Farming News – September 2022

As I write, harvest is now almost over, with one small area of spring barley remaining. I have still to calculate the final accounts for this year’s cereals but I already know that the results are mixed.  The wheat yielded well considering the drought, and the winter barley was also acceptable. My spring barley was late sown after my Covid and subsequent heart attack and I knew that it would only do well if the weather conditions were favourable. The cold arid spring which we had was the opposite of that which the crop needed and the resulting yield is unsurprisingly moderate.

As you will be aware, the solar farm, although recommended by the planners, was turned down by Hambleton District Council, because they object to the loss of land used to grow food. A few months earlier the same council passed plans for a factory on better land at Leeming Bar. My sheep would have grazed the grass growing beneath the solar panels and so food would still have been produced. I still fervently believe that this country should produce its own energy rather than relying on foreign dictatorships to sell it to us.