Farmer Focus: It’s going to be ‘death by houmous’
John Pawsey © Phil Weedon With spring drilling now complete, our attention has been diverted to inter-row hoeing our organic winter crops and mowing fertility leys for the first time to knock a few overzealous weeds on the head and give maximum light to the clovers.
Typically, we farmers around Shimpling are now starting to whinge about the lack of rain.
See also: Why Scottish growers are turning to winter linseed
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Hoeing blades are being punished by our cracked Hanslope soils and are being replaced with more frequency than budgeted for.
That, coupled with the Great Orange Man’s fight in the Middle East, has edged our overhead costs into eye-watering territory.
Among the usual farm trials we repeat here annually, we have a new one this year with Niab and my favourite Cambridgeshire farmer, David White.
We are growing chickpeas as a bicrop with spring oats, looking at various plant populations and, for us, the effect of those populations on weed suppression.
Having been cautious over seed rates and not wanting to run out of the valuable chickpea seed we do have, we have a few seeds left over.
It’s going to be “death by houmous” over the summer in the Pawsey household.
It was a joy this morning as an organic farmer to greet a Hutchinsons delivery driver in the farmyard. I really felt that I had rejoined the fold.
With the muck and mystery of organic and regenerative agriculture these days in biostimulants, microbial inoculants, biofertilisers, and other biocontrols, I fear that it may be becoming a more usual occurrence.
When I started farming, I used to walk my fields with a young agronomist called Andrew McShane.
We started our careers together in this wonderful world of farming.
Andrew progressed to chairman of Hutchinsons, whereas I am still walking my fields.
I’m sure that there is a lesson in there somewhere. Answers on a postcard, please.
Staying sharp shouldn't be a chore
