I keep being told by people that we are getting a good run with the weather on farm, but that’s not the reality.
It's very, very dry deep down and the soil moisture deficit is extreme.
At its worst last year, it was never as low as this.
As a result, irrigation continues, albeit with 50mm forecast this weekend, which may give us a reprieve.
Are we in for a wet winter to balance the books?
Crops in general look ok.
I wouldn’t call it a super year by any means, just middle of the road stuff that could swing up or down on the final straight.
Onion harvest
Onion harvest starts this week, so that will be a bit of excitement.
It's our version of silage with lots of diesel burning and trailers on the move.
The cereal harvest is going to swing into gear after this rain, with gluten-free oats probably the best-looking of our grain.
Oats in general seem to be enjoying this year.
We are putting our straw plans in place for autumn carrot covering now.
It's hard to know what a normal price is after last year when we got proverbially 'opened' on what we had to pay, the pain of which is still fresh in the memory.
Cereals is an area of our business that has settled a lot and when viewed on a labour employed basis, fits very well with our model.
We will increase our grain area over the next few years.
Quiet time
With our main workload in the autumn through to summer, we are about to come out of our quiet period and we are recruiting three positions at the moment - fitter, agronomist and machine operator.
The standard of candidates so far has been top class, which is very encouraging, especially for the agronomy post, which there isn’t many options for in a country dominated by grass.
Fodder
On the subject of grass, my long-running battle with fodder continues, where we will be left with fodder this season.
Last season, you couldn’t keep it moved.
I absolutely hate dealing with fodder and our stock companions don’t seem interested in looking at the bigger picture of taking a good year with a bad year and averaging out on continual supply.
It's dog eat dog, with a total focus on short-term gouging.
It is a waste of energy being involved in it, regardless of how many advisors pat us tillage farmers on the head and say we should be good boys and supply feed to our dairy or stock companions. It’s not for me.
Read more
Watch: vegetable growers turn on the irrigation systems
Farmer Writes: irrigation is like drugs to plants
Farmer Writes: cost of growing crops is sky-rocketing
I keep being told by people that we are getting a good run with the weather on farm, but that’s not the reality.
It's very, very dry deep down and the soil moisture deficit is extreme.
At its worst last year, it was never as low as this.
As a result, irrigation continues, albeit with 50mm forecast this weekend, which may give us a reprieve.
Are we in for a wet winter to balance the books?
Crops in general look ok.
I wouldn’t call it a super year by any means, just middle of the road stuff that could swing up or down on the final straight.
Onion harvest
Onion harvest starts this week, so that will be a bit of excitement.
It's our version of silage with lots of diesel burning and trailers on the move.
The cereal harvest is going to swing into gear after this rain, with gluten-free oats probably the best-looking of our grain.
Oats in general seem to be enjoying this year.
We are putting our straw plans in place for autumn carrot covering now.
It's hard to know what a normal price is after last year when we got proverbially 'opened' on what we had to pay, the pain of which is still fresh in the memory.
Cereals is an area of our business that has settled a lot and when viewed on a labour employed basis, fits very well with our model.
We will increase our grain area over the next few years.
Quiet time
With our main workload in the autumn through to summer, we are about to come out of our quiet period and we are recruiting three positions at the moment - fitter, agronomist and machine operator.
The standard of candidates so far has been top class, which is very encouraging, especially for the agronomy post, which there isn’t many options for in a country dominated by grass.
Fodder
On the subject of grass, my long-running battle with fodder continues, where we will be left with fodder this season.
Last season, you couldn’t keep it moved.
I absolutely hate dealing with fodder and our stock companions don’t seem interested in looking at the bigger picture of taking a good year with a bad year and averaging out on continual supply.
It's dog eat dog, with a total focus on short-term gouging.
It is a waste of energy being involved in it, regardless of how many advisors pat us tillage farmers on the head and say we should be good boys and supply feed to our dairy or stock companions. It’s not for me.
Read more
Watch: vegetable growers turn on the irrigation systems
Farmer Writes: irrigation is like drugs to plants
Farmer Writes: cost of growing crops is sky-rocketing
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