Arable Farmer Focus FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Prime example of why we must walk cropsA very dry end of March and April has enabled an easy spring drilling and spraying period. A year ago, this land spent six months under 3m of water. We… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: First SFI inspection completedIt’s a bit dry, isn’t it? We have had 15mm of rain since the end of February. We were due a good rain event over the Easter weekend, so we… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Early drilled wheats have gout flyWhat a contrast from last spring. Of course, ironically we are now getting desperate for rain, after one of our wettest winters on record. It’s a fact the weather is… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Doomsayers overshadowed by splendid workThe farm at Shimpling has rarely looked better than it has this April. After all the shenanigans this government has put us through since taking power last year, the sight… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: May the weather be with youI very rarely mention the weather in my articles, but it seems hard not to this time. Last April, we had more than 100mm of rain. Currently, at the time… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Surprised by low sulphur in wheat tissue testsWhat a contrast we have from 12 months ago. But I’m quite happy with it, as the past six weeks have been very productive and good for the soul. It… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Summer gloom with wet harvest and Trump tariffsBuilding on from the themes of my last column, we seem to have got to the end of summer without having a summer. Normally in a wet harvest we would… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: I'm keen to cut pesticides and learning howI’m very happy with how spring drilling has gone, as I'm sure many of you are. Around the middle of March some fields were still a bit too wet, but… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: A great sigh of relief as farmyard soldWhat a relief, even my eyes and cheeks feel strange as the stress and tension drains from my face. In the rat race you don’t realise how bad it is… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Landed with carbon audit from big supermarketI’ve just spent the past month starting my day at 4am. For those of you wondering: Why the early starts? I am one of these strange breeds of arable farmer… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Spring is my favourite time of yearIt’s so uplifting to be awakened by the sound of bird song this time of year. Spring is my favourite season, promising new life from the slumber of winter darkness… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Monitoring bee activity with on-farm sensorsFinally, the oilseed rape is reaching skywards so quickly I had to stop and stare to see if I could actually see it growing. This is just as well, given… More articles
