Arable Farmer Focus FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Harvest prospects and next year's wheatsIt is that time of year again – for attending crop variety trial meetings. Well, it is for Dad, anyway. Yellow rust has definitely been the talk of the town,… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: A whistlestop tour of rural AmericaIn late May, I was fortunate to have a week in the US visiting suppliers of an irrigation business we are part owners of. Nothing beats fronting up, in person,… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Agricultural support is slipping away rapidlyI often start by talking about the weather, so here goes: it's very dry. That’s enough said on that. I’ll now move on to commodity prices. Well, prices are pretty… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Hopes of good wheat yields in wetter DevonWith fairly consistent showers throughout May and early June, we’ve certainly had enough moisture to maintain yield potential in our area of Devon. And to top it off, the sun… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: We subsidise food with our diversificationsReturning from a break was made a more pleasurable experience by some rain, meaning everything had grown apace or been saved, depending on soil type. After last year forced a… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Homework that only realists should attemptThe weather eventually played ball at Shimpling Park Farm at the end of May, when we received an inch of rain, and then in the first week of June, with… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Still desperate for rain as ground is parchedThe brook at the bottom of our farm often runs low during the summer months. This spring, however, it has completely dried up. It’s no surprise really, considering throughout May… ARABLEFarmer Focus: Blackgrass warning to growers in the NorthThe rain has arrived and just in the nick of time. We had 48mm during the last 10 days of May, which has undoubtedly altered our harvest outlook for the… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Tasty bread made with low protein wheatFarming always has its challenges, and this spring has certainly been one of those. Nitrogen was left lying on the ground for weeks on end and plants are suffering from… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Topping legume fallow to stamp out blackgrassFor the past eight weeks I’ve been doing a rain dance every day, and it’s finally paid off. We got nearly 30mm of rain over the past week. This was… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: This is the driest spring in living memoryThe drought in Norfolk continues. We’ve had 5mm of rain since my last article. It is certainly the driest spring in my memory and our poor crops reflect this. Harvest… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Preparing kit and buildings for harvestWell, haytime has passed and it will soon be harvest again, so our focus currently is mostly on preparing buildings, machinery and people for the task ahead. There’s a phrase… More articles
