Lull before harvest rush
Lull before harvest rush
IN the run-up to harvest, we are frantically trying to let everyone have some holiday before we get really busy. But that can be difficult on an arable and stock farm with little or no surplus labour at any time of the year.
The last of 1998 harvest was moved out of store on July 1. Within 20 days we envisage combining grass seed, oilseed rape and winter barley – in no particular order. Traditionally, the perennial ryegrass has always been first.
But before the combine rolls we must completely clean down and spray the grain store. Not the best of jobs at any time particularly in the thundery heat of the past few days. Some years ago when the barn was reroofed with galvanised sheeting we persuaded our landlord to agree to spray it silver instead of the cheaper black option. That has partially helped to deflect some of the heat, but with black sides and temperatures well above 30C it has been small consolation to the team working inside.
Aphid build-up
Aphid numbers began to build up significantly this month. They were first noticed in the lower canopy of the wheat at the end of June when we applied foliar urea to the milling varieties to boost the grain protein level.
We had hoped that a combination of urea and occasional heavy thundery showers would prevent the need to spray an aphicide and that if we allowed natural predators to build up we might get away with it.
That was not the case however, and it was after farm foreman and principal spray operator David Cham went off for a well earned holiday that we made the decision to spray.
The Knight sprayer has been on the farm for more than four years, during which time I am ashamed to admit that I have only once had occasion to drive it. And that was only to finish off a load already started in order to let David have an early night off.
What to do? Neighbours were all busy or on holiday themselves. A call for help to Michael Knight and father Ron, now retired, brought an immediate response. A two-hour crash course plus trial and error on set-aside with plain water soon brought me up to speed.
Front tank
Our equipment is somewhat complicated by having a 2000 litre front tank and a 1000 litre rear sprayer. Both need loading separately and the chemical mixed through a single induction hopper at the rear, transfer valves dump the contents from the front tank to the rear during operation. A magic RDS box keeps the sprayer at pre-set volume and pressure ratings and after an hour of use I felt fairly confident, which is just as well as I had nearly 90ha (220 acres) to spray.
The chemical chosen was pirimicarb (Aphox) at 280gm/ha. Last time I used this product it was in handy 2ha foil packs. Now it comes in 1kg plastic tubs with a fancy lid for measuring out the remaining 120gms to make a full hectare pack. Is this progress I ask myself? Since most recommendations for Aphox are at 280gm/ha and since Zeneca does not recommend cutting the rate, perhaps they could consider reverting to packaging in multiples of 280gms if for no other reason than for safety.
I must admit that while I walk the fields regularly there is nothing so revealing as driving up and down every tramline in a sprayer. There are few areas on the thinner limestone where the wheat plants are beginning to suffer from drought and there are a few more patches of couch grass than I would like to see. Those may be sprayed nearer to harvest with glyphosate if there is sufficient moisture but on the whole the crops look well and are still quite green.
May and June have been comparatively wet producing more than 125mm of rain; a similar figure to last year.
Our last financial forecast was prepared back in April when a drought looked imminent. But since then I have felt fairly confident in writing the yield up by 0.5t/ha. I hope this will be proved justified in a months time.
I get a little depressed when I read in the country pages of our national Press about the decline of wildlife. Easton Lodge is far from large in the scheme of things and situated next to an active RAF station and bordered on the south by a busy trunk road. So we might be forgiven for becoming a wildlife desert especially since we practice modern, inorganic farming.
No wildlife desert
But that is not the case. We have foxes, badgers, deer, hare and of course, rabbits. Birdlife too is flourishing with swallows making their annual visits to the farmyard for nesting. Skylarks are as abundant as they were 10 years ago and blackbirds, robins and thrushes can be seen along the hedgerows. The only bird to have reduced in numbers would seem to be the old sparrow. Perhaps that is as a result of an ACCS ruling to bird proof our grain stores.