Farmer Focus: October rains flood maize for third time

I promised that when I started writing for Farmers Weekly, I would steer clear of moaning about the weather, politics and prices.

I think we could all write for days on all three of these at present. The weather has continued to trouble us and our maize is now under water for a third time after 60mm-plus of rain fell over two days.

It is what it is. We’ve been cheered up by our two other growers, who both achieved 20t crops at 33% dry matter.

See also: Rain puts pressure on maize with tricky harvest

Unfortunately, we have had to start feeding this maize after three weeks, but with all the work we have done on the transition cows, it looks like we’ve turned a corner and yields are lifting. The weather cooling off has also helped.

I cannot resist one Brexit-related jibe, and I think that it just about sums up the career politicians in charge.

On numerous occasions we have heard that parliament had to work on a Saturday. This is only the third time this has happened in 50 years. Given what is at stake, you have to ask why weekend working hasn’t been done more. Brexit has become a complete farce.

What was even more astounding is that a Labour MP stood up in front of the house and asked for their expenses to be increased as they were having to work on a Saturday and childcare was costing more.

This MP is seemingly oblivious to the cost Brexit is having on the nation they are supposedly serving. Thankfully, the request was shut down straight away.

Finally, we went as a family to a recent talk given by Doug Avery, the Kiwi author of The Resilient Farmer.

He was very open about his mental health and discussed how he has significantly grown his business while facing up to the things life and the environment have thrown his way.

The room at Harper Adams was full, and everyone left that evening feeling very energised and positive about how to deal with the challenges and opportunities that are in front of us.

I would certainly recommend his book as a good read. Problem is, I’m asleep after three pages.

Read more about Shropshire farmer Henry Wilson