When the last load of our grain came into the barn my late father used to say - "Anyone who hasn't finished harvest by now deserves to lose it". He wasn't being vindictive. It was meant as a joke. And despite the fact that we finished everything, including the spring rape, on Saturday evening I am much too sensitive to repeat his words this year because I am well aware that whereas we in the east have had the easiest harvest for a long time, those in the west and north haven't been so lucky and still have a fair bit to bring in.
But that doesn't mean I'm happy - Oh no. We are now desperate for some of that rain that's been falling on other parts of the country. Autumn cultivations are proving difficult and costly using tonnes of steel. A lot of the rape that's been drilled in the last few days has gone into clods and dust and won't germinate until we get a downpour. Early drillers of winter cereals, of which there are a few in this area, will find the same.
And the sugar beet, which need a great deal of moisture at this time of year, have gone to sleep. In other words the leaves have wilted and dropped to the ground and when we do get rain will use much of the energy (ie sugar) stored in the roots during the sunny summer to re-grow those leaves reducing their sugar content and value.
Tomorrow I shall join lots of other sugar beet growers at the East of England Showground for a crunch meeting on the price British Sugar will pay for beet next year. I expect and hope that growers will stick together and support the NFU in its tough stance of demanding fair treatment by the monoploy processor. More on that in FW next week.