Arable Farmer Focus FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Having a farm secretary is so importantIn a frustrating world of politics, weather and war, the sight of sunshine and sound of songbirds is a welcome sign of positivity. I’ve done a fair bit of number crunching… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Fertiliser reshuffle and yellow rust alertWith the rain finally stopping at the end of February, we were able to get our fertiliser on. My original plan was to apply 35kg N/ha and 15kg S/ha at… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: We're always jumping the next farming hurdleAnd they’re off…the tractors are racing around again locally, albeit with the odd pull-up. It’s not so much that we’re getting huge amounts or rain, but when it drizzles and… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: More SFI mess and a small addition to fleetWell the rain has finally stopped and, when you consider the amount we’ve had over the past three months, I’m pleasantly surprised how well crops look and how well they… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: The world just got a whole lot more unstableThe government doesn’t appear to care for primary industry in this country. Their preference seems to be outsourcing the problem overseas. The trouble is, when there’s peril on the seas,… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Crop performance strong despite rainOnce again, the season begins with a conversation about the weather. To date, we have recorded just under 300mm of rainfall – almost one-third of our annual average. Including November… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Arable-to-dairy conversions at 60 – and risingIt is fair to say that a farmer is never happy with the weather. It's either too hot, too cold, too windy, too wet, too dry, and then there is… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Formalised partnership helps avoid tax burdenWinter for many of us is a time for taking stock of the business and preparing for the spring. As one of the greatest procrastinators of the modern era, this… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Planning approval means new grain outletJanuary brought a rather substantial 120mm of rainfall, and unfortunately, the rain has continued almost without pause since. Ground conditions are far from ideal, with winter ploughing still to be… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Major flood erodes soil and flattens fencesWith blue sky, sunshine and hard, frosty ground providing a pleasant view through the office window, it’s hard to believe we have endured more than two months of absolute weather… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: SFI 2026 set to be a shadow of its former selfThe taps have been turned on since Christmas, with no field work done for some time and water falling from the sky daily. What type of growing season will we… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Questions which may leave me without a jobI am aware that my last article reported back on a recent conference I attended in Oxford. And as it hasn’t stopped raining in Shimpling since then, I have no… More articles
