AllyR's blog

         Harvest started on 5th August with Pearl winter barley and finished on 23rd September with Robigus wheat. The only disaster this year was the decking of half my winter barley acreage with a helluva rain storm one Saturday night in July when the crop was still green. I did, however, manage to salvage 6.5 t/ha of feed quality off it.

          As the cheques for grain started coming in this year, any pleasure was quickly dampened by the stream of fertiliser and fuel cheques going the other way for next year's crop.

          With all barley and oilseed now off the farm and weights finalised I can give you some Gross Margins. These are income net of levies and charges. I have managed to include drying costs this year, being diesel and gas used by a tractor powered Opico mobile.

Winter barley: Pearl

OUTPUT £:   6.77 t/ha     854                                       COSTS £:     Seed           59

                                                                                                      Fert           163 

                                                                                                      Sprays       104

                                                                                                      Contract         0

                                                                                                      Drying           27

                                      £854                                                          Costs       £353         Gross Margin  £501

Oilseed Rape: NK Grace

OUTPUT £:   4.17 t/ha      1434                                        COSTS £:    Seed           42

                                                                                                        Fert            184

                                                                                                        Sprays        112

                                                                                                        Contract        40

                                                                                                         Drying          34 

                                      £1434                                                           Costs         412       Gross Margin  £1022

Spring barley: Optic

OUTPUT £:   6.38 t/ha      1090                                         COSTS:       Seed             79

                                                                                                          Fert             118

                                                                                                         Sprays            89                                                                                                         

                                                                                                          Contract           0

                                                                                                           

                                        1090                                                             Costs          286  Gross Margin £804

         The Wheat crop is all in store with, unfortunately, no early sales. The first lot will leave in December at £92 per tonne and the rest is yet to sell. The variety is Robigus and the dried yield is hoped to work out at 9 t/ha. This will give me an estimated Gross Margin of £390/ha. I have always been happier with Riband on this farm but I am unable to get the seed now.

          As the wheat prices demonstrate there is no room for complacency in this job. It is looking like next year could be back down to earth again, then add back 150% to 200% of the fertiliser costs and your are pushing the costs up by £250 to £350 per hectare. That's back down to earth with a bloody great thump!! That Gross Margin estimate of £390 at 9t/ha will be almost virtually wiped out.

         Having had a splended evening watching all those thoroughly deserving winners at the Farmers Weekly Awards in the Grosvenor Hotel, I have nothing better than the wooden spoon for Yara. 

 

 

          What a difference a week can make. Last weekend was full of the euforia of real herst weather and my winter barley coming in with great expectations, then Friday, the devastating news that Foot and Mouth disease had once again struck British stock. I, somehow, felt relieved on Saturday night to learn that the virus could be from the local research centre. There does, now, seem to be more hope of it's containment.

           The Pearl winter barley broke records for me. the weights are now in and the yield is 8.66 t/ha, (I may have a weight reduction of about 2% as the average moisture was about17.5%), but it made malting spec with N levels at 1.85 and a price of £130/t. I presume that will be beer malt as it is too high in Nitrogen for whisky malt.  This gives an amazing output of £1125/ha.  What a difference from the £420/ha - £500/ha of the past years. But did it come at a heavy cost?

            The inputs were: seed at £44/ha; fertiliser at £117/ha; sprays at £89/ha and contract at £8/ha, giving a variable cost total of £258/ha and a Gross Margin of £867/ha. What a difference from my usual figure of nearer £200/ha. My drying costs were minimal being confined to reducing two loads from 20% moisture to under 19%. 

              The oilseed rape will come to the combine next. On Friday it was lying in the swath at over 20% moisture, but is now at about 12.7% moisture. The forecast is giving us a strong probability of rain with some heavy showers possible tonight, so I'd better go and get the drier ready. 

           What a contrast in the weather. Today we have had the drouthiest day since sometime in May. This allowed us to get the winter barley harvested. We started cutting yesterday at 1.00 o'clock, stopped for rain at 1.30, started at 2.00, stopped for rain at 2.30, started again at 7.00pm. We finally finished at 4.00pm today in glorious harvest weather.. The variety, Pearl, appears to have yielded well at about three tons per acre but I await the lorry weigh tickets for a yield figure. The moisture content started at 18% yesterday and finished at 16% today. The crop is well in as the heads were hanging ripe and the wind tonight would certainly have shed a few. I have had a very lucky break in the weather.

             It always gives me great satisfaction to go in to breakfast at 7.00 am having achieved a successful mission-accomplished. Not that I do that very often but more through neccessity to catch up with another job in desperate need. So, at last, I have managed to get the pr-harvest glyphosate on to my winter barley.

             By 5.30 the sun was in the sky. The crop was dry enough and not a breeze. A hint of a Northern airflow provided the final incentive to get on with the job as there was a crop of seed potatoes to the North next to the barley. The job was getting desperate as the barley is ripening fast and with four to five tatties (potatoes) per square metre in many strips this was a much needed control. I will be lucky if this one spray does the job without another one to prepare the field for tatties again in six years time. I thought I had made an early start but the farmer who has my tattie ground had just finished spraying the tatties (for blight) !

               The oilseed rape is now being swathed in this area and I expect to get mine done on Sunday or Monday. The spring barley is looking well despite the cold wet weather. My worry at the moment is of high Nirogen content due to the very dry April leading to late uptake of Nitogen fertiliser. 6 t/ha is just a "hope for" at this stage, anything could happen. Likewise the wheat is looking good with a 9 t/ha yield just a "hope for" at this stage.

 

Good luck to everyone with the new forum. It is fine to have some of the extra functions. I hope all goes well and that everyone can get the hang of it quickly. Just testing - Ally.