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I feel I am adapting quite well to the 21st Century and then something happens and I feel I don’t understand it at all.
Yesterday, I was listening to the radio and listened to a piece on home grown wheat. Well that’s what I thought it was about but as the voices continued and started to talk about Holland, warehouses and hydroponics I became somewhat confused. Finally, I realised the segment was not about wheat, but about something else called WEED.
I thought a weed was what causes Jethro grief in the fields and me problems in the vegetable garden [especially this year] however I now understand it to be something completely different and as the bossy voice on the radio informed me, I will simply have to ask Frank about it.
Perhaps I should have my hearing checked, after all I am doing rather well for someone who is well into their fourth Century.
The grey skies and lack of sun are beginning to get everyone down, and it is not just the farmers who are feeling this. The harvest is progressing reasonably well, after various breakdowns which seem to occur all too frequently in arable farming, despite the many thousands of pound spent every year on servicing, maintaining and replacing of machines and their many parts. On Thursday it was a pulley, and later that same day a bearing.
Heat and sun is what we need, this muggy greyness is heeding progress and not lifting our rather sluggish spirits. Round baling is Jethro’s current task and he has abandoned the oat straw, until it is drier on account of the damp grassy stalks within swath, and moved onto barley straw. We need around 250 large round bales to see us through the next twelve months.
The weekly despatch of lamb boxes has gone well, despite a few customers forgetting to come, which unfortunately happens from time to time. Collating everyone’s requests to the readiness of the animals is a logistics nightmare, but somehow we get there every week. Next year we will have to lamb the sheep later as we’d like to miss the August holiday period as accommodating holiday dates as well as individual requirements takes up far too much office time.
The seasonal land work which includes any post harvest cultivations, ploughing and drilling is causing a few major headaches this year. The planned rotation of oil seed rape following the wheat crop has been abandoned because the soil conditions, following this terrible wet weather, are not suitable for drilling rape. It is nothing to do with the machines and everything to do with the state of the tilth, or rather the lack of tilth. The clay cap fields are a sliding sticky mess with a lot of compaction following the work by the combine, tractors with trailers carting the corn and also the sewage sludge spreaders.
Prosperous Farm is not the only farm affected and many farmers are openly discussing how best to tackle this. The consensus remains, as it often is, that every year is different and 2008 is no exception. Here, at least, oats will now be the chosen crop in the rotation following the wheat, as they will be easier to drill.
Today there is a poll on the Farmers Weekly website asking if live imports of farm livestock are worth the risk.
it is reassuring to see that currently 90% of respondents say NO. Perhaps they read my blog entitled we are an island yesterday?
My Jethro is famous for his invention - a seed drill that revolutionised agriculture and still in the 21st Century he has not lost the desire to improve on the latest designs.
Inventing is never easy, and yesterday was a particularly frustrating day for him. While the combine harvested the oats on one part of the farm, and the local water company spread their sewage sludge on the wheat stubbles, Jethro tried his newly designed subsoiler drill. Unfortunately, the drill could not cope with the combination of the current wet conditions in the field, the trash [chopped up straw], and the thin coating of the sewage sludge on the top, even when pulled by a massive 350 horsepower tractor it simply would not work. Today Jethro has reverted to last year’s design which simply distributes the seed behind the subsoiler and in order for this to work properly the oil seed rape seeds, which are tiny anyway must be thoroughly cleaned. He has been on the latest [new to us via ebay, but actually very old] seed cleaner since 8am this morning, and was before lunch sitting at his computer, covered in thick dust and organic particles [which covered the floor too], while trying to order more parts through his computer. Modern farming, like all aspects of our hectic lives is becoming more and more reliant upon the internet. What would we do without it?
I hope to post photographs on here to illustrate this blog soon but I am learning how to work the blogging technology just as fast as I can, while keeping up with all the work that I also have to do.
Hay crops in many parts of the country have been totally written off with many farmers simply waiting to dry it sufficiently to burn the stinking blackened remains, whilst still hoping that September will give enough dry weather to cut, dry and bale any remaining uncut fields. The lateness of the forage making season has an impact on the animals too. Traditionally, the grass that grows after a crop of hay or silage is made is known as the aftermath. This grass is normally best utilized for finishing fat lambs, or ‘flushing’ ewes to ensure the sheep is in peak condition for the breeding season. If the hay is made too late, unless we have a very warm autumn then the grass will not grow sufficiently to be of value to the livestock or the farmer. [It is a combination of day length and the night time temperature that controls the growth.]
Genuine tiredness is becoming a problem, on top of this there are many unfinished conversations and consequently many unanswered questions, as the intense daily work load does not lessen. Meals are eaten quickly and are uncharacteristically quiet as the logistics and problem solving over machines and weather related issues never ceases.
I have been asked by a blog reader about sewage sludge. There are many myths and worries about the application of this and there is a lot or prejudice against it. I can confirm it does smell, as it is being applied to all the fields around Prosperous Farm this year, but as it is soon turned over and incorporated into the ground the distinct pong soon disperses.
Careful record keeping over many years of sludge application done in strict rotation all over Prosperous Farm has shown increases in soil fertility and a significant reduction in the application of artificially manufactured fertilizers, which currently costs £390 per tonne for nitrogen. The structure of both the heavy clay soil and lighter chalk land is also improved and this in turn improves crop yields. Yield mapping technology on the combines allows for careful monitoring of every part of every field in the hope of improving the crops and also cutting costs.
In farming some things never change and yet others vastly improve with the appliance of tried and tested science.
Harvest update: The oat crop is now in one of the grain stores and we have started to gather in the Spring barley. It was a relief to everyone to be making steady progress, albeit slow, however with the weather slightly more settled it is now the turn of the machinery to cause problems. At dusk tonight the combine broke down and we need spare parts, however it is not too serious, and providing we can get the parts quickly we should be going again tomorrow.
Well here we are now right in the middle of the “harvest from hell,” as one farmer labelled this year’s effort to get the grain in, and today we have had all manner of visits and phone calls, all requiring Jethro’s time and attention.
Jethro is not available, and certainly not got time to speak to anyone unless they can drive a tractor for 4 days or find him the spare part he so desperately needs! He is now on a tractor working from early in the morning until way past dark, when he updates the daily records on the computer, before snatching a bit of sleep and starting over.
DEFRA, in their infinite wisdom and showing their usual full understanding of the agricultural calendar [and the current weather conditions] have organised a customer satisfaction survey of farmers participating in their Environmental Stewardship Schemes which are administered by Natural England. This survey requires a series of questions to be answered about working with Natural England. It can only be done by phone, email is not allowed [so much easier especially for busy farmers], and it must be completed before 15th September.
I have just answered one of these calls on Jethro’s behalf, and explained that owing to circumstances beyond our control:
a) the farmer isn’t here
b) he won’t be in this evening
c)his tractor is so loud the mobile is no good either
d) he hardly sleeps
e) he is unable to think about anything other than machines and fieldwork right now, and that even the family don’t know what is going on [especially not his mother]
etc, etc.
The operator was very understanding and explained that all of the above points about the time of year had already been raised with DEFRA, who probably took no notice, as unsurprisingly the closing date remained the same. I have agreed for Jethro to try to ring back if we have a wet day, otherwise they will ring again nearer the deadline. I felt so sorry for the operator as this experience will undoubtedly be repeated with every call they make.
There have also been several calls today by reps, only one of which was helpful and I was able to send him off to look for this elusive spare part for the seed drill [more on this later]. The other callers were from non-farming companies who happen to sell things used for property maintenance and other such tasks. I don’t think it had occurred to them that they would not be welcomed with open arms by the farmer…
Now before any more interruptions I am off to clean out the hen houses.
For heavens sake, we are an Island!
Why, why, why do we import animals AND THEREFORE NASTY DISEASES in to this country, especially from an area with a known disease problem and we are still learning about this terrible disease and its effects?
We have good livestock in this country already [some of the best in the world], and other countries have import bans on live animals to protect their own industries. I am entirely with the Icelanders on this issue. Their Parliament decreed in 980AD that no imports of horses, and other livestock would be allowed, and this ruling still stands today. Icelandic animals may have developed a certain uniqueness over the last 1028 years, nevertheless they also have an enviable disease free status too.
Other countries also have restrictive import polices or outright bans from certain areas of the world and many are far better than us at policing the import of food, especially meat, through the airports. Why can’t the UK be better at all this, and try looking after ourselves for a change.
Today there are 2 reported case of BLUETONGUE disease in the south of England, both could have been prevented by not importing. Whatever were the farmers thinking?
More on this and the regular update later…
PS For more indepth info regarding the outbreak and further in depth facts please go to Mary’s site
Well, Jethro has just tried the oats again but the standing straw is too wet for the combine to travel.
Here’s something to hopefully lighten the mood as the dire weather continues and the ordeal of harvest 2008 grinds on.
I have no idea of the origins of this anonymous funny, it came from the USA courtesy of electronic media, which is so much faster than pigeon post or stage coach that at times I struggle to keep up.
Adapted for this country it reads…
Dairy farmer definitions:
YOU KNOW YOU ARE A DAIRY FARMER IF:
1.Your backyard ends with an electric fence.
2. The children’s drinking glasses are milk replacer cups.
3. Muck is a meal time topic.
4. You know the price of milk per litre but not by the pint.
5. The sand pit for your children is an old tractor tyre.
6. You have three pairs of Nora boots and two pairs all go to the same foot.
7. The medicine cabinet in your house contains a container of udder balm.
8. You’ve ever received an award for fat, and were proud of it. (butterfat)
9. Your idea of a power lunch is a sandwich on a tractor.
10. Your idea of carpentry includes a chainsaw and bent nails.
11. Fence repairs are second nature.
12. You can fix anything with baler twine, a piece of wire, duct tape and a pair of mole grips.
13. Your idea of neighbourhood watch is someone calling you to let you know your heifers are out.
14. The back door on your house has the key in it all the time so it doesn’t get lost.
15. Your idea of public transport is moving your cows along the road, or to a holding pen or field.
16. Most of your good headgear advertises semen or seeds.
17. You have more than a dozen cats.
18. You have more pictures of your cows than of your children.
19. Your idea of overnight delivery is calving a cow at three in the morning.
20. You can remember the name of every cow on the farm but the names of your children elude you..
Although Prosperous Farm is not a dairy farm there are cattle, sheep and pigs as well as the crops, and more sentences from the list apply than I’d like to readily admit! Today, bright with a drying wind first thing, now at 10 am ominously cloudy and grey. The day to day servicing of the machinery continues ready for the off again at a moments notice.
Hey ho, whovever said farming was easy?
Ten hours yesterday was the longest continuous period that the combine has worked this year. Somehow, acre by acre, to date Jethro has managed to harvest and store over 1000 tons of wheat, but he needs the grain butler soon to keep and maintain the quality. Managing the stored grain in a season like this is every bit as tricky as growing it in the first place. Once it has been dried, samples will be sent for quality testing to see if the milling quality is there, or if it will have to be consigned as feed wheat.
Once the wheat harvest was completed, the oats were next to be cut, and yesterday the moisture level in that crop was a pleasing twelve percent, so there were no worries there, however it rained in the night and it’s still pouring now. No combining today.
There is a report dated 27/08/1912 in the Times archives about the calamitous weather in August of that year. It was, according to the report, far worse than this year, but readers will need to sign up to be able to access these archives.
Fact: Sales of paint have rocketed this summer as farmers try to occupy idle staff who are unable to work on account of the weather. Buildings and anything else that stands still long enough are being given the once over.
Farms, like farmers come in all shapes and sizes and how they run their businesses varies too. At one end of the scale there are farmers who farm their land and trade their produce in almost the same way as their fathers and grandfathers did and at the other end of the scale there are those who look for niche markets and try to capitalize on every opportunity that they can.
Commodities, like grain and seed, are traded on the open market with various options available to the sellers. Forward selling ties a farmer in to a set price and contracted delivery date either with or without severe penalties (deductions) if the specified quality is not met. Most arable farmers are price takers and their skill in judging when best to sell or arrange a contract takes both courage and experience. Almost everyone has had a deal or two in their lifetimes they’d rather forget and also perhaps a record high from last year that still puts a smile on their face every time they think about it.
Commercial beef, lamb and pork is also traded, as a commodity, on the open market sold either by deadweight prices, after the animal is slaughtered, or by live weight auction in the markets. Both systems have their merits and what suits one farmer may not suit another.
The price setters are the farmers who dare to be different. Either they produce a premium product, or they add value, or both. A premium product might be: rare breed meat, yoghourt, milk, ice cream, or cold pressed rape oil from oil seed rape to name only a few.
Most dairy farmers are price takers, and this story will have to wait for another blog entry as it is large topic.
Here at Prosperous Farm, Jethro has a foot in both camps. He is a price taker for his arable crops of wheat, barley, beans, oil seed rape and oats, and a price setter for his traditional breed meat which he sells direct to the consumer.
Selling direct to the consumer and gaining feedback is time consuming but extremely rewarding for the producers, especially once you start to build a band of loyal customers. The celebrity chefs are helping this trend to buy from farms, as are Channel 4 with their current food map listing producers, shops and restaurants with wonderful food from all over the country.
Shopping locally, supporting small businesses and understanding exactly how food is produced is brilliant for the future of agriculture. It currently feels like there is an important shift by consumers towards wanting to know more about what we eat, especially meat. Although, I heartily accept, not everyone is able to do this it is at least a start and it should lead to improvements on the supermarket shelf and also teach the next generation that food is grown or reared and is not something that comes in a box or a packet.
How strange I had just finished writing this post when a reader sent me this link.
Now a bit of genuine support and respect would really help the industry to feel appreciated.
On the farm today things are better, everyone is busy and not just filling in time, the combine started again mid-afternoon and is still working. The young pigs [already sold] weighed today and are gaining a pound a day [450grams] nicely, but in the house it is not going so well – our bathroom light is broken. The bulb went last weekend and the new bathroom light [specially fitted last year] is stuck so fast the glass bowl will need breaking in order to replace the bulb which of course at the moment no one has either the time or the inclination to do. So it is back to the old days – bathing by candlelight – nevertheless 21st Century plumbing is wonderful.
Farmers [even my dear son on a bad day] are not always known as the most cheerful fellows and in the course of their work they do have to contend with all sorts of problems beyond their control – the biggest of which at the moment is the current inclement weather. From one end of the country to the other there are terrible tales reaching us of lost hay crops, germinating ears of corn and total frustration amongst the growers that it is raining somewhere [it feels like everywhere] every single day and rather unusually almost the whole country is affected. However today even I have two week’s worth of washing hanging on the outside line, but still the wheat is too wet!
Increasing and genuine concerns do now exist within the grain and milling industry regarding the wheat crop. The ‘hard’ varieties of wheat such as Solstice and Malacca, to name but two, are grown for bread making and if they have been damaged by the weather they may not be of sufficient quality to mill and will therefore end up as feed wheat. The damage this weather causes is both widespread and extremely troublesome. Wet ground means in some areas combines and tractors with trailers [sadly the work horses of my first lifetime are long gone] get stuck fast and pulling them out is no easy task not to mention the terrible mess left behind in the field afterwards.
In a season like this the ears of the corn can either germinate while on still the stalk or just fall out of the ears with tremendous losses. Some farmers have to choose between either accepting this loss of crop from the ears [and subsequent unwanted germination in the fields] or accept exceedingly high drying costs, burning gas, oil or electricity. If the moisture meter reads 15 per cent or below then drying does not need to take place, and Jethro cannot cope with moisture levels above 18 per cent here at Prosperous Farm owing to the types of grain stores he has now. Upon delivery from the field to the grain store every single trailer load is measured for both moisture levels and the bushel weight. Jethro has just ordered a grain stirrer to keep the grain on the move as the crop which was combined with too much moisture could start to heat if not kept aerated and moving while drying takes place. I am told sales of ‘grain butlers’ [grain stirrer] are up for this year some three hundred percent! I know some arable farms have dryers which use conveyors, and setting the costs aside, they can dry corn with much higher moisture levels possibly even up to 24 percent if they had to.
One of the measures of quality milling wheat is called a Hagberg falling number – for a detailed explanation please read. This potential loss of quality will have a huge impact on both prices and our food security. This potential loss of quality has potentially serious consequences to both the individual farmers and the country as a whole. Wheat which does not make the grade as quality milling wheat is sold as feed wheat at a much lower price and must be exported on the world market as we grow a surplus of feed wheat in this country. To give you some idea of the quantity of wheat used in the UK the latest published milling wheat figures can be read here.
All we can do is hope and pray, for a spell of settled weather just as we did in the 17th and 18th Centuries, although perhaps prayers were more important to us in those days. I know daily life moves faster now and I am yet to decide if it is better. I need to find out more about this strange new world where I have found farming to be the same in so many ways [the work, the animals, the weather] and also completely different [the rules & regulations, machines, varieties and size of both farms and machines].
This is the start of a blog, one designed to enthuse, inform and comment on all things rural and agricultural, covering:
farming, how food is produced, local food, food security, food miles, countryside, fly tipping, animals, people, regulations, nature, bio fuels, AND all sorts of other things.
It is brought to you by Dorothy Tull [nee Buckeridge] – the mother of one of the greatest agriculturalists of all time – Jethro Tull.
Jethro Tull has on occasion been called the father of English agriculture so does that make Dorothy the mother of agriculture by default?
The original Jethro Tull is famous, hardworking, honest and known the whole world over for revolutionizing agricultural methods in the 1700’s by designing a seed drill to sow several rows at once. This device saved time and improved germination rates at a time when food was in short supply. Now in 2008 food and farming is once again an important topic.
Up until now her daily tasks have been to look after the family, keep careful accounts and also in busy times to help outside on the farm. However, she currently feels so strongly that both farmers and farming are constantly misrepresented she has taken off her pinny (apron) and picked up her pen.
Dorothy is learning to cope with the technology, the language, and hardest of all – 21st Century life both on the farm as well and in society in general.
Now she is to adapt and speak out in public will her life ever be the same?
Please bookmark this page to be sure to read the next installment from the one and only Mrs Dorothy Tull.
