George Hosford’s break crop has fallen foul to politics. One of the main products from poppies is morphine, but this can no longer be exported, halving the financial return on the crop.
George Hosford: Always adapting, always learning
Louise Stratton interviews George Hosford, Dorset NFU County Chair, and discusses poppies, worms and the excitement of school visits Our Dorset NFU County Chairman is George Hosford, in his second year of the twoyear Chairman’s term and he is passionate about our farming industry and home-grown produce. George farms in partnership with his brother on 800 hectares outside Blandford. The farm is all rented from a private landlord and is made up of 650 hectares of arable land, 110 hectares of permanent pasture with the remainder being woodland and farm buildings. It’s a busy farm, employing several full-time members of staff to manage the mixed enterprise. Within the arable land, the farm is always trying to maximise the area of wheat being grown. Therefore, the ‘break crop’ – a
crop grown to interrupt the repeated sowing of cereals to prevent disease build up – is important to the rotation. George has some unusual break crops, growing spring beans, oil seed rape and even poppies.
the beetle attacks. But this hasn’t put him off and one thing that is evident from conversations with George is that their farm is always challenging and experimenting with new production techniques. They now bring the sheep flock Letting the sheep in to the fields of oil seed rape in Oil seed rape, predominantly autumn. The sheep knock back grown for edible vegetable the crop, eat weeds and remove oils, is recognised by its bright the need for a fungicide as yellow flower. An insecticide they eat the leaf material away, was banned in the which would “...without the UK in 2013, which otherwise catch insecticide, farmers fungal spores was the farmer’s way of protecting like George have floating around oil seed rape from the air, and very little control in the cabbage stem reduces the leaf over the beetle flea beetle, which area for the attacks. But this can decimate fields beetle to land of the crop. Without hasn’t put him off...” on. The sheep the insecticide, will reduce farmers like George have very the crops yield, but you save on little control over growing costs making it cheaper
