Andrew Blenkiron opts for Soisson wheat after beet
Many of you will scoff, but we have been sowing Soisson wheat after the later lifted sugar beet. It’s an old favorite of mine, but the lack of yield potential has steered many away from its bearded charm.
The variety has always done well for me in later sown situations on lighter land, and with the suitable contract in place I am looking forward to the questions as the ears emerge.
With wheat markets yet again heading for the doldrums, I do hope that we have all sold as much forward as we usually do in a poor year. Admittedly we are not quite in the situation that we were three years ago, but who knows how far down it will go. Don’t say that I didn’t warn you that this would happen. Volatility is a traders’ dream, for those who catch it right, that is.
I suppose that combining our grain into pools or marketing cooperatives might be one way of spreading the risk – I always find that it takes all the fun out of the job, but it certainly gives an element of security even if only a proportion of our crop is covered. There is the old comment that only the merchants benefit from pools – that is not necessarily the case if you market through a co-op and rely on a specialist working for a set fee.
The sugar campaign is going well with sugar content and fresh beet yields continuing to please. We are more than half way through and the question of whether we lift and clamp or risk the January weather is uppermost in our minds at the moment. With a number of days of game shooting sold on the estate, I find that I am getting plenty of free advice from all of those visiting farming consultants, not only on beet issues, but also on most of what we do. I have no doubt that you all know that feeling!
