Every year you learn something new and the last two years have been tough, and we have learnt a lot! This shows in our machinery purchases over this period. We have bought a mole plough, a drain jetter, a set of rolls with paddles and a Tech Neat Outcast catch crop spreader. These are all …
And Breathe….. a much better year After 2019 and 2020, I think we can all agree 2021 has been a much happier time to be farming. Prices are good, yields were ok to good, the autumn has been very kind, autumn establishment cracking, smiles all round in the Sly Family, turkey is on the menu …
The phrase “Regenerative agriculture” is a relative newcomer to our collective vocabulary, and although it roughly describes the type of farming I attempt to practice, it is not a phrase that sits easily with me, as it is so vulnerable to being hijacked by special interest groups, and can mean very different things to different …
The mental weather continues on from the last time I wrote something for this magazine. Stuff looks pretty good. I thought I would do a candid evaluation of how crops are looking to start with. Winter Wheat – pretty good on the whole, difficult drilling conditions and some poor headlands. We drilled a chunk very early. …
I am currently bathing in post-harvest bliss. I haven’t actually been through our results in detail yet but I am aware of the general highs and lows. With twelve months of observation of what has looked good and what could have looked better, I am hatching a plan for harvest 2022. September is my favourite …
This season has been a bit of a revelation for me on the farm, as we haven’t applied any fungicides on any crops at all (at the time of writing, at the end of May). We’ve got a couple of fields of Zyatt wheat which will get a spray soon, as there is a bit …
R & R… Harvest 2021 was the second in succession where the combine saw no rapeseed through its 12m header. At least this time it was planned, as not an acre was planted following the 100% loss of our 2020 crop. This we redrilled with linseed after finding most of the stems were infected with …
Well, what a roller coaster of a spring, coming out of yet another wet winter. Land here coped superbly, yet again giving me a real feeling of contentment seeing drains flowing with clear water, leaving my nutrients and soil where they should be. Drilling was a dream this year with crops going in in ideal …
If you are reading this article, I will assume that you may well be at some point in the journey of Regenerative Agriculture. Although I have always been a passionate farmer, trying to become a regen farmer has enhanced my love of farming at what could be considered the latter part of my farming career. …
Harvest 2021 roundup at Hawk Mill, an EastAnglian perspective. Today, the 2nd September we finished harvest 2021. We tried on several occasions over the past week but the continued dull weather with early morning drizzle has prevented us from crossing the finish line, but today was going to be the day come rain or shine …
