What a difference a day makes. One’s life can be turned upside down in a matter of minutes. Since my accident in March, I have been in hospital recovering and, at the time of writing, I am still in rehab.

Farming from a hospital bed takes on a whole new meaning, with many pictures and videos being sent to me.

Thanks to everybody who has helped along my journey, especially Mike Kavanagh and Nick Woodyatt for stepping in and taking the reins.

See also: Crop nutrition focus saves farmer over £43,000 on costs

About the author

Tim Parton

Tim Parton manages 300ha in South Staffordshire growing winter wheat, OSR, spring barley, beans, oats, lupins and wild flowers as part of a biological farming system. He grows cover crops and grass for haylage across sandy clay loam soils.

Read more articles by Tim Parton

I could not have coped without their help. You certainly find out who your friends are in times of need.

I would also like to thank everyone who has contributed to the crowdfunding organised by Mike.

This has made me extremely humble and tearful at people’s support and generosity, big or small, helping me move forward in my newly acquired life; a life which is a roller-coaster ride with deep lows and mediocre highs.

Time is needed to mourn one’s past life and say hello to the new one. I am finding time to read (every day is a learning day), to update my website and to write my forthcoming book.

To date, we have managed not to use any fungicides, excluding 20ha of wheat, which beat us due to inclement weather and late timing, and with everyone stretched with the heavy workload, I can expect that.

I have proven many times over the years that all pests and diseases can be controlled with the correct nutrition, with applications based on sap/leaf tests.

I long for the day when I can obtain “on-farm sap tests” with handheld equipment, which is now getting very close.

This will be invaluable as plant condition can change so quickly and we need to be able to react to the situation promptly where necessary.

In a working soil, these foliar treatments get a lot less, which should be every farmer’s aim, providing healthy, toxic-free food (remember, we are what we eat).

This is what we are now achieving at Green Farm Collective with a healthy premium of £88/t over feed wheat on the day of movement at 11.5% protein.