Were it not for the rapid rise in wheat prices, more of Farmers Weekly’s new Barometer farm in Kent might have been going organic.

Well before organic conversion began last September at East Lenham Farm near Maidstone, Andy Barr was exploring lower input approaches for the 627ha (1550 acres) he runs in partnership with younger brother Alan and father Andrew.

“We have about 1100 acres of arable and adopted min-tilling seven years ago and we’ve been direct drilling whenever opportunities arise, although we still plough after grass.”

The farm, about two-thirds owned, has a wide range of soils, from clay with flints to greensand, wheat yielding over 10t/ha (4t/acre) on the best.

It is the grassland, mainly on outlying rented land, that is being converted, says Mr Barr.

“There are about 122ha on which Alan has 350 pedigree Romney ewes and 20 pedigree Sussex sucker cows. They were already under a very low input system anyway.”

The farm’s uneconomic 120-cow dairy was dispersed in 2003.

The original plan was to bring some of that grass area into the arable rotation and gradually increase the overall organic acreage. But with the wheat price doubling, yet conversion payments staying static, a rethink has been required, he admits.

“We would have converted a little more if the wheat price hadn’t increased so much.”

But rising fuel and fertiliser prices remain a big concern. “I’m not convinced we should be throwing more and more oil-based inputs at the job. Equally, I’m not convinced that organic alone is the way to go.”

Having a Natural Sciences degree from Durham University and being FACTS and BASIS qualified, he believes farming’s conventional and organic sectors should be prepared to work more closely together for mutual benefit.

“We are all farmers. Why do we have to be so polarised?”

The farm already uses sewage sludge and waste paper to help reduce fertiliser bills and maintain fertility, especially on the lighter land, and composting is a future possibility.

“The problem is that these sorts of things are generally unpopular with local people.”

Winter cereals and oilseed rape are the main crops, though he has tried many others and uses catch crops like rye and vetches to boost fertility.

“This year we have our biggest ever area of oats – 80ha. They particularly suit the greensand compared with other break crops.”

Disease resistance to help reduce control costs is a key consideration when choosing varieties. Mr Barr’s BASIS project investigated the disease control benefits of bi-cropping wheat with clover.

“We have Humber, Cordiale and Timber wheats this year. I had hoped Alchemy would be our low input variety, but it’s clearly not. It was interesting in TAG trials last year that Timber unsprayed was cleaner than most other varieties treated.”

Despite his striving to follow best min-till practices, blackgrass is increasing. “This year has been the first we’ve had to use Atlantis on such a large scale.”

Until recently agronomy advice came from an AICC member. “But we’re trying to slim down, so last year I did it myself, buying all our pesticides from Crop Advisers backed by their telephone advice.”

Rabbits are another growing problem. “We have had to spend quite a bit on fencing.”

Apart from one part-time helper on the livestock side, the only other labour is provided by tractor driver Richard Shannon.

In keeping with the policy of containing costs, there is just one main tractor, a 160hp John Deere 6920, a 6630, 135hp machine being hired in summer.

Crop establishment is via a Vaderstad Carrier cultivator followed by a Horsch CO4 drill. “Most of the time we can get away with a single pass.”

Having recently been on a direct drilling study trip to Argentina, he hopes that by replacing the eight-year–old Lexion 430 combine with a younger rotary action 470 model, occasional problems dealing with straw residues will be overcome.

To improve spray applications he recently bought a new John Deere trailed 832 24m machine to replace an ageing Gem model. “It has automatic boom height control, but, unfortunately, it’s still giving us a bit of trouble, which I hope will be ironed out soon.”

The farm has only about 1400t of temporary on-floor grain storage; all of the out-dated facilities having been converted to diversification uses. So most harvest output goes straight to theWeald Granary co-op, which also markets it.

“I think that in this increasingly volatile market the pool system is best for us. I know we won’t hit the absolute top prices, but we get a very good average with low risk.”

East Lenham Farm

• 627ha partly organic family partnership
• Wide range of soil types
• Cropping: WW, OSR, oats, barley
• Sheep and cattle on rented land

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