Having expanded her arable business at a time when wheat prices are depressed, HGCA Monitor farmer Jo Franklin certainly can’t be accused of standing still. 

Twelve months ago she opened the doors of Lower Heath Farming as the first in the Monitor Farms network, launching to other growers in the area to share best practice and stimulate discussion.

At that time, as well as farming 690ha of combinable crops with her father Philip in Hertfordshire, Ms Franklin was about to start managing a 223ha arable farm in Hampshire. She was also carrying out 120ha of grass and straw baling contract work from her Royston base and running a commercial grain store business.

See also: Six ways to beef up an arable unit

Not content with her various farming commitments, she was combining them with working as a full-time agronomist for Agrovista, covering 4,858ha (12,000 acres), and raising a young family. In addition, she and her partner Rob were establishing a sheep enterprise, based on New Zealand Romney ewes, with ambitious plans for its expansion.

New tenancy

Just one year later, things have moved on even further. Lower Heath Farming tendered for and secured the full tenancy of nearby Quickswood Farm at Clothall, Baldock, in autumn 2014, adding 310ha to their arable acreage and bringing a new set of challenges.

“It is similar to our home farm in many respects,” says Ms Franklin. “The soil type ranges from chalk to clay loam and the rotation is based on winter wheat, winter oilseed rape and spring barley. And it’s only 15 minutes away by tractor.”

Jo Franklin

The total of 310ha is comprised of just 15 fields, which simplifies fieldwork and logistics, she adds.

“No additional machinery was required, which was a major factor in deciding to tender for the new farm. Having said that, we have upgraded our sprayer to 30m and plan on moving from a 4m to 6m drill for this autumn.

“The fact that we have lots of light land means that there are more working days available to us. Our existing machinery may not have been able to cope if we were farming heavier soils.”

Blackgrass shock

The blackgrass levels, however, have been a shock. “We knew it was there and we knew it was feisty,” she admits. “As a result, we threw the kitchen sink at it in terms of control, but it hasn’t worked. We will need to do something different.”  (See Blackgrass action plan)

Back at her Royston farm base, Ms Franklin and her father have overseen a planned expansion of the grain storage business, taking it from 10,000t to 15,000t. An arrangement with grain merchant Frederic Smart has proved beneficial to both parties, with the local business now taking 5,000t of storage.

The sheep enterprise has also taken off. Ms Franklin and Rob have gone from having 200 to 700 ewes, and hope to push that number up to 1,000 this year.

“Our first lambing was very successful,” she reports. “They all overwintered on stubble turnips, which gave our pasture a very helpful three- to four-month rest.”

Their grazing and pasture arrangements are complex, as they work with 10 different landlords locally, she admits. “We use sheep to graze our mustard cover crops – they seem quite happy on it.”

Hampshire farm

She is also in her first year of a remote farm management project, having been approached to manage the Bossington Estate’s 223ha arable unit in Hampshire.

Having put contractors in place to carry out the day-to-day activities, she spends one day every other week on the farm, walking the crops and sorting out any issues, such as grain marketing.

“Everything is on track and I’m keen to see how harvest goes,” she says. “That will give me a better idea of how the farm can perform. Our timeliness with field operations has been spot on, so the soils and crops should have benefited from greater attention to detail.”

Another change during 2015 is that she has given up her full-time job as an agronomist, but has stayed on with Agrovista as an agent. “I am still walking some crops, as well as our own, so it’s a better arrangement for me as our farming operation expands.”

Her expert agronomy knowledge is put to good use at home. “We haven’t used any T0 sprays this year, neither on the winter wheat nor the spring barley. Disease levels were very low and, like all growers, we are watching our costs carefully.”

Otherwise, the birth of the couple’s second child towards the end of 2014 gave them something to do in the winter, she jokes.

So what hasn’t she managed to achieve in a remarkable year? The new farm office, which she hoped to have built over the winter, has yet to be started.

“We’ve got planning permission, but we haven’t been able to make it enough of a priority. Hopefully we will get it going before too long – as we do need it.”

Looking ahead, Jo is intending to reduce the amount of oilseed rape grown. “We’re in a flea beetle hotspot and we lost up to half of our crop last autumn, despite using four to five insecticide sprays.”

Blackgrass action plan

The very heavy blackgrass infestation on about one quarter of Quickswood Farm needs attention, acknowledges Jo Franklin.

“This year, we did everything we could to get on top of it. Three stale seed-beds were done, drilling was delayed for as long as we dared until early October and we used full rate pre-emergence and early post-emergence sprays, which went on in good conditions.”

However, the results were extremely disappointing and she now needs to do something radically different. “Just adding in some Avadex (tri-allate) for a 5-10% improvement in weed control is no use. Big chunks have to be achieved, in a fairly short timescale.”

As a result, she is proposing to make the following management changes:

• Some 10ha of the worst blackgrass land is being put into grass for cutting and grazing
• One “abandoned” field will grow lucerne for cutting
• Both mustard and stubble turnips will be grown as cover crops – some for greening and the rest for grazing
• More spring cropping on heavy land
• Stale seed-beds will be used widely (up to four were done in 2014)
• Earlier cultivations on heavier ground
• Investigate the higher tier Countryside Stewardship opportunity

“We need to find a way of being able to use grass leys for longer,” she explains. “As we’ve taken this farm on a five-year farm business tenancy (FBT), the economics don’t allow us to leave grass leys down for any more than two years.

“The new Countryside Stewardship scheme may be able to help.”