A trio of musical pioneers from the Lincolnshire fens are set to be the next viral video sensation with their tribute to blackgrass control.

The Ruffs, musicians Glynn Pout, Trevor Glenn and Mick Brommell, come from the small village of Billinghay.

Despite not being farmers, they have produced a string of records about life in the fens including a song about the arable growers’ constant battle against blackgrass, the woes of sugar beet growing and the highlights of harvest .

The song, Blackgrass Blues, includes the lyrics:

“Just when you thought you’d never see it again,
There’s a 5 o clock shadow all over the fen
On all the front pages of the farmers news
The whole of the fen, has got the black grass blues

Persistence, resistance, I’m down on me yield
The world is never good when you’ve got black grass in you field
Its no good for me, no way of containment
I guess I’ll make it up with my single farm payment.”

Like all good ideas the group were formed in the local pub, The Golden Cross, run at the time by owner Trevor Glenn.

“On Friday nights we often stay back and have a sing-song,” says Mr Glenn. “We really wanted to sing a song about Billinghay but just couldn’t find anyone who knew one.”

The obvious answer was to start writing their own material, and they haven’t looked back.

The Ruffs have a forthcoming album called Don’t Wear Yellow in August which also includes songs about single farm payments, crop rotations and the Wissington sugar beet factory.

For more info on the Ruffs visit their website.