Farmer Focus: Stewardship turns OK harvest into a great one
© Kathy Horniblow The harvest report for cereals is in. Winter wheat 9.6t/ha (16% over budget). Spring wheat 4.2t/ha (17% below budget). An average result overall, and I would take that, considering the weather we had.
However, the spring wheat was a low-input cereal (AB14) following a brassica fodder crop (AB13).
When the financial benefit of those two are considered, it was a great harvest that has been de-risked by having stewardship in the rotation.
See also: How to narrow the UK yield gap to help improve food security
About the author
Harvesting in high heat was an experience, with 16,000 litres in the field with us always and the combine being blown down up to five times a day. A great effort by the team.
We discovered that there was a “witching hour” at about 4pm when you would start to see fires pop up around the horizon.
People would stop combining as they knew the fire brigade would be busy at the current fire and they didn’t need another issue.
It was also great to see so many local farmers come together and help one another when there was a fire nearby.
Sadly, after a short illness my boss of nearly 20 years, the wonderful Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire – “Lordy” as he was known among the staff – has died.
He was a fantastic, caring man and gave me the freedom to farm his farm to the best of my ability. You only have to look at the length of service all the staff have put in to realise what a great man he was.
He used to recite stories that made you wonder how he survived to his ripe old age. These included his favourite trick of removing stumps from the ground with gelignite.
On one occasion, using a little too much explosive and too short a fuse resulted in the stump blowing over the jeep he was hiding behind. The debris spread over 400m.
He was also the man who invented the phase “abandoning the car”. On many occasions you would see his car parked at a jaunty angle, or even blocking Malmesbury high street, or left in the drop-off zones around Waitrose.
His favourite trick was to have a laminated piece of paper informing the traffic warden that he was “on a delivery”.
Lordy never used a four-wheel drive and instead took his BMW car around the fields. Let’s just say that it is a bit like Trigger’s broom now, and I have pulled that car out more times than I care to remember.
I will miss you hugely, LS, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity you gave me and the person I have become, all because of the trust you had. Rest in peace, Sir.
Staying sharp shouldn't be a chore
