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To harvest and beyond

Well it’s been a very busy few months since I last wrote….

In July I was off to America, North and South Dakota, for a flying 10 day visit. I had a fantastic time meeting some of the best brains on No-Till, cover crops and soil health in the world. Spending time with Dwayne Beck, Gabe Brown and Jay Fuhrer was a privilege and I learnt so much from these men with well over 100 years’ experience between them!

I was also able to visit a number of farmers the highlight of which was Kevin Larson. Kevin won No-Till Farmer of The Year last year, and has seen quite amazing results from his 45ft wide cross-slot drill pulled by a 600 hp tractor! His crop of barley was easily the best crop I saw on my visit, and looked similar to a very good UK crop.

I returned home at the end of July into a very warm ‘heat wave’ that was gripping the UK. I was pleased to find that all the hay had been made while I was away – and there was so much that it wouldn’t all fit in the shed!

We sprayed off our oilseed rape towards the end of July and then, for the first time ever, managed to get a week away with the family before harvest visiting some wonderful Nuffield friends in Cornwall. Oilseed rape was the highlight of this year’s harvest, with the mid-August drilled Extrovert performing excellently. Many fields yielded around 5t/ha, which was very pleasing, and this was all direct drilled into chopped wheat straw last August!

Wheat crops varied from 7t/ha to 11.5t/ha. The best yields came from following a spring bean crop where there was good infiltration. Again all wheat was direct drilled last autumn.

As I write, we are all drilled-up! Oilseed rape again has all been direct in with the Horsch, rolled and slug pelleted. This is getting some size to it now, and should enter the winter period with a good taproot, which certainly helps to withstand prolonged pigeon grazing.

For the wheat this autumn we have lightly disced the stubbles prior to drilling, to help level them and also to make drilling easier. We are planning to adopt a ULD (Ultra Low Disturbance) No-Till policy on the farm from next year, so having level fields will be essential from now on. Wheat is emerging very quickly from fine, firm seedbeds that have ample moisture. Temperatures are still in the mid to high teens, with crops growing away well.

We have also planted 90 acres of cover crops this summer. This is on land destined for spring beans, so with this warm weather it’s really growing well, which is great for soil health and adding some organic matter back into the soil. The spring beans will be planted straight into the cover crop – or at least that’s the plan!

Now my attention is turning to this winter’s travels for my Nuffield Scholarship. In November I have a busy few weeks attending the Business of Farming Conference, where I have been nominated for an award, then the Nuffield winter conference in Cardiff at the end of the month. I then fly to New Zealand for two weeks looking at No-Till farms, contractors and manufacturers. I then fly to Australia for five weeks, where I will tour the NSW and Victoria regions. My wife and children will fly out for the last three weeks over Christmas and the New Year, which will be fantastic and a complete change to the norm for Christmas as we know it!

I’ll be back in the UK in mid-January for the LAMMA show at the new Peterborough venue, which is always a highlight of the year for us. I’m hosting a few Soil Association meetings on the farm as well, before flying off the South America in February, where I plan to visit farms in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.

The next six months is certainly not going to be the normal quiet winter, but will be stimulating, exciting and will give me much information with which to prepare my study paper. We are also planning to update some of our farm machinery, and are looking to purchase a dedicated No-Till drill to allow us to embrace ULD No-Till next year.