Out in the Fields

These articles are written by Seumas Foster and are reproduced by kind permission of  Hill and Dale magazine.

August /September 2008

‘If this lot goes up in smoke, it’ll be the worst harvest ever.’

This is the caption of a cartoon published in 1947, two farmers are leaning over a gate looked at the corn ricks in the yard, and reflects the natural pessimism that is needed to cope with the twists and turns of farming to avoid disappointment.

Harvest starts

Harvest has just about started now it is the middle of July, some winter barley is ready to cut, but we will have to wait another week or two before it gets really busy. Oil seed rape is ripening fast, wheat looks as if it has some way to go and spring barley will be fit in August too.

What luxury to know the weather will be perfect harvest conditions for the next two months, the sort of weather farmers in southern Europe can expect, now that can take a lot of pressure off when it comes to ‘faire la moisson’.

This year a dry harvest will be particularly helpful here because the cost of switching on the oil fired driers is not a happy prospect, now the price of oil is at least twice the level of last year.

Time to sow the next crop

Winter Oil Seed Rape will be sown in August, at the moment the crop looks to be a good prospect as forward prices are good. The crop does allow a good opportunity to have a go at the grass weeds that can be a problem in cereal crops.

The rise of Environmental schemes

21 years ago the first Agri-environment schemes began to be appear on the farming scene in the form of ESA’s, (Environmentally Sensitive Areas). To put this in context this was the same year of the ‘Herald of Free Enterprise’ disaster, the year the ‘Hurricane’ swept across southern Britain and 15 million trees were blown over, and Mrs Thatcher was returned for a third term in office.

Since then the area of agricultural land under an environmental scheme of one sort or another has risen to 6 million hectares, about 65% of eligible agricultural land. In terms of hedgerows this means 30,00kms of restored or newly planted hedges, plus 90,000kms of hedges being managed in an environmentally friendly way, that is not cutting when the birds are nesting, and cutting less frequently to allow the plants to produce berries and seeds for the winter.

Using Statistics to Project into the future

During the same period there have been some declining species, and on the 21 year trend the results look like this:

July 2008

Flower Power

Every living plant will flower when conditions are right, which is probably at the peak during June, some flowers catch the eye of the pollinating insects with colour and ultra violet signals, while others use the air as wind to blow pollen around.

Pollen is concentrated protein and the seed that is produced after pollination is often the part of the crop that will be harvested as grain, a bean seed or an oil seed rape seed because it is easily stored and converted into food. This year the poppy crops look excellent, the seed of the poppy crops are used in baking, but the seed pod and a bit of the stem can be used to make morphine derivatives. In the case of grass the whole crop is harvested as silage, haylage, or hay as fodder for livestock, and apart from the seed, the straw of cereal crops is used as bedding or feed.

Many moons Ago

The concept of growing crops for fuel is not new. Until tractors came into general use on farms about 60 years ago the power came from horses, which needed to be fed, so crops like oats were grown for the purpose. Now instead of a crop to feed direct to the ‘tractor’ a crop of Oil seed rape or wheat can be grown to make fuel to put into the tank.

This June has not been exceptional in terms of weather patterns, no extremes of wet or dry, but we have seen some quite wet days which tends to support the pattern change predictions of fewer wet days in the summer, and when it does rain it is heavy rainfall, liable to cause a bit of erosion or run-off, and that is before any thunder storms.

What we want now is plenty of sun and just enough rain to keep the crops ripening ready for harvest in August. This could be quite different to last year, July was pretty miserable, remember?

How many moons?

A ‘wise old saw’ says that if there are 13 new moons in a year then it will be a wet year, last year was also a 13 new moon year and that was wet. This year has 13 new moons too.

The Swallow makes the Summer

Several people have suggested that the swallow numbers are down this year, at the least they seem to be late starting to nest. They may have had a bad winter and migration but while we keep building houses that have no opportunity for swallows or sparrows to nest, as well as converting barns to super new houses unfriendly to a nesting bird, there is no chance of the swallows nesting and they will disappear. I hope some of you have seen successful nesting swallows this time.

Fly the Red Kite

This year a Red Kite, perhaps a pair, is regularly seem in the district, and they are certainly a big bird. Fingers crossed they like it here and stay around.      

May 2008

Formula 1 Crops

The speed of change in the fields at this time of year never ceases to amaze, each year the appearance of the fields moves forward so fast that even over a weekend the view changes significantly.

This year was a bit slow to start with, for some reason April growth was not quite up to expectations, it seems what was needed was some heat. A few warm days made all the difference, together with longer days and more day length light kicked the crops into rapid growth.

Of course this year we have had rain, last year the April drought caused a lot of damage and when rain did come some of the crops could not recover properly.

This year April rainfall here was 80mm, and May to date is 18mm, which fell mostly in two reasonable wet days, which gets into the soil and does some good.

The hot weather is early May brought plenty of windy days, which is just as constricting for field work as rain. Fertilizer spreading and spraying have been difficult tasks to complete especially within the constraints of crop growth stages which have continued to move inexorably onwards. Some of the first wheat ears could be found on 14^th May and winter Barley has been pushing out awned ears since the 11^th. Grass has also made a great deal of bulk, just right for a good silage crop.

Natural Variation.

Keeping some record of events is the only way to avoid the problems of relying on memory, and phenology has been useful to remind us of the progress of the seasons. I am however always disappointed when the reporting is taken out of context, and this year brought a good example. The hawthorn blossom, or Mayflower, was reported as being already showing towards the end of April, in one place down on the south coast and probably in a very favourable microclimate. Certainly the local hedges at that time were still some way off even showing buds, and have not come into full flower until the middle of May, about the right time, and they look fantastic.

The quick headline report does not take into account the range that occurs naturally, and the genetic variability that exists within any natural population, which is essential to maintain a healthy population, the basis of natural selection. In the Vale of Evesham, an area I know, the hedges are always 7-14 days ahead of  our part of Hampshire, the microclimate up there is the natural advantage for that fruit and veg growing area.

The early flowering hawthorn may in turn help early insect life, on the other side the consequence of the early flower could that the seeds are not germinated.

The early flowering is not a symptom of ‘Global Warming’, but the means by which we can adapt to cope with the consequences.

Early Insects

It also seems to be an early year for insects and caterpillars, there will be plenty of food for the hatching birds. Oak trees can lose the first flush of leaves to the munching hoards, but quickly grow another batch for the rest of the season.

Silage Starts

While I have been writing this the tractor and mower have started cutting the grass for silage in the field outside. After the grass has wilted today the forager and trailers should bet going tomorrow and another season turns around. The weather forecast for the week is good so all should go smoothly, we hope so anyway!     

April 2008

Spring

March went out like a lamb, but winter flashed a few times in early April, although it’s the cold wind that really sets the standard for the first part of the month.

March was quite a wet month with 105mm of rain, however the soils have started to dry, at least on the surface, much quicker with the stronger sun and wind.

Just in case you have forgotten April last year was a serious drought that went on a bit too long, and had a big effect on the crops.

Field work tending the crops has gone ahead steadily, and now in mid April the  crops of Poppies have been sown, waiting for the right conditions tests the nerve of both farmer and tractor driver alike, but patience can be a virtue if it means that the seedbed conditions are so much better. Nothing can spoil the best laid plans at this time of the year quite as well as an April shower falling on a nicely worked seedbed. By the end on April the maize and game cover will probably be in too.

Frost and Hail

The frosts in early April have been quite intense, -5 to-6 on some mornings, and these frosts really hit the winter oil seed rape stems, curling them over and making them look as though they had been blanched. The stems, some with early flowers recently open, had flopped right over, and looked as if it was possible they might not recover. I went back and had another look about a week later and the stems had recovered and looked very healthy, and much to my relief were pointing skywards at the sun again. The only sign of the frost trauma is a kink in the stem.

The hail storms have left their mark, some of the hail stones were big and leaves and stems of crops are clearly damaged.

The winter and spring cereals as well as the beans and oil seed rape have all been growing on steadily during the past month, and by the end of May should be in ear so we are now in the part of the growth cycle when progress is very rapid.

More Kites

There are more sightings of red Kites in the parishes, as well as the now common buzzards. There are also plenty of rabbits to give a good food supply for these birds, but they do tend to eat what they can find not what they can catch. Usually the closest you get to a kite is seeing the bird flying or gliding some way up, but if you can get close enough they are very big birds and quite awesome.

The Hairy Grape

The importance of early flowers for the insects became clear when I found a self-set gooseberry in a hedge which was flowering. The gooseberry had most likely grown from a seed dropped by a bird perched in the hedge some time in the past, having been feeding in a garden. The gooseberry flowers, which are small and not showy, were being worked by all sorts of flies, bumble bees, honey bees, and midges. There isn’t much else for them just at the moment so the gooseberry could be a life saver. Perhaps putting gooseberries in hedges next time some planting is done could be considered, 3CG and anyone else
planting a hedge?

March 2008

March came in like a lion

The storm in early March was quite a blow, and plenty of rain came with it. The barometric pressure fell rapidly and the low was certainly in the first division, if not going to win a cup.

Through the month the hedgerows have begun to show green as the buds expand, especially the hawthorn. Some individual plants are quite obviously earlier than others, is this a display of natural bio-diversity or something more sinister like global warming?

The crops, and that includes grassland, has also been responding to the generally warm weather this spring and growing on steadily, but this hasn’t really become noticeable until this month.

The first top dressings on nitrogen fertilizer have been applied, the effects on growth can be picked up now, the main dressings are scheduled for April and possibly May.

This spring has brought large flocks of pigeons onto the crops, much larger flocks than the last few years, with the birds pitching into the Oil seed rape and grass land. The birds really go for freshly sown fields, there must be some seed left on the surface as well as juicy worms and other insects and grubs to find. The field next to the school at Cliddesden was black and blue with pigeons and rooks the day after sowing, more than will have been seen in previous years. Within a day or so, having cleared up the easy morsels, they disappeared, they had to go back to follow the drill or fall back to the winter crops, as well as the as yet uncultivated fields.

Spring Promise

Spring barley is looking like a good banker crop this year, malting quality promises to be very well rewarded in the market place. Chalk soils are suitably impoverished to achieve a low nitrogen grain content at harvest, together with careful use of nitrogen from the bag in the growing crop so as not to over-do the application and run the risk of late nitrogen uptake into the grain while it is filling in July. In fact rainfall during that period is just as important, because nitrogen is very soluble a few wet days in summer can make too much nitrogen available at the critical time.

To Plough or not to Plough

A lot, but not all, of the 8% set-aside will have been ploughed for crops now that it is no longer required to be non-productive. The field areas that are uncropped because of Entry Level Scheme or Countryside Stewardship agreements still remain within the management agreements that are in place, and Cross Compliance is still very much a feature of farming now. It has long been argued that a profitable agriculture will fund its own conservation, and do so without government funds, so the potential savings to the Exchequer are huge, and the Exchequer seems reluctant to continue with such a committment. If society wants large areas of land agriculturally ignored then there will have to be a more realistic debate than has been had so far. Who would have thought that when set aside was imposed 18 years ago, with the intention to reduce production, the pendulum would swing so far so fast.           

Seumas Foster

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