Arable Farmer Focus FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Taken aback by online commentsIn my last article I spoke of how we’d manage to plant our spring barley crop in a fleeting 10 days of dry weather in March. It was a considerable… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: I propose an SFI option to dredge ditchesOn 20 October 2023, we had just finished drilling winter wheat on the 25ha of land at Stainfield that I contract farm, in perfect dusty conditions. Little was I to… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Hire tractor gives up the ghost while drillingHopefully, by the time you read this, our spring drilling will be complete. Nearly every field had wet areas, some of which had to be avoided, but overall we achieved… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Machines sat idling are a drain on financesThe weather finally decided to change its mind about raining, so we are currently trying to beat the ground into submission for maize. I decided to get on with the… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: A rubbish crop review and a lost phoneWell, the weather doesn’t seem to get any better. Spring drilling started on 11 April and finished on the 15, with a little over 80ha of the planned 220ha drilled.… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Grain maize and sunflowers help in tough yearPlanning ahead for spring work is always a challenge. I usually hope things get going before the end of March, and by April, spring cereals are established. Then the focus… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Wet weather pics on social media are hearteningOne of the many good things about social media is that although there are some in the farming community who only post portrayals of agronomic excellence, there are enough farmers… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: A few false starts to spring drillingUnfortunately, the weather is still the main point of conversation, and it is little consolation to know that further south, the situation is probably worse. There have been a few… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Taps are off and field work can finally startThe taps are finally off. It's only taken what feels like nine months to stop, as it seems to have been raining since mid-July, with the odd nice but short-lived… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Why we imported a sprayer from the UKWe were new to the arable industry when we shifted to Canterbury in 1994 and due to our inexperience, we took on the skills of a contractor to do our… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Planting potatoes by hand in bad conditionsIt has continued to rain in inches rather than millimetres, putting massive strain on farmer's mental health. The to-do list did not get far since my last column as dry… FARMER FOCUSFarmer Focus: Trip up North reveals extent of crop damageWeather issues continue to dominate but some motorway-based agronomy on a recent drive up through the country gave the impression that we in the South East haven’t had it quite… More articles
