FARMERFOCUS
FARMERFOCUS
FARMERFOCUS
Kevin Littleboy
Kevin Littleboy farms 243ha
(600 acres) as Howe
Estates at Howe, Thirsk, N
Yorks. The medium sandy
loam in the Vale of York
supports potatoes, winter
wheat, rape and barley, plus
grass for sheep
FROM a state of the industry point of view and contrary to my expectations, it was encouraging to see Smithfield Show so well attended. The many trade stands I visited reported many genuine enquiries by all sectors of the farming world, and no doubt they added my name to their lists. Certainly the air of total doom and gloom which has been the trade mark of agriculture since summer wasnt apparent.
After my scathing attack about the lack of professionalism shown on certain Royal Show trade stands earlier this year, I am happy to say I have no cause to repeat it. The Smithfield stands were business-like and hospitable.
As I made my way round the halls of Earls Court it became apparent that the decline in the number of companies exhibiting simply reflects the serious restructuring that is taking place in the allied agricultural trades. No doubt this will continue, with the larger tractor manufacturers diversifying into ever more implements and machines.
I was left with an uneasy vision of a year well into the 2000s, when only four or five global manufacturing conglomerates are left.
The managing directors of these giants will meet at an American/European agricultural trade fair, no doubt held in euro-capital Brussels. In this cosy huddle prices will be set so each makes a comfortable profit, without risking any great competition between them.
Food growers in that time might be heard to mutter "Cartels, Competition – werent those words used by the farmers of the 20th Century?"
Firmly back in 1998 at Howe Farm we have managed to burn the potato tops. But needless to say we still havent drilled any wheat after potatoes. Looking on the bright side the instant duck flighting ponds are attracting wildlife including two swans. We have got round the barley and rape with the sprayer, but wheats are still to do.
Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Lets hope its a dry one – the weather that is.
James Hosking
James Hosking farms 516ha
(1275 acres) with his
parents and brother at
Fentongollan, Tresillian,
Truro, Cornwall. Land is
equally split between share
farming, various FBTs and a
tenancy. Crops include
wheat, oats, barley and
daffodils, alongside sheep
and cattle enterprises
APART from sheep work, some clearing up and fencing, we have really achieved very little in the past month. Regular rain keeps topping up the waterlogged ground and with 60ha (150 acres) of winter cereals to drill a little frustration is setting in.
In mid-November we did have a few dry days, and the drill could have made a brief appearance. But the difficult decision had to be made that spraying daffodil fields with Gramoxone (paraquat) must take priority as they were starting to emerge. We had just finished when the weather broke again. Some varieties which were already showing through the ground had to be avoided and I am afraid there will be a lot of weed cover to cope with when lifting next summer.
After three days without rain last week we started drilling again. Conditions are still a bit sticky, but it is just passable. We have to keep a chain nearby as the front and back twin wheels easily spin on our steep, unploughed headlands, and wet spots seem to appear where they are least expected. We have yet to spray any cereals or apply the compound fertiliser so I hope this is the start of a long dry spell.
I hoped to avoid the expense of slug pellets this autumn. However, realising the battle between plant growth and slug grazing was being won by the slug, we have applied Draza (methiocarb) to all the heavier ground with the ATV. Thank goodness for a machine which works when the ground is so wet.
The harvest declaration deadline on flax forced us to bale in the wet, and many thanks to our neighbours for sliding their round baler around the fields. The fibre is damp and over retted so will probably be rejected, but we had to bale to prove the yield.
I would like to wish everyone a happy Christmas. Our own festivities may be a little disrupted as we are expecting a new addition to the family on Christmas day.
Dennis Ford
Dennis Ford farms 384ha
(950 acres) from Home
Farm, Hinton Parva,
Swindon, Wilts. One-third is
owned, two-thirds tenanted
and a small area contract
farmed. Cropping is winter
wheat, barley, rape and
beans, plus spring rape,
linseed and flax
IT WAS a nice frosty morning and I looked out of the window to see my gleaming new combine staring back at me, all shiny and raring to go. I heard this small voice inside of me saying: "Dennis, this is the best year of your farming life, go out and enjoy it. Go and buy another tractor with lots of fancy gadgets, and while youre at it, you may as well buy another Range Rover".
The next morning the weather was a little cloudy and I looked out of my window to see a rather dejected-looking combine, all scratched and dented looking rather sorry for itself staring back at me. I heard this voice inside of me saying: "Dennis, I dont think that you had better change your combine this year, and also, that tractor will have to do another year".
The next morning, I looked out of my window and it was pouring with rain, absolutely hissing it down and I saw a very old and battered combine sat all on its own in a sea of mud. A gruff voice inside of me was saying: "Dennis, this is the future of farming. No way will you ever be able to buy any new machines to make you more efficient. Take heed!"
And heed I did, cancelling my trip to Smithfield, though a cold made resisting the temptation a little easier.
It has been a quiet month mostly, ploughing down most of the Punch winter beans, although one field is still under water. If we dont get on that by New Year, we will have to switch crops.
On puffier seed-beds, slugs are becoming a problem. With any luck we may be able to roll them given some dry weather, but in the meantime we will spin on some mini-pellet metaldehyde.
Earlier winter wheat crops have also had a spray of ipu at 3 litres/ha plus 1.0 litres/ha of Ardent (diflufenican + trifluralin).
Have a Merry Christmas and lets hope for a prosperous New Year.
Teddy Maufe
Teddy Maufe farms 407ha
(1000 acres) as the tenant of Branthill Farm, part of
the Holkham Estate, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk. Sugar
beet lies at the heart of the
rotation, with other crops
including winter barley,
wheat and oats, spring
barley and triticale
THE October deluge spilled into November and we are only just getting to plough land for next years sugar beet. Even now only a few millimetres of rain stops us and I have never known Branthill this saturated so early in the winter.
Back in September we were so impressed with a Starpacker press we bought one from our nearest dealer – in Scotland. Now our local dealers, Nortrac at Snoring, North Norfolk are distributing the machines.
Our shared TIM sugar beet harvester continues its rounds. All the heaviest land is now lifted and we have found that the new spinning disc type of topper works best tilted slightly towards the row of sugar beet.
The second field lifted here at Branthill averaged an impressive 66.7t/ha (27t/acre) thanks to Alto (cyproconazole) keeping tops clean and turkey muck nourishing the plants right though the autumn. Top tares are averaging 6%, total tares 12% and sugar 17.6%. On the downside the farm roads have suffered badly in such wet conditions, and I doubt the C beet price will be any consolation.
In mid-November the last malting barley left at £95/t ex-farm. Even with every grain making malting quality the 5.7t/ha (2.3t/acre) crop of Optic will only just cover our overall costs. Rent earning capacity on this farm has always been based on good malting barley premiums and sugar beet, both of which have declined substantially recently. Now rent needs to come down to keep in step.
Sadly all future capital investment has been deferred which is not good for the long term health of the farm nor our local machinery dealers. At the end of the day sustaining a fine countryside as the population would like it depends on long-term investment, and if we continue to slide towards a 1930s scale depression in agriculture, this will not be possible.
The NFU must make it clear to government and public alike that without environmental subsidies, our countryside is doomed to become an inhospitable and depressing place.