FARMER FOCUS: Neil Thomson plays harvest catch-up
It was a little alarming for me to hear on the radio today (14 August) that some of you down south have finished your harvest! We are only just beginning. The winter barley is cut, but that is it.
We are waiting for the spring barley to get past the seven-day harvest interval for glyphosate and only then will we be able to get properly stuck in. Unfortunately, the rain looks like it is on its way, which will, no doubt, scupper my plans.
Last year, we did not start our broccoli harvest until 7 September, which was three weeks later than planned. This year we started on 14 August, one week ahead of this year’s schedule. You would think that forecasting the date of my vegetable harvest is about as predictable as getting the lottery numbers right.
This year, however, is more normal and the crops look like they have a lot more potential, but it has come with its own challenges.
Right now we are holding a lot of broccoli in our new chiller because our customer is still, understandably, busy freezing peas. So I am thankful we took the decision to invest in our cooling facility, but it is going to be a busy week next week trying to continue harvesting and emptying the chiller at the same time.
We often have spare days in August where I send the crews away to help clear ragwort from some fields in the district. Not this year – full steam ahead straight away. Thursday, 8 August will go down as day to remember for Caverton Mill. The population of our wee farm grew by 3,270. We are now pig farmers.
Because of the demise of the pig processing plant at Broxburn recently, many Scottish pigs have to travel to Yorkshire for finishing and processing. I was offered the opportunity to house them for three weeks because, as they were bred in the North, they are not allowed to travel for more than eight hours. I was told that because they are so small, they don’t smell.
He was lying!
Neil Thomson farms 607ha in partnership with his father and brother from Caverton Mill, Kelso, on the Scottish Borders, growing combinable crops and brassicas. Some of the mainly medium loam is let for potatoes, and the farm also has cattle and sheep
