps yet. When will this incompetence stop? That,
plus taxpayers' money reportedly wasted by the
Rural Payments Agency, should
be front page news.
But it never is; Our industry likes to keep anything to do with
subsidies a bit quiet for fear of what people will think. We should
tell them - as EU money
becomes more and more decoupled, we are being increasingly paid to
manage the countryside in a way that those who care are happy with,
and still produce cheap food.
Kill two birds with one stone. Promote British farming, and
expose more government inadequacies.
Richard Cobbald is farm manager for West Wratting Park Estate
near Cambridge. The 1300ha (3200 acres) of heavy soils grow wheat,
oilseed rape, sugar beet and spring barley.
For more from Richard Cobbald click here.
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