Arable Farmer Focus: Will Howe suffers post-harvest blues
I had hoped to be writing this article from the poolside of an exotic hotel, while sipping the well-earned “post-harvest” champagne from an iced glass.
The reality is that I am stuck in the farm office with the rain lashing against the window with steam rising from the dog. The Indian summer certainly passed this farm by.
The rape has all been established successfully with my “A-Team-style” drill. Those in this area who have seen this contraption will know what I mean. The addition of seed-bed fertiliser really seems to be making a difference and the fields all look well, bar a field of DK ExPower which appears to have had a slightly suspect germination.
The plan was to finish the rape drilling and then head straight for the Vaderstad and go charging into the wheat campaign. The first field highlighted some technical gremlins, which were soon sorted out with a mixture of a Kit Kat wrapper, insulating tape and a lump hammer.
Well, after getting 48ha in the ground, Mother Nature decided that all was going too well and that a hurdle needed to be put in our way. Unfortunately, this hurdle is like one on a steeplechase course and involves water – nearly 100mm to be precise.
Heavy land and large amounts of precipitation are not best bed-fellows and it is going to need a good strong wind to dry the land now. My agronomist said we don’t need to panic… yet.
The wet weather has been beneficial for a direct drilling experiment that I have carried out. A local dealership kindly demonstrated a very versatile drill, which at the time I was a little scathing of. The wheat is now up in rows and looks a picture. With a little bit more confidence, perhaps I will establish a larger acreage of wheat in this fashion next year.
