MONICA AKEHURST

‘LET’S GO SCOUTING

FOR BULLS’ WALKABOUT

Unpredictable weather has us on tenterhooks, checking forecasts, searching for a long enough slot to cut some grass. Ideally we need to crack on with making hay, but alas the ‘sun’ is proving elusive. Potential hay is being snatched as silage. Grumbling won’t help; no doubt the Canadians would be glad of our weather. Enduring high temperatures under the heat dome of 49 degrees plus can’t be much fun.

At least you can’t blame the weather on Brexit or Covid-19, which makes a change. All these factors have financial implications for farmers, but in particular the weather. This was well highlighted in the Clarkson’s Farm programmes, which I surprisingly enjoyed watching. I’m not a Clarkson fan but welcome any publicity that gives consumers a better understanding of the challenges faced by food producers.

The combination of Brexit and Covid-19 is causing problems at both ends of the food chain. Fruit and vegetable growers are having difficulties sourcing people for harvesting. Food distributors are encountering problems due to a lack of HGV drivers.

Not being able to move food to the right place at the right time increases food wastage, as well as creating unhappy shoppers, retailers and producers. All links in the chain need to function smoothly to provide an efficient service. Youngest daughter tells me that getting food delivered out to the supermarkets is a major problem. She blames me for voting Brexit. I’m unrepentant: ‘buy local’.

Shrek (ATV) is poorly. He must have got hungry because he ate up a substantial belt; this is becoming an expensive habit, as it’s only two months since he ate the last one. Meanwhile my Fitbit is ecstatic, awarding me all sorts of stupid badges. Getting fitter wasn’t on my wish list, but stock need checking so it’s back to Shanks’s pony, it’s too wet to use my convertible as a stand in. We can’t even swap Shrek in for a new one, as I’m informed that if I order one now, with luck it might turn up in a year’s time.

Secondhand cars and machinery have shot up in price. You can order spare parts, but no one has a clue when they will turn up, it’s causing chaos. It’s looking like a long wait for a pressure washer part. Meanwhile we’ve raided an old defunct one and, hey presto, it kind of works. Such times call for improvisational action. The B and C words are convenient excuses to cover a multitude of sins. Annoyingly the promise of less red tape appears to be a figment of our politicians’ imagination. Those of us who have to live and work in the real world will just have to get on with it as best we can. Good thing farmers are generally an adaptable breed.

Last night our family adapted into a removal team. The pickup truck and livestock trailer were spruced up before being loaded to capacity with furniture. Eldest daughter was moving into a second floor flat in Shoreham with a balcony overlooking the river Adur estuary. Many hands

made light work, curtain rails were put up and furniture reassembled.

On the homeward journey we encountered night road closures which forced us onto the byroads. Turning the trailer around in dark country lanes was testing. It was gone midnight by the time we had done essential chores. I went to sleep dreaming of a lie-in.

Farming has a habit of bringing you back to reality. Early next morning we were woken by the phone; “cattle on the road”. One particular troublesome young heifer seems to go on a ‘let’s go scouting for bulls’ walkabout every time she comes bulling. She tends to gather up a few chums to accompany her; I suppose she thinks there’s safety in numbers or perhaps she wants a second opinion. While we walked these adventurous youngsters the mile back down the road I gave them a stern talking to, but I don’t think they were listening. No different to teenagers really. Then it was breakfast and the farming day began.

It started with collecting faecal samples from my lambs to check on their worm status as I’m keen to avoid resistance to worming products. Taking samples to our livestock vet for analysis is no small task; the ten minute trip to the local town is long gone. Sadly, vet care for farm animals is now outsourced to ever-larger practices. Including traffic hold ups, it took me just shy of two hours for the round trip to deliver my egg-box containing samples. I explained my mission to a slightly perplexed receptionist.

I vividly recall my very first trip to a vet. Aged six, I clasped my young terrier pup wrapped in a towel. She’d had her first encounter with a rat and had arterial blood intermittently spurting from her mouth. I had no idea that I should apply pressure to the wound, and so consequently we were liberally sprayed with blood. My mother drove to our vet’s surgery which was situated within his house. Our vet became a family friend. He took one look and ushered us in, saying: “I think I’d better put the kettle on.” He then showed me how to restrain my pup and proceeded to pop in a few stitches. Then we all sat down together and enjoyed a therapeutic cup of tea. That’s what I’d describe as holistic treatment. I’m feeling nostalgic and thinking the old days had their merits.

Tapping into other people’s knowledge is always interesting. I’m finding the benefits of belonging to a farm cluster WhatsApp group are definitely a plus. I was astounded to learn that dried nettles are exceptionally nutritious for livestock; better than minced clover. I also enjoyed attending the ‘trees in the farming landscape’ session and I’m hoping to learn more on the value of ‘dung beetles’. I’m following the progress of trialling natural fly repellents as opposed to using insecticides. I’m told it’s a steep learning curve, but isn’t that true of all farming life? > Shrek chewed up a belt

> Get back in the field

> Taking the mischievous heifers back to their field

> Challenging times, not all bad being a farmer, beautiful scenery > New belt arrived but waiting for drive pulley

> Livestock trailers have their uses

> Bringing silage bales back to the farm

SEED FERTILISER GRAIN STORAGE

ELVED PHILLIPS ARABLE NOTES

T: 01264 321 595 www.openfield.co.uk

“Rain makes grain” is the old adage; well, if that’s correct we should have plenty! You could add “and then it messes it up again”.

The rain in June and early July has been benefi cial to the grain fi ll. It has brought some Septoria and other disease issues in wheat, especially where key spray applications were not possible, but we could really do with some hours of sunlight now.

We are supposed to be having a week of hot dry weather soon. Some winter barley has gone down with recent storms, but in the main that crop is well formed now. Most of it is feed, and with combining due to start about 20 July it should not have been impaired much. In France, to the south of Paris the rain has delayed their winter barley with one day’s combining followed by two day’s rain, but only the bushel weight has been aff ected so far; surprisingly the yield has not. It’s still average, the grain size is good and malting quality also.

Early French wheat has both hagberg and low protein problems, but again yield is OK so far. Maybe that is because the yields were going to be above average without this wet weather. Another old saying is “fl at wheat can break you” whereas “fl at barley can make you”. We will have to wait and see!

Certainly I would prefer to see the rain now rather than in August. I cannot forget last year, when up to 14 August we combined some high-quality spring malting barley. It started raining then and carried on until the fi rst week of September, ruining half the spring malting barley crop still in the fi eld. Generally, all the crops are better established than they were 12 months ago and so are in a better place to withstand issues.

RAIN HAS BEEN BENEFICIAL

The grain market is now behaving like it normally does pre-harvest in the northern hemisphere, with prices falling further as harvest approaches. The usual suspects who do not have the storage infrastructure and need for hard US dollars from exports, such as the Baltics and Black Sea countries, are pushing cheap barley into the export market to be followed by equally cheap wheat.

The benefi cial rain all over the world from America to Eastern Europe has eased crop fears in what were dry areas. I have been commenting since April that our forward grain values were at historically high fi gures, especially when you consider that we have been expecting a return to more average UK crop sizes. Anyway, for the time

ELVED PHILLIPS

Openfi eld

being UK grain prices still have the lifebelt of high old crop values about them, until the combines roll! End users are anxiously awaiting the arrival of new crop French wheat which is supposed to be here in July.

Old crop barley, of which there is less left than wheat, is in great demand. Those who can fi nish off their new crop feed barley before the end of July, by desiccating, should make a good premium to the ordinary ‘as available’ price. Likewise with wheat, which has a diff erential of £40 between old crop and the new crop price, those who can combine before the middle of August should achieve a premium somewhere between the old and new price. After that the bets are off ! Some merchants are talking about the UK wheat crop being up to 15.5 million tonnes. That’s looking too optimistic to me. If we get fi ve million tonnes more than last year at 14.5 million tonnes, then that’s realistic.

From mid Wales to the Midlands there are huge black grass problems. Add to that the patchy areas, particularly in the Midlands where the crops didn’t establish, then record yields are unlikely. But if Russia lives up to being the “biggest wheat exporter in the world” and sorts out its export tax,

MICHELDEVER SHREWTON MEMBURY

01962 774420 01980 620140 01488 72217 Join the South of England’s largest crop storage cooperative.

Trinity Grain Ltd, a multi-site business offering cost effective storage processing and marketing services. Serving Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and W.Sussex. If you would like to be part of this successful farmer owned business, then please contact your nearest store, and the staff will be more than pleased to discuss your storage and marketing needs.