Wet May for grain and hay? I hope so. As I write this, we have more than half of our potatoes still to plant, and have had only three days without rain in the past three weeks. 

Potato planting is very frustrating this year, with wet land and erratic weather.

I understand it’s the same for much of the country, regardless of geographical area or market sector.

See also: How a Lincolnshire farmer grows a quality crop of herbage

About the author

Andrew Wilson

Arable Farmer Focus writer Andrew Wilson is a fourth-generation tenant of Castle Howard Estate in North Yorkshire. The farm supports crops of wheat, barley, oats, beans, sugar beet, potatoes, and grass for hay across 250ha. Other enterprises include bed and breakfast pigs, environmental stewardship, rooftop solar and contracting work.  

Contact:

Email: wilsonbrickyard@gmail.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpudSlingsby

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We have been fortunate to miss some of the flooding experienced further south earlier this month.

I’m very aware of how the risk factors to arguably our most important crop need to be matched by a greater reward than we have seen in recent years to make the constant challenge that is potato growing worth the sweat and chew.

Seed is very lively, with last summer’s heat making physiologically old seed difficult to hold back in store, even at low temperatures.

Patience seems to have paid off with spring cereals this year, even though I didn’t think so at drilling time.

Spring barley was strip-tilled into a cover crop residue after wheat, and we direct-drilled spring oats into our failed oilseed rape crop towards the end of April. Both look very well.

Winter cereals are romping through the growth stages at a staggering pace now that temperatures have risen, and sugar beet, despite a late start, is making decent progress.

Last week, I posted a short video on social media about the poor design standards of pto guards.

The Health and Safety Executive is very keen to prosecute farmers for pto-related accidents, but incredibly poor at improving standards of the kit we use via manufacturers. 

A little post on PTO guard longevity
It’s time we had an industry standard design so maintenance and operation was easier@FarmSafetyHour @nfu_farmsafety
Lack of @H_S_E engagement in finding proactive solutions is disappointing pic.twitter.com/GSU7WUA6Xp

— Andrew Wilson (@SpudSlingsby) May 10, 2023

In my opinion, a pto guard should be as standardised as the three-point linkage – that is, several sizes of a standard (robust) design. 

The main issues are around the bearing ring dragging and the chains and connection point being far too soft.

Prosecuting farmers does not reduce farm accidents.

Making the safe way easier via better designed and built safety equipment just might, though.