Like most other farmers, we found the autumn drilling season unusually kind and we got all drilling completed in good time, as well as cultivations for the spring cropping. This harvest we are cropping Spring Barley, Spring Beans and Winter Barley, alongside preparing the land for the new Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship agreement which starts in January.

This new scheme will see us scale up our wildlife corridors on the Estate, as well as the creation of many habitats through establishment of a wetland and reversion of former parkland among others.
In order to prepare the arable land for the new agreement, we are working on depleting the land going back into grassland. To do this we are not applying any fertiliser to these fields. The lower P and K levels in these fields should result in a higher variety of species, especially wildflowers.

We have recently purchased a farm a short distance from Courteenhall and so are working on some drainage and other projects there, including a ground source heat pump for the farmhouse.
Unfortunately, because of the big storm we had a few weeks ago we lost several of our ancient trees, and this kept the team busy since clearing up fallen branches.

This will be my last update from the farm before my retirement as a Camgrain Director. It has been a huge privilege to have been a small part of the team at Camgrain. The work that you all do is really special and has a bright future.

Thank you & Stay safe

Johnny Wake