Farmer Focus: Sometimes talking nonsense is just what’s needed
Andrew Wilson © Angela Waites Photography The potatoes are slightly better than anticipated in terms of quality and yield. That’s not to say they are going to make any money, but they could definitely be worse.
As I write, we have 30% of our crop to desiccate, so here’s hoping it’s not a bonfire night finish to harvesting.
Muck has once again shown its value, and I’m trying to convince myself the blood, sweat, tears and diesel spent on irrigation has been worth the effort.
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All crops have increased in risk in recent years, but no more so than input and capital-intensive crops like potatoes.
We keep rising to the challenges, but the challenges are unending at the moment. It’s a tough old season, regardless of scale or system.
We’re just about drilled up and I have engaged my spade and implemented my cultivation policy of as much as necessary but as little as possible.
Fuel efficiency has been a focus of machine choice this season, with recreational subsoiling not necessary given the depth and vehemence of the cracks in our land this summer.
Our drill collection always gives us options to trim a bit of cost at times, and this year is no exception, they all have a place – some saving fuel and some reducing the need for pre-cultivation.
I can be a bit old school with seed rates. Dad’s adage of 12 stone in mid-September, then up half a stone a week after that is still a good guide, but a wide range of thousand grain weights this year has pushed me back into focusing on seeds per metre, at slightly higher levels than historically sown.
CPD takes many forms, and some don’t need certification. Most Thursday nights a group of us from a wide range of backgrounds meet in one of two local pubs for a pint, put the world to rights and generally take the mickey out of each other.
It’s therapy, an escape from normality for a couple of hours. I sometimes have one of those days where nothing goes right, have some tea and think I can’t be bothered to go out, but I do, and always come home glad I did.
It’s not much fun at the moment for all sectors, and just sometimes, talking nonsense keeps the world the right way up. Look after yourselves.
