Autumn is here already and the crops that were challenging to harvest and expensive to dry, at High Wolds Farm, are not worth a great deal today, and probably less tomorrow, due to bumper harvests worldwide.
With fertiliser looking ridiculously expensive, measures are being taken to reduce amounts bought. The total arable area of 760 acres is covered with chicken muck, which gives all the P & K needed.
A new plan is to use it more as a top dressing i
n spring, making full use of the nitrogen.
Spring barley is being reintroduced and hopefully grown without any bought fertiliser.
All sounds plausible and sensible until the men with ties say, "You cannot spread muck when and where you want".
I have just read the latest nitrate regulations, which will entail yet more unnecessary paperwork, map-making and restrictions. We try to reduce artificial fertilisers and use natural muck, but we are hampered due to alleged pollution.
However, if you are a registered organic farmer, then you are allowed to break the rules!
Apart from a few acres of potato land yet to be lifted, all the winter-sown crops are drilled, some into less than ideal seedbeds.
The rape seems to get more difficult to establish every year for some reason and we have a constant battle with slugs. We now have a battered crop which is thin in places and generally lacks vigour.
Wheat after rape is also under attack from the pest and is monitored daily.
Sometimes you do things for the right reasons, but others mess up. We changed chicken processor so that the road miles and weight loss would be reduced.
They then decide to transport our birds to the Welsh border and fill our local abattoir with Scottish chicken. Fuel is obviously not dear enough for some!
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