Arable Farmer Focus FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Will South West become new wheat basket?It is hard to sum up the past month or so. We were very fortunate in south Devon to receive a significant amount of rain over the Easter weekend, which… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Fingers crossed rain arrives next weekThe spring wheat is looking well, especially considering the lack of rainfall. It’s had 90kg/ha of nitrogen plus a dose of micronutrients, fish hydrolysate, molasses and fulvic acid, and I’m… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Rewilding, beavers and nut treesThey say: “A dry May and a dripping June makes the farmer whistle a merry tune”. There has been much merry whistling at Shimpling since all winter crops have been… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Derisking cropping for dry springsSpring is doing what is usually does these days, in delivering very little in the way of useful moisture. With only 22mm in March, 18mm in April and not a… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: A pleasure to see yellow OSR fields againMy yellow block of oilseed rape is now fading, but it was a pleasure to see it again. This is helped no doubt by the low numbers of cabbage stem… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Don’t treat symptoms, look at cause of problemWe have finally had some rain, but nowhere near as much as other parts of the country and nowhere near enough. Still, things will move fast now with temperatures predicted… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: We'll be growing the smallest area of cerealsThe livestock trade is absolutely flying at the moment. As a result, cropping plans for our home farm are looking quite different for next year. At present, it looks like… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Wheat suffering with severe drought stressNorfolk is living up to its name as the driest county in the UK. Recent rainfall has amounted to just 12mm on 15 April, with nothing since. To make matters… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Prime example of why we must walk cropsA very dry end of March and April has enabled an easy spring drilling and spraying period. A year ago, this land spent six months under 3m of water. We… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: First SFI inspection completedIt’s a bit dry, isn’t it? We have had 15mm of rain since the end of February. We were due a good rain event over the Easter weekend, so we… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Early drilled wheats have gout flyWhat a contrast from last spring. Of course, ironically we are now getting desperate for rain, after one of our wettest winters on record. It’s a fact the weather is… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Doomsayers overshadowed by splendid workThe farm at Shimpling has rarely looked better than it has this April. After all the shenanigans this government has put us through since taking power last year, the sight… More articles
