Farmer Focus: Soils looking healthier than farmer sentiment

It is so nice to finally have some frost to slow the crops down. Wheats had been flying along and were getting too far advanced from my point of view.

Winter crops have all had a foliar treatment of nutrition and biology to tuck them nicely to bed for the winter.

This will not only have stopped aphid attack but also given the crop their natural antifreeze to stop any frost damage over the winter.

See also: Biostimulants show wheat yield promise under low nitrogen use

About the author

Tim Parton

Tim Parton manages 300ha in South Staffordshire growing winter wheat, OSR, spring barley, beans, oats, lupins and wild flowers as part of a biological farming system. He grows cover crops and grass for haylage across sandy clay loam soils.

Read more articles by Tim Parton

Cover crops have established well and are still nicely feeding my underground livestock and sequestering the much-needed carbon back into the soils.

By feeding and maintaining soil biology, any compaction is taken out and the porosity of the soil is much improved, making for a really healthy environment where potential pathogens do not fit.

Biology has so much to offer if we can be bothered to respect it and work with it. 

Soil can change so quickly when the right biological approach is taken.

However, even with a healthy system in place I have struggled with the recent weather patterns and rising costs that have been thrown at us, especially when combined with the lack of support from the government.

Disillusion rife

Support is something I would never choose to rely on. But with our market dictated by global prices and currency movements, farmers need that safety net to continue farming and producing food when times are like they are now.

I have never known so many farmers feeling so disillusioned with the industry. Levels of anxiety, depression and suicide are higher than ever.

I volunteer for Staffordshire Farming Community Network, which offers support to people involved in agriculture – a really worthy cause, especially at the moment.

They recently held an autumn ball – attended by more than 400 people – which raised over £25,000 on the night.

It was a fantastic event that brought people together and, hopefully, gave them a much-needed break from the day job.