The livestock trade is absolutely flying at the moment.

As a result, cropping plans for our home farm are looking quite different for next year.

At present, it looks like 2026 will see us growing the smallest area of cereals we’ve had in a long while.

See also: Farmer Focus: First SFI inspection completed

Instead, a small amount is in various Sustainable Farming Incentive options in some of the more awkward fields. Otherwise, there’s a lot of grass leys going in.

Conversely, the combinable crops markets are firmly in the gutter – a shame, as some of our crops are showing good potential this year. Some being the operative word, though.

About the author

Billy Lewis

Billy Lewis farms 140ha in North Herefordshire in partnership with his parents. They keep Hereford cattle, sheep and grow combinable crops. He also contract farms an additional 110ha. Cropping includes wheat, oats and spring beans.

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That potential might start withering away, much like the crops themselves, if we don’t get another top-up of rain soon.

Across March and April, we recorded a total of 52mm of rainfall. It’s not a drought by any means, but it’s well below the 10-year average.

With the next two weeks forecast to be dry and sunny, I expect we’ll be doing rain dances again by mid-May.

The last bit of rain we did have kickstarted the growing season, greening things up very nicely.

Coupled with rising soil temperatures, the countryside transformed in the space of just a few days.

I’ve managed to arrange a visit from Ellie Chowns, our Green Party MP for North Herefordshire.

I’ve assembled a group of local, young(ish) farmers like me, and the plan is to discuss the concerns we have for the future of the industry.

I know Ellie is regularly out meeting with farmers and is a keen supporter of the SFI scheme, so I’m expecting a constructive afternoon.

I would urge any farmer reading this to email their local MP and request a meeting – regardless of which side of parliament they sit on. We can’t afford to go quiet now.

Other jobs for this week include making a start on the winter bird seed areas, as well as establishing some wildflower margins.

It’s a fiddly job, but we have to make the most of it – in three years’ time the facility to support this sort of work may be taken away from us.