FARMER FOCUS: excitement is the arrival of a new drill
There are times when you need to learn when to keep your lips tightly sealed to save tempting fate.
Well, while having a meal in the local pub in late August, a kindly local asked how harvest had gone. My understated reply was: “A breeze. The wheat is nearly in, the rape is mainly planted and up and the end is in sight.”
I think I must have upset the gods with my smug self-satisfaction. Since then it has been breakdowns, followed by minor irritations, followed by more problems. The final straw was when the telehandler came to a halt, blocking not only the door to the grainstore, but also to the dryer reception pit. A foot either way would have helped.
As always the service from our local dealers has been fantastic. A special mention for Mike, who manages to fix the combine despite being sustained on a diet of fruit pastilles, and Roy, whose knowledge of Challengers is only rivalled by his appetite for coffee.
My bad luck did not end there. As punishment for breaking down on the NFU county chairman’s farm midway through drilling his oilseed rape, I was selected to be NFU branch vice-chairman. I am now preparing for office by avidly watching the great leaders currently in public life.
Think of Ed Milliband, President Putin, Dominique Strauss-Kahn or the BBC hierarchy. What can possibly go wrong?
Harvest has been something of a mixed bag on the yield front. The rape was poor, which I had expected, but I had not expected the fields with bare patches to out-yield those which had an entire crop. The wheat was a pleasant surprise, especially the field that resembled Lake Windermere for three months during the winter, which averaged over 10t/ha.
The main excitement of the summer, though, has been preparing my new drill for action. I ultimately bought an 8m Vaderstad Seed Hawk, which will give me the ability to carry on direct drilling my wheat while, hopefully, boosting my output. There are a few modifications I hope to carry out before we start drilling to try and improve the performance.
Will Howe farms 384ha of medium to heavy land at Ewerby Thorpe Farm, near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, growing wheat, oilseed rape and winter beans
