Spring sowing has given way to spring hoeing at Shimpling Park Farm.

This is an essential task to relieve my neighbours worries about the impressive level of flowering weeds that peak above our winter crops in May.

With a commitment to a huge area of SAM2 (or winter cover crops, as we used to call them), we realised that getting that level of seed in behind the combine when we are running around like blue-arsed flies would be a momentous task.

We are, therefore, undersowing half the area behind the hoeing blades as we weed.

See also: Why regenerative farming needs to start with the soil

About the author

John Pawsey

Arable Farmer Focus writer John Pawsey is an organic farmer at Shimpling Park in Suffolk. He started converting the 650ha of arable cropping in 1999, and also contract farms an additional 915ha organically, growing wheat, barley, oats, beans and spelt.

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Unlike our post-harvest mix, which will involve a more traditional mix of vetches, phacelia, mustard and so on, this early entry contains mainly clovers and a light sprinkling of grass so as to not out-compete the crop at harvest time.

Even though I am under no illusion that our spring crops sown in late April will not produce impressive yields, I’m pleased to say that germination has been rapid.

I do feel that we have given them the best chance that we could given the circumstances.

So hopefully they can return the favour by doing the best they can for us in August.

Even the seed-beds on our chalky boulder clay soils that we worked hard on after last year’s winter covers have produced an even emergence.

This was much better than I expected, which has given me a little more confidence in how we will deal with the increased area in spring 2025.

Love or hate the Sustainable Farming Incentive, it has given us the confidence to do much more of what we have been doing for years. It’s helped us to be a little bit braver.

Although there are costs associated with most of the options we have adopted, the amount over and above those costs has given us a small safety net while we learn.

I am very grateful for anything that takes a little bit of risk away from the increased costs that we face growing combinable crops.