Opinion: Farmers’ patience is permanently put to the test

Patience is a quality not many of us seem to possess at busy times such as lambing, drilling, or, come to think of it, just about every other day of the year.

Our patience is certainly tested during harvest, especially when you are watching your combine trundle up and down a field in catchy weather with a 15ft header, while the neighbours have two Lexions on the go cutting 30ft each.

We finished cutting in August last year. At the same point this year we were just finishing off the wheat, but the mentality of “if you are not ahead of last year, you are behind” was still there.

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About the author

Jack Frater

Jack Frater is an agricultural consultant based in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. He graduated from the Royal Agricultural University with a degree in agricultural management in 2013, having grown up on a family farm near Alnwick.

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It is worth remembering that 2022 was an exceptional year, while in 2020 we’d only just started cutting wheat at the start of September. There is always more time than you think.

A lack of patience leads to frustration, which leads to bad tempers. More significantly, it can lead to accidents or near misses. I’m a big believer in owning your mistakes, so it is time to add a new one to my list.

After a day of carting round bales and in my haste to get finished, the last load arrived in the yard with one less bale than it had left the field with.

Thankfully, I was on a private road and quickly found it before anyone saw it, lying on its side in the hedge, missing some of the net.

This served as a timely reminder of how quickly and easily things can go wrong, and the importance of making sure every load is secure.

Overall, this year’s harvest was fairly average. Winter crops did well, albeit with a significant amount of oats lying flat, but spring crops were disappointing.

High nitrogen and secondary tillering resulted in plenty of feed barley in the store. At least there was a good crop of straw.

Now harvest is over, the focus turns to more important things, such as the Rugby World Cup. As an Englishman in Scotland, the past few years have been tricky. But as long as Wales don’t win, I will be happy.