Farmer Focus: Fire put out – but no thanks from locals
© Jim Varney Well, it’s been absolutely brutal here and harvest has been relentless.
No weather or mechanical breakdowns, barn-busting yields across all crops, and we finished harvest on 11 August – a new record for us.
There are still 5,000-plus round bales out there that need “wrangling in”, which will be quite a task.
See also: A guide to mitigating heat stress in housed cattle
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We have been acutely aware of heat stress in the cattle and have made improvised water troughs from intermediate bulk containers cut in half with ballcocks fitted for extra watering.
There has been pen swapping for more shaded areas, and constant monitoring of feed.
We’ve been trying to keep intakes up, as the dissipation of heat requires more energy on a falling curve of actual intakes.
Before the first heatwave, we went through the fire drill. Everybody knew their job.
We had water cannon rigged up on the sprayer, Challenger hooked into the drag, fire extinguishers on every machine and strategically placed around the yard to be grabbed at a moment’s notice.
On the hottest 40C day, we had parked the combine up by midday, feeling it was far too dangerous for combining. Then, with the wind picking up, we got the call we had all been dreading.
A stretch of rewilded, redundant railway line owned by the parish council had caught fire, caused by unkempt vegetation growing under the powerlines.
All the local farmers mucked in and showed great esprit de corps, and by sheer luck the wind was blowing towards a flat of maize, which was acting as a fire break.
That, combined with our well-executed fire drill and the fire brigade’s rapid response, meant we got on top of it.
Meanwhile, the “local yokels” watched on from the pub beer garden, not one offering either us or the fire brigade – who had been on nine consecutive call-outs before they got to us – a cold drink, or thanked us for acting to avoid a potentially bigger disaster.
It feels like there is no community spirit left at all – it’s always somebody else’s problem to sort out.
In fact, the whole country is in a state: no water, no electricity, no leadership… what a banana monarchy we are turning into.
Now we have filled the sheds with gold, maybe, just maybe, the beer’s still cold.