FEATURE
FARMER FOCUS
JOHN PAWSEY Since my last submission to Direct Driller Farmer Focus was September, I owe you a report on what we have stuck in the ground for harvest 2022 and how it’s looking at the time of writing. Buoyed up by my harvest 2021 organic oilseed rape crop, I planted a further crop in August but was persuaded that my previous mix of rape, fenugreek and beseem clover was not the way to go and that rape, buckwheat and a more frost intolerant variety of Tabor beseem clover was a more reliable option. Quite why I didn’t ignore that advice given that my previous crop did so well is beyond me, as the new mix offered my oilseed rape to the flea-beetles for breakfast. It pretty much didn’t even manage a true leaf. I visited David White in Little Wilbraham late in the autumn and his flea-beetle free diverse mix of all-and-sundry plus rape looked amazing. The organic grower can only plant companion species that will be taken out by a frost, whereas David can plant a much more diverse mix to confuse said insect and then tickle the unwanted plants up with a light dose of herbicide. David (allthe-tools-in-the-box) White as I affectionately call him. I should point out at this juncture to save the younger reader from Goggling the word “frost” an explanation. In the 1970s sometimes the temperature would dip below freezing overnight (I know, it seems crazy. We wore real fleece from sheep in those days, not a pretend one made with petrochemicals), and when we woke up in the morning the grass was all white in the garden because the water on the leaves had frozen into beautiful crystals making everything look like fairy land. Also, the ground froze meaning that there was a huge amount of resistance in the soil and so we could take a 20 tonne tractor and a massive cultivator onto our ploughed fields to do some cultivating without damaging the soil. Now kids, Google “oxymoron”.
My failed oilseed rape crop was re-drilled with vetches which looks fantastic. We planted our usual amount of spelt which I love as it grows so tall by this time of the year it is taller than any of our weeds which makes the farm look amazing from the road. The same applies to Millers Choice heritage wheat which has the same positive visual effect for my farming neighbours. By the way reader, if you are thinking of growing any spelt, the only variety to grow is Zollernspeltz. Don’t be persuaded otherwise by your seeds-person. If they try and tempt you to grow spring spelt, cancel your account with them immediately as they are idiots or ask for an extra gear on your combine harvester which you won’t be able to afford the repayments on. We have also planted 25 hectares of Wildfarmed Grain for musician turned farmer Andy Cato. Andy came to Shimpling Park Farm last year and annoyingly he was charming, handsome, knowledgeable and extremely tall. He also has
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a full head of hair which I always hate on a man. I invited him for lunch and I am afraid to say that Alice Pawsey let herself down and her family down by swooning allover the poor chap. It was pathetic. He then broke one of our kitchen chairs by the simple act of sitting on it. I suggested to Alice afterwards that perhaps he was a little fat but she assured me it was muscle built up during the days when he worked his French farm with horses. Said chair is still broken because, “Andy sat on it”. See what I mean? I had the absolute pleasure of going to Andy’s farm in Coleshill a couple of weeks ago and what he is doing there is truly inspiring and I seriously urge you to go if you ever get the chance. It’s mind blowing. I travelled down to Andy’s farm with Alex and John Cherry of Groundswell fame or as I tell my friends, I rode to Wiltshire with Regenerative Royalty. All our winter wheat this year is a 50/50 mix of Extase and Siskin and all our winter beans have been sown with the same varieties with Vespa as a bicrop. Our harvest 2021 bean/wheat attempt was a little light on beans due to a low germination in the beans of 75%, so when it came to separating them in November last year, we had almost exactly one third beans to two thirds wheat but managed to raise the wheat grain protein by a percent which was encouraging. This year’s bicrop has a much better bean establishment and looking at them today I would imagine that the ratio will be reversed. It will be interesting to see what that increased bean yield has on the quality of the wheat. I’ve been pestering Josiah Meldrum from Hodmedod’s for a number of years to grow some of their exotic pulses for them. Apart from Josiah also having a full head of hair (see Cato), he is a really nice man to deal with. There are some companies that whenever you work with them growing novel crops, you get the niggling feeling that you have taken all the risk and the price you get in the end from them didn’t really reward you for your labours. I get a warm feeling when talking to Josiah and so we have got a bicrop in the ground of camelina and
ISSUE 18 | JULY 2022
