Arable Farmer Focus FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Where has the winter gone?Last month I wrote that the weather had come in wet after a prolonged dry spell. Well, that week of wet was about it for our winter. The ground is… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Dry spell needed for harvest to startWhat a strange climate we live and try to farm in. In previous pieces this year I was concerned about drought. Cereals were standing still and potato farmers were irrigating.… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Cover crops key to manage weather extremesIt is winter in South Africa, and a cold one at that. Winter is our dry season, so not much grows now – it is either too cold or too… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Winter barley yields fall, but wheat is averageThe winter barley report card is in. Much as expected, there's not a lot of grain or straw, and yields are 30% down on our five-year average. The cost of… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Over the moon with autosteer on the combineHarvest is here again, and I think for many of us we will be glad to get it out of the way and start again. As farmers/growers I think we… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Wearing 'tangoed' t-shirts for a safe harvestHarvest started a few days earlier than normal, with Craft winter barley cut on the 6/7 July. I am pleased with performance and the full malting spec was a promising… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Do visitors realise the history they walk on?Although harvest started a while ago, having taken two cuts of grass so far, winter barley should just be getting cut as you read this. The timing for this year’s… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Get ready to play OSR bingo again this summerOur harvest campaign has kicked off with six-row Kingsbarn feed winter barley. So far yields and quality seem respectable and above expectations although we have had some difficulty fully de-awning… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Adding trees to the organic cropping systemSo, we had our June splash, over 80mm in fact which means that our under-sown leys are looking good in the bottom of our spring barley and oats. However, it… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Colouring useful for stewardship applicationsLike some of you, I am sure I’ve been colouring in maps this last week as we apply for countryside stewardship. I can still hear those words of encouragement from… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Spring barley at risk of ramulariaI guess it was inevitable that once silage was planned, it would rain nearly every day. Although this interrupted our silage making for five days, it has been a good… ARABLEFarmer Focus: Extra spring crops limits storage spaceAs harvest approaches, we have the tricky problem of working out where we are going to store our crops. Sadly, it’s not a problem because of anticipated large yields, but… More articles
