Arable Farmer Focus FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Planting potatoes by hand in bad conditionsIt has continued to rain in inches rather than millimetres, putting massive strain on farmer's mental health. The to-do list did not get far since my last column as dry… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Trip up North reveals extent of crop damageWeather issues continue to dominate but some motorway-based agronomy on a recent drive up through the country gave the impression that we in the South East haven’t had it quite… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: 2024 is testing farmers but we’ll find a wayLet’s start with the positives. March and April contracted potatoes are all delivered to the factory and seed destined for chitting is dressed against the inevitable rhizoctonia (given the cold,… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Diverse summer cover crop is plan B this yearThe long-term weather forecast is a huge concern. Jobs are mounting up, crops remain in a perpetual state of stress and commodity prices show no sign of budging. Sentiment among… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Lack of data sharing is a barrier for farmersDespite the weather, I feel lucky compared to some areas of the country. We have been able to get most of the work done, with only some rutted tramlines to… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Maize area rises as spring plans abandonedI am getting bored of starting these articles with weather woes, but here we go again. The six months of autumn and winter have now given us 772mm against a… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Enough dry weather to drill barley and beansWe experienced a hectic end to March, with 10 days of intermittent dry weather providing us enough of a window to get all of our spring barley and spring beans… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Demoralising ruts in the majority of fieldsI’m beginning to sound like a stuck record, but continuous rainfall through March has made progress on field work almost impossible. At time of writing we have completed 50% of… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Scottish Parliament meeting causes alarmFor the past year I have been involved in the Biodiversity & Profitability programme, a peer-to-peer knowledge exchange scheme funded by the Scottish government. It involves 20 farmers within the… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Why I'm now eating porridge each morningI’ve only gone and done some bloody farming. Literally today. Who knows what I’ll be doing when you are reading this, but at present we are worrying some soil in… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Grain market does not bring many smilesIt has been a long winter, since the rain started in early October. Our February rainfall was only just above average at 75mm, but like many months in the last… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Struggling crops and no cereal grazingWet, wet, wet. Not a huge amount of excitement out there at this stage in the year. Fields are saturated and crops are struggling. Our wheat and barley have faired… More articles
