FARMERFOCUS
FARMERFOCUS
John Jeffrey
John Jeffrey runs two
tenanted farms in
partnership with his father
from Kersknowe, near Kelso
in the Scottish Borders.
Two-thirds of the 730ha
(1800 acres) is arable,
growing seed potatoes, oilseed rape, wheat and
winter and spring barley
WE recently had a successful trip to the annual Perth Bull Sales where trade was good but realistic and sensible.
It was a welcome break from the monotony of winter chores and a chance to catch up with others.
While in the bar (purely negotiating a bull price) I was told an old saying: "If there are two new moons in May, it will rain for a year and a day".
Since it seemed to rain for the whole of 2000 after May I consulted last years diary. I was relieved to find that the second new moon was actually in June.
The weather has been marvellous since the turn of the year and for most of January we were frozen over.
According to boffins, global warning has abolished frosts. So I was delighted to see them proved wrong by an incredibly healthy spell of weather. Not only does it kill all bugs and germs in livestock it is beneficial to crops.
One of our biggest problems with potatoes is the perennial plague of ground-keepers. Hopefully this cold spell will have put paid to them. Fields left unploughed have been grubbed between the frosts so any tubers left should have been nailed.
The hard snap allowed us to travel and all the cattle courts have been mucked out. All hedges that couldnt be reached in the back-end have been cut.
Proposed potato ground has had a dressing of muriate of potash so the active ingredient will be available when the seed hits the ground.
Autumn-sown crops look well, especially from the roadside. But closer inspection shows much of the greenness is large populations of weeds which will have to be attacked as soon as they awake.
The fertiliser spreader has been busy in these crops. But before any assurance inspectors get excited it was only to apply P & K missed in the autumn – not illegal early nitrogen.
Recent frosts have been good for both crops and stock, says Borders farmer John Jeffrey. So much for global warming.
Peter Hogg
Peter Hogg farms in
partnership with his brother
at Causey Park Farm, near
Morpeth, Northumberland.
Half the 450ha (1100-acre)
heavyland farm is in crops,
mainly winter wheat, barley
and oilseed rape, plus a few
potatoes
ANOTHER trip to London, past waterlogged countryside, this time to the NFU annual general meeting. Was this to be a case of: "Would you like the bad news or would you like the worse news?"
On the first evening, the north-east region had arranged a visit to the House of Commons where we had a great chance to meet MPs of the area. Many turned up, including Nick Brown, Joyce Quinn and William Hague.
During the next two days we had a mixture of tough, hard-hitting and sympathetic speeches aimed both at farmers and politicians.
What other organisation can get its ordinary members (in my case very ordinary) into the House of Commons to meet the top ministers and then have leading MPs from all parties address the conference?
Some Euro-MPs were also present which gave some of us a golden opportunity to get at the heart of EU policy-making.
There have been many critics of the NFU lately, some of them its own members. Such criticism is always welcome and keeps everyone on their toes. But I get just a touch irritated at some of the blatant condemnation of top office holders and staff whose commitment and integrity is 110%.
Their never ending diplomatic discussions with ministers and civil servants have brought results which repay our subscriptions ten-fold. Council members give their time for no financial reward. NFU council is made up of a broad selection of people from the vociferous to the quiet diplomat – we need them all.
Let us turn our criticism to non-members and freeloaders who enjoy all the benefits from agrimonetary compensation to climate-change levy rebates, without paying a penny to the organisation responsible, or without a word of thanks.
A hard frost on Feb 9 saw our first arable work of the year – 2 cwt/acre of 15:20:20 fertiliser applied to oilseed rape.
NFU infighting would be better directed at non-members who take all the benefits without paying a penny, says Peter Hogg.
Stewart Hayllor
Stewart Haylor farms 343ha
(850 acres) of owned and
rented land from Blackler
Barton, Landscove, Devon,
growing cereals and
combinable breaks. Organic
vegetables occupy 24ha
(60 acres) and a further
160ha (400 acres) is farmed
on contract
A LONG list of crop management recommendations sits on my office table waiting to be actioned.
Crop walking is done by ADAS consultant Bill Butler. Along with his recommended products are comments like ASAP, urgent or very urgent.
Its not that I dont agree with his advice. I have drawn up priority lists, ordered all inputs and serviced the tractors. But rain has kept us off the land for three weeks.
The first dry spell will see nitrogen onto oilseed rape at 37kg/ha (30 units/acre). Some wheat and oats need the same to get them moving especially where rabbit grazing is causing problems.
The biological clock has just about run out for winter wheat drilling, but I still intend to sow some winter oats and beans to finish our winter cropping programme.
This area has just been increased with some new land. We are renting an extra 80ha (200 acres) – all grassland at present. It will increase the forage area for our dairy cows and release more land for arable crops.
With it, brother Andrew and I feel the time is right to convert the cows to organic production. This will also benefit our organic vegetable enterprise by greatly increasing the land available to it, allowing a longer period of fertility to build up within the rotation.
A start has been made on preparing ground for organic potatoes with one field manured and ploughed. The second has a stack of well-rotted manure waiting to be spread and ploughed in. With luck we may get the last of last years crop out before we get this years in.
For several years we have used Farm Cash Manager from Farmplan for our accounts. It has been satisfactory but a bit limited. After looking at alternatives I have decided to upgrade to Farm Business Manager, which should give us more detailed records and budgeting facilities.
Agronomist recommendation sheets are still on Stewart Hayllors desk at Landscove, in Devon. Some have been there three weeks.
Ian Crawford
Ian Crawford farms 570ha
(1425 acres) of rented
ground from Ashley Hall,
Altrincham, Cheshire,
growing crisping and
pre-pack potatoes, milling
wheat, oilseed rape and
beans. He also owns and
manages 2000ha (5000
acres) of mainly arable
land in Australia
MUDDY HELL – that was the headline in a farming paper the other day. In describing conditions in Cheshire I could not have put it better.
We finished harvesting beans, four months late, in recent frosts. The combine never left a mark and the beans were so frozen they thrashed perfectly. But at 1.8t/ha (0.75t/acre) there is not a lot of profit.
We are washing Saturna potatoes for crisping – a lovely job. Wet through from morning till night, with the smell of dirty water running down the farm drive a delight. It is the only value-adding process for which you dont get paid a halfpenny.
How did we get lumbered with this? It is costing us a fortune. If we grade malting barley or gravity-separate wheat, we get paid more. But wash a crisping potato and nobody wants to know about your costs.
On a more positive note, all our landlords have reluctantly agreed to rent reductions. Land agents are paid on a percentage of rental income. No wonder they try their best to keep rents high.
I heard a story the other day from before World War II. One winter was so wet that the estate workers could not take timber out of the woods. So the landlord had them letting water off flooded areas and draining tenants fields. I expect a phone call from the estate office any day now.
We are using liquid fertilisers this year, because it is impossible to decide which crop will go where. Liquids mean we can tailor each mix and change quickly if necessary. A little imported AN will be brought for winter rape.
In Western Australia the only activity in the next few weeks will be Navistat GPS soil-sampling to give us a proper idea of soil status and hopefully make savings in super-phosphate and lime.
The cost of sampling, plotting on to maps and CD-ROM is about £1/ha (40p/acre) – money well spent.
Washing potatoes for crisping is a thankless task, says Cheshire grower Ian Crawford.