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Over the farm gate - this week kindly supplied by John Jefferies, Bedfordshire
When I saw my name on the list for this week I thought “oh no, what am I going to write about”.
Well that was then, and this is now. I have found lots to write.
In early October I was invited to speak to the SAI Platform (sustainable agriculture initiative) annual
conference in Cambridge. To give my own experiences of re-generative/Sustainable farming. This
was a daunting prospect. The SAI platform is an organisation with 160 members from the food
industry, including virtually all the big food manufacturers. The event went very well, and I had so
many questions from the audience which showed a true level of engagement that they had with our
industry. The opening presentation of the day was from senior executives from Nestlé, Danone and
Unilever. It was inspiring to hear the direction in which they wished to take their supply chains and
the value they are seeking to place upon both the farmer and the consumer.
On October 22nd I was invited to be part of a farmers panel at the Cambridge Sustainable Food
Festival. Over 500 people attended and about 80 people attended the presentations. I was alongside
our vice chairman, David White as well as Dr Tom Pearson who farms at Caxton (west of Cambridge)
and Tom Gent from Gentle Farming. Six Inches of Soil presented extracts from their films, the latest
of which will be available online in autumn 2023. We faced some tough questions from the public
and it certainly wasn’t an easy ride. But it was very enjoyable. After the presentations/discussions
we had the opportunity to show the public what we do. I took a box of soil and David took a sheaf of
wheat and some cover crop.
Image 1. The Sustainable Farming Initiative annual conference, Cambridge Union 5th Oct 2022
Image 2. Cambridge Sustainable Food Festival 22nd Oct 2022. David White in background
On the farm we have experience one of the greatest autumns I can recall. The summer heat and
drought made the clay soils shrink and crack. When the rain came the soil took on a beautiful
crumbly characteristic. The chopped straw on the soil surface preserved the moisture and prevented
it from being evaporated by the fierce heat and strong wind. I was then able to direct drill into these
perfect conditions. Initially the drilling was done in the evening and at night. This was to preserve the
small amount of moisture we had at that time. The crops emerged rapidly, significantly faster than
neighbouring crops that were drilled into ploughed or cultivated land. Indeed, some of these other
crops have only just made it up into a full line.
But 2022 will also go down as my latest ever completion date for harvest!! My crop of late linseed
that did not germinate until early June was finally harvested on October 6th and 7th. This is the first,
only and hopefully last time I have ever harvested in October.
Image 1. The late Linseed harvest 07/10/22
Image 2. Making a start to drilling on the evening of 22/09/22
As mentioned, the emergence of harvest 2023 has been rapid and uniform. Mostly the blackgrass
has not been too bad. This too benefitted from the straw mulch on the soil surface. Due to the hot
summer the blackgrass had low dormancy and rapidly germinated under the straw mulch, meaning
it could be effectively sprayed with glyphosate before drilling. The remarkable growing
conditions in the autumn means that the pre-emergence applied herbicides have been very
effective. However, as all farmers know, you only truly see the effectiveness of your blackgrass
control at the end of the following May.
Image 1. KWS Dawsum first wheat after beans
Image 2. Insitor 2nd wheat
Image 3 and 4. Valerie winter barley
Almost finally. Over the past few years, one field on the farm has underperformed by a long chalk.
The reason for this was the poor drainage of the field. I got a quote for the drainage of this 14 ha
field and found that it was only marginally more expensive than a lorry load of fertiliser. When I
considered it in those terms it just seemed crazy not to accept the quote. If the field improves (and it
will) the farm average, then the payback on the investment will be about 4 years. However,
typically, after waiting all autumn for the contractors to arrive, the heavens opened the next day and
a total of 75mm of rain rapidly joined the party. This delayed the work for a day or two and meant
that a certain degree of soil compaction was caused. A neighbour has come in with a deep cultivator
to correct this and if weather conditions allow in the coming days/week the field will be mole
drained before it is finally drilled with winter beans. Plan B, which now looks most likely is Spring
Beans next March. (a further 15mm rain today, the 3rd).
Image. The Land Drainage works and the instant success of the new drain
And finally. As mentioned previously, by many, the autumn has been so remarkable warm and
sunny. However, I have become annoyed by the language that weather forecasters have used
recently on the TV. Temperatures of 8 degrees C above the normal average in October have been
described as “mild”. But if we were 8C above average in June they would say “the heatwave
continues”. I suggest that we have had a heatwave in recent weeks. It might not be hot, but it is
much hotter than it should be. I can’t understand why a heatwave is called different things in
different months. It’s a heatwave. It is also another odd weather event during this year which only
re-enforces my belief that Climate Change is here. It is very really and possibly out of control. We as
farmers and as part of the food supply industry are at the coal face of climate change and the key to
success in the coming decades is to build a farming system that is resilient to these changing times.
