Arable Farmer Focus

FARMER FOCUS

Farmer Focus: Harvest gets off to an encouraging start

It is 22 July as I write this, and harvest is in full swing across Herefordshire. As you travel the county, it is clear that August is going to be…

FARMER FOCUS

Farmer Focus: Opting for new dairy as arable no longer pays

We are actively working towards milking cows by July 2028, alongside desperately trying to find a way to remain arable farmers. Likely with a simplified arable rotation and a greatly…

FARMER FOCUS

Farmer Focus: My next idea is more Zen than YEN

As I write, the combine (or parts of it) should be heading over to Little Goldsmiths Farm for harvest 2026. This will be the first time I’ve started harvest before…

FARMER FOCUS

Farmer Focus: Wheat harvest a month earlier than usual

I think I may have been a little too optimistic in my previous article when I said the rain would do a world of good and that the spring crops…

FARMER FOCUS

Farmer Focus: Change is inevitable – just don't give up

Change is inevitable. Unfortunately, it is with a sad heart that I write I am no longer managing Brewood Park Farm. The pain and anguish of losing the farm I…

FARMER FOCUS

Farmer Focus: Fuel price fall welcomed as harvest approaches

With winter barley about to receive its pre-harvest glyphosate, thoughts once again turn to how valuable this product is in terms of making crops harvest ready for ease of combining,…

FARMER FOCUS

Farmer Focus: We need both the magic and the science events

We are playing the harvest waiting game in Shimpling. Given the searing forecast, by the time you read this submission we should be immersed into our winter crops. Other news…

FARMER FOCUS

Farmer Focus: Poor rural mobile signal adds to summer stress

Managing stress is challenging. Small things cause you to lose control. My trigger at the moment is rural phone signal. Every time I try to receive a phone call on…

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Farmer Focus: The perfect family farm wedding for my sister

For us all as a family, June was marked by a fantastic celebration as my younger sister, Rosie, married Andrew Dixon. It was the perfect farm wedding, complete with his-and-hers…

FARMER FOCUS

Farmer Focus: Crops dry quickly but grains look plump

As crops dry down very suddenly, we live in hope they have built enough yield before the heat got to them. Grains look plump when you rub an ear out,…

FARMER FOCUS

Farmer Focus: 100 years of farming calls for celebrations

Time stands still for no man, particularly in farming, and in this, my 50th year, we celebrate 100 years of Wilsons farming on the Castle Howard Estate, which was cause…

FARMER FOCUS

Farmer Focus: June is the month of shows

June is the month where most of the shows take place. From visiting a wet-and-muddy Cereals at Diddly Squat Farm, to the 141st Lincolnshire Show a week later. I am…

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