FARMING DIARY

Are you all drilled up? That is the common most greeting between farmers at this time of year. This year’s reply will generally be ‘by the skin of our teeth’.

The question and reply demonstrate the importance of getting the crops planted by a set date and in a set condition.

Last harvest went fairly well, though the rain gave us added costs. ‘A good average crop’, Nothing more, nothing less. But it had looked to be a real cracker. The second wheat had yielded well despite the lack of rain in May and June and we looked for a bumper crop from the first wheat, but it did not happen. Conditions had not been good the previous autumn for sowing the crops and consequently plants did not grow as they might have done, but if we had rain at the right time things would have been hunky dory.

From the previous text I have tried to emphasise the importance of rain, and why it, or the lack of it, is so important to crop production. We need rain to make the plants grow, to fill the ears at harvest, to break down the clods of earth at sowing and to blame if something goes wrong.

Fortunately our good average crop should give us a good average return. Prices have risen to levels only seen two years ago, and hopefully will make up any shortfall in yields. On the downside, though, all costs have risen and therefore profits will not be as great as would appear at first glance! But a profit is a profit!

This year, thousands of tons of straw extra have been baled. As fodder, bedding, and as fuel for the power stations. This straw is being carried to all parts of the UK. Stacks of bales have sprouted up on the horizon for distribution later in the year. But the removal of straw from the fields comes at a cost. We will need to apply more fertilizer to replace that which is removed, and yes, there is a shortage and the price has gone up!

If I am not careful I will forget this year’s wildlife. It has been a good year for twitchers with stray migrant birds missing their European target and arriving here. It has been an excellent year for swallows and swifts, but very few house martins. We have had some Parakeets! Butterflies and moths have had a reasonable year with the six spot burnett moth being plentiful.

In conclusion, I will draw your attention to the latest buzz words, PHOTO VOLTAIC CELLS. I hope by the next issue of Ambo I will have received my pack about free electricity, always remembering that nothing is free!

Giles

The Country Code