Farm Update

The last couple of months have been a difficult time on the farm with unprecidented low levels of rainfall during two important months.  At the start of March we were all very delighted with the dry spell of weather, great for spring barley drilling, potato planting and of course for lambing.  As the weeks rolled on and the temperatures rose the light arable land really started the run out of water.  Fertiliser that we had applied just sat on the surface so crops were unable to use the nitrogen and insect pests were multiplying in the warm spring sunshine.  Our newly planted trees, both in the orchards and the elm trees, required watering in order to keep them alive!  Once started this job will need to carry on but with the investment in the trees we have to keep the going.  Irrigation has been intense on the salad onion crops and today we have started on the potatoes.  Our rainfall for March was only 8.6mm (driest in 60yrs) and April was even less at 5.4mm (long term average for April is 49.5mm)

The large cracks opening up in the fields are usually only seen in the summer months and this photograph was taken in mid April!  It just goes to show how the weathers unpredictability impacts on our farming systems.  As a rule our climate is not used to weather changes like this.  Other areas of the world, like Australia and America, would expect these droughts much more often than us.  It will be a very interesting season as it progresses, just what will the effects be on yields and quality be?  It is still a long way to go but with the final leaves out in wheat crops (visible in April) 3 weeks ahead of usual there must be an affect, at the very least an early harvest.

Last weekend the rain arrived giving a very welcome 24mm.  This rain was the right kind of rain, silly statement you all scream but it was gentle and warm.  This gave it time to actually soak into the ground rather than run-off taking fertiliser with it into the nearest water course.  The situation had eased slightly but more rain will be required to get these crops to harvest, and it might even have come too late for our malting barley, which is looking thinner and thinner.

Worm's Eye View of Potatoes

This is one of the potato fields that Cobrey Farms rents from us. The field was planted in mid April and the potatoes emerged a couple of weeks ago. With the dry weather Henry Chinn has asked us to start irrigating the potatoes. they receive about 25mm of 'rain' each time we irrigate. the bare area in the middle of this field is where we spotted a lapwing nest when we were cultivating the field. In order not to disturb the nest we cultivated and subsequently planted around the nest. unfortunately the nest was predated after the field was planted. At the start there were 3 eggs in the nest but they soon disappeared leaving no trace.

This is a shot down between the potato rows showing how the plants grow and develop. Wit the warm water and adequate water they will very soon reach to meet across the rows. They need lots of water so that the skins of each potato are blemish free. This means that they will look more desirable to the customer when packed in clear plastic for the supermarket shelf. If these skins are good when harvested in August, Henry will pack them into 1 tonne boxes and put them into storage where they will stay untill Christmas (I expect). To find out more about Cobrey Farms you can visit their web on www.cobrey.co.uk

Turning The Taps On

After a few hot days the potatoes need a drink! We are putting between 15-20mm on these crops which will last them about 1 week if it doesn't rain in the mean time. the forecast looks dry and the small tubers are starting to form (hooking up) and need to be kept wet for the next 6 weeks to avoid any problems with scab. This disease causes little blisters on the skin of the potato. It makes no difference to the taste or quality of that potato but when packed under plastic and on a supermarket shelf, looks a little dirty. Tonnes of potato's are rejected each year because of scab, either powdery or common, (there are two kinds). The run in this field will last 11 hrs and the rain gun will travel 370m each of the 3 times it will take to cover the field at a snails pace of 33.6m/hr