Farmer Focus: More SFI mess and a small addition to the fleet

Well the rain has finally stopped and, when you consider the amount we’ve had over the past three months, I’m pleasantly surprised how well crops look and how well they walk.

The only caveat is our early-sown winter beans. Wet feet and chocolate spot have killed them.

The original plan was to direct-drill spring feed oats into them and create a bicrop of “boats” for animal feed. However, at best they were an overwinter nitrogen-fixing cover crop.

See also: Analysis: What SFI26 offer means for farm businesses

About the author

Keith Challen

Arable Farmer Focus writer

Keith Challen manages 1,200ha of heavy clay soils in the Vale of Belvoir, Leicestershire, for Belvoir Farming Company. Cropping includes wheat, oilseed rape and elderflowers. The farm is also home to the Belvoir Fruit Farms drinks business.

Read more articles by Keith Challen

How much more frustrating can Defra and the Rural Payments Agency get?

Like many, we were early adopters of Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), our first contract has just reached its second anniversary and, again like others, we were encouraged to take a second SFI contract, however much smaller than the first, as only a few options fitted for us.

Now they’ve announced you can only have one SFI26 agreement in future, which effectively means I can’t apply for another one until our much smaller agreement runs out, leaving a massive whole in income for a year.

It’s incompetence on a grand scale

Much like my comments last month on Countryside Stewardship, had I known this at the time I wouldn’t have applied for my second agreement.

The U-turns this government has made, both inside and outside agriculture, are unbelievable. It’s incompetence on a grand scale.

First nitrogen application

As of 5 March, we’ve completed our first nitrogen application. All winter cereals received variable rates based on biomass, with the first application reducing the rate on higher biomass areas.

I’m pleased to report everything worked seamlessly. The Rhiza platform from Agrii was used again to obtain biomass maps and generate a variable-rate plan.

It is nice to have a platform that is simple to use, simple to transfer data and does what it says on the tin.

Having reported earlier in the year there wouldn’t be any capital expenditure this year, I have to admit I’ve already gone back on my word.

The latest addition to the fleet is definitely the smallest machine we own, in the form of a DJI drone with biomass camera. What possibly could go wrong?