Kevin Littleboy
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
HARVEST is still 10 days away and, for the first time ever, we could be combining our oilseed rape before barley this year.
The pre-harvest hiatus gives me time to relay a recent police incident I heard about. On a rural stretch of main road just north of here, a traffic policemans radar speed trap was quietly clocking passing vehicles when it suddenly went off the scale, locking at 370mph. On returning the apparently faulty radar gun, the policeman learnt he had nearly been incinerated by a missile from a fighter plane. Apparently, his radar had locked onto the missile guidance system of the low flying jet, and been interpreted as an attack from the enemy. Only the quick thinking of the pilot aborted the launch of a very expensive missile. Mind you, the drivers caught earlier in the day probably wished the pilot had let it go!
Amazingly, after a flood situation six weeks ago, I am now irrigating the potatoes. "Irritating" is more than apt this year, as if it isnt the generator blowing up, its the proximity or sensor switches malfunctioning, and the usual seals, hydrants and pipes blowing. We did make the quality silage before the rains, but hay has taken over three weeks to make and isnt good. Now, like everyone, we need the sun and a summer.
A conversation overheard at the Great Yorkshire Show, between a banker and a customer from the Dales, sticks in my mind. After the local branch of his bank closed the customer decided to try using the online banking facility. The computer asked him for his account number, so duly he told it several times and nothing happened. After shouting at the screen for five minutes, he telephoned the help line and spoke to a human who explained the account number must be entered using a keyboard and that the problem wasnt as he thought – that the computer didnt understand a Yorks accent.
And MAFF thinks that all farmers should now be capable of submitting their claims on line.
Harvest? You must be joking…but Ill tell you something I overheard at the Great Yorkshire Show, says Kevin Littleboy.