Farming News – May 2021

Well, we wanted the rain to stop and we got what we wanted. The rain stopped at the perfect time, allowing all the spring crops to be sown with relative ease. The dry weather allowed for muck spreading on each field followed by ploughing, to incorporate it into the ground. After a day, I was able to harrow the soil to make a seedbed and compact it down before it dried out too much. At this point it was ready for sowing with barley or fodder beet and all was done without being rained off.

The potatoes are now planted although I have cut the acreage down this year, because every acre costs around £2,000 to fertilise, plant, keep disease free, harvest, store, grade and transport to market. I have fed a large quantity to my livestock this year because even the food banks don’t want potatoes.

The only crops to plant now are swedes and wild flowers which I never imagined that I would be growing, but Triona, my daughter, needed an area to research for her university degree and I’ll look forward to them flowering. I hardly dare ask for rain to make everything grow!