Farmer Focus: No chance of ‘pub yields’ here
© Jeff Holmes It seems like no time at all since I was last writing my previous article, which can only mean we’ve had a busy month.
For the first time I can remember, we finished spring barley harvest before the end of August.
The combine was working on the same day as Jack’s fourth birthday party, which led to a lot of excitement.
See also: Maize Watch 2022: Advice for a safe maize harvest
About the author
We had our barley in the ground early this year when conditions were good, so it was pleasing to see yields touching 7t/ha (2.8t/acre) and plenty of straw.
I suppose to dedicated arable farmers, this yield might seem on the low side, but remember where we are farming.
I can’t even exaggerate with “pub yields” because it all goes through our neighbour’s dryer, and they read this article. Many thanks to them once again.
Third-cut silage and wholecrop came off in the blazing sunshine in mid-August.
This is the second year that we’ve grown triticale for chopping and I continue to be impressed with its vigour and how easy it is to grow, yielding 34.5t/ha (13.9t/acre).
This will be used in dry cow and heifer diets over the winter. If we had a dedicated clamp for it, I would be tempted to grow more.
Something else to add to the wish list that seems to continually lengthen.
Dare I say it, but with a decent forecast up here for this week, we might manage a fourth cut on about 20ha (49 acres), as well as a couple of fields of surplus that have got too far in front for the zero grazer.
It has been a phenomenal year for grass growth up here. Apologies to everyone in the South reading that.
Our grass reseed carried out a couple of weeks ago was up through the ground in eight days.
It’s a roadside field, so it’s always pleasing to see there aren’t any missed bits, especially as it was me on the seeder.
Winter barley ground has had slurry at 15,000gal/ha (6,000gal/acre) and been plastered with farmyard manure prior to ploughing this week.
I prefer to have all spring cereals because it gives us grain and straw for the cows a bit earlier in the year.
No fertiliser will be applied at seeding as phosphate and potassium indices are high enough. Perhaps by spring, fertiliser will be cheap.