Arable Farmer Focus FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Volcanoes, vines and variable costsBuenos días from a very sunny Lanzarote. I thought farming in the UK was hard, but compared to growing grapes here, it’s a walk in the park. See also: How oxygen… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Pumpkin picking and classic politician styleOctober meant pumpkin picking season for us. It was a slightly different arrangement this year, as we were only open on the weekends. I can safely say that was the… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Our soils are becoming self-structuringOctober has certainly made up for September's damp, dull start to autumn. Soils dried out nicely and crops have been drilled in great conditions – a contrast to last year's… FARMER FOCUSFarmer focus: An autumn to lift the spiritsApologies should be handed out sparingly, which is why I’m not about to row back on what I said in my previous piece about the prevailing pessimism in the farming… FARMER FOCUSFarmer focus: Long-standing questions on variety trialsLast year’s winter wheat drilling was a stressful affair, full of uncertainty about whether to start or hold off, and then a period wondering whether anything would come up at… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Good progress in a surprisingly smooth autumnThis autumn has been one of the easiest I can remember. I began drilling on 7 October, about three weeks earlier than usual. It would have been even earlier, but… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Harry adds to the positive outlookWhat an October it has been. With all the current financial and political gloom surrounding British agriculture, I thought readers might welcome a little positivity. The weather this autumn in… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: It’s tempting to not plant, but we’re farmersWe’re a month ahead of last year. That felt good to write. We are drilled up, just had 15mm of rain after a dry spell, and have 12ha of potatoes… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Too much N is an 'eat me' sign to aphidsWhat a beautiful month October has been so far. This reminds me of Octobers as a young boy, helping lift potatoes and sugar beet. I would be getting machines ready… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Second wheats replaced with lower input triticaleWe’re fortunate enough not to suffer from any major issues with blackgrass, something I like to think is the result of having a mixed rotation. We also don’t have a… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: There’s been massive change in our systemIt’s 20 years since I finished college and started full-time farming, and I’ve seen massive change in our “farming system”. Back then, a large amount of land was in continuous… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Winter barley looks great despite weed pressureThis autumn has been a relaxed affair. We started drilling the winter barley on 22 September and it is all up in rows. We drilled our cleanest fields of wheat… More articles
