The Year Round: It's been dry but rain will come

Life on this flat warpland has been hectic, after an early start on the potatoes.

Surprisingly, eight months without any really wet periods enabled work to go steadily ahead but we awoke each morning recently wondering when the rains will come, as come they must.

We border the River Ouse, and mother tells me that the autumn colours have been exceptionally fine.

Our staff is large enough to allow one man and his tractor to look after himself, concentrating on wheat drilling.

He finished just when harvesting the rest of the arable was completed. I cannot say that this was a miracle of planning.

Things just happened to work out that way.

It is very convenient as my niece's 21st birthday involves family celebrations all

round.

A belt-and-braces approach was needed to secure potato lifting.

We have gangs of four men on the lifters and every tuber is examined four times before it leaves the farm.

Half the gang is Polish and one quarter are pensioners.

We cannot get local people of working age to do the job. One who is on benefits would have come, but his earnings here would not equal his Government assistance.

The Coalition still has a long way to go with fairness all round.

Blackgrass continues to resist eradication in certain fields.

Sprays used against it vary in their effectiveness.

This may be our last year of growing variety Desiree potatoes. It has served well for 30 years or so but new varieties Melody and Harmony are taking over as biscuit varieties. Poultry on our farm are living well and laying well.

We fitted new ventilators for the 12,000 birds which have plenty of covered space but are not allowed outside.

There is no doubt that they are doing better than grazing outside permanently.

CW 6/11/10