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The torrential rain we had on Sunday has left the tillage land saturated. It is completely unworkable. Not only is it not fit to sow it is not fit to plough. I have never seen pools of water in these fields in September, usually the month when soil is at its driest. We can only wait and hope that the land dries out relatively soon so that we can start the winter barley. Nevertheless, it wasn’t only the Ploughing Championships that benefitted from last week’s glorious weather. My first stop at the Ploughing is usually the Department of Agriculture stand, with its highly competent and IT-literate staff.
I don’t think non-farmers understand just how important this payment is on a beef/tillage farm
I gave my herd number and was almost instantly reassured that unlike the complications of last year, I would receive the first instalment of my Basic Farm Payment on schedule in mid-October. I don’t think non-farmers understand just how important this payment is on a beef/tillage farm, especially in a year like this when prices for both products are significantly down and input costs are up. The relief and sense of reassurance was real.
On the home front, the good weather was scheduled to last until Saturday lunchtime.
We finished cutting, with great relief, on Saturday at about 2pm
On Friday we began to cut the spring beans. Most of the crops looked excellent following the cool and moist spring and early summer – they were almost 6ft tall, which I had never seen before. We finished cutting, with great relief, on Saturday at about 2pm. At this stage I don’t have the final weights and moistures, but I will be disappointed if the final yield is not somewhere in the region of 3t/ac.
We had desiccated the crop with Roundup, which is normally much more gentle on crops than the old Reglone, but even still there seemed to be a surprising amount of pod shattering at the cutter bar. I am not sure if there is a pod sealant product for beans like there is for oilseed rape.
Normally I would have regarded them as weather-proof coming up to harvest – now I am not so sure.
The spring of 2019 was exceptionally favourable for February establishment
I’m also unsure whether I should go down the direct drilling route of winter beans in late autumn – any reports on yields suggest around 2.25t/ac-2.5t/ac, but the principle of autumn sowing on our land has a major attraction. The spring of 2019 was exceptionally favourable for February establishment, but in 2018 we didn’t get to sow until very late April, with a yield of about 1.5t/ac following the very dry summer, so a decision still has to be made.
Meanwhile, after turning the oaten straw four times, we finally got to bale it during the fine spell. It was just as well we did, as we had torrential downpours on Sunday, but at least the 2019 harvest is finished.
This week my regular factory has resumed slaughtering, so hopefully the cattle side will be soon back to normal.
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