Management update from our arable producer contributors
When spring arrived at the Ides of March, it almost seemed like summer and enabled us to complete sowing and top-dress winter cereals all within a week, and actually enjoy lambing. Unfortunately it didn”t last long, as March ended with a miserable cold wet spell.
Anybody who thought the introduction of the single farm payment meant the end of inspections had better think again, as I have already received one this year. My temper wasn”t helped after a miserable day in the lambing field with the Department informing me they were coming the next day to carry out a livestock inspection on the hill farm. The timing of these inspections is absolutely incredible, but we sign up to these agreements and have to comply with the regulations. Thankfully we have a very helpful local office and the inspection went off peacefully – but why do inspections have to be done during lambing time?
As part of an economy-of-scale exercise, my neighbour has joined forces with another neighbour to allow them to invest in larger and better machinery for their increased arable area. They now have a large combine and a fully mounted sprayer, but, due to the narrow roads between their respective farms, they only bought a 3m drill, which led me to ask them how they can be taken seriously if they only buy a “dinky toy” drill.
My own spring drilling hit a hurdle when I discovered my drill cannot sow beans, which I really should have remembered from the last time I grew beans. Thankfully my neighbour came to the rescue and sowed my beans for me and, in a classic case of he who laughs last, laughs longest, his parting words were: “It might only be a dinky drill, but at least it can sow beans.”