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Clouds of butterflies have emerged in the Park with the weekend’s hot and sunny weather. We have delayed cutting the grass for the ‘organic’ hay (is there any other sort?), until all of the spring flowers have gone to seed. And the weeks of rain have helped bulk up the crop, it looks as if it will yield well if we every get a dry few days of haymaking weather.
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The making of hay must be one of the greatest inventions of mankind as it allowed us to over winter animals and convert from a hunter-gatherer existence to stable farming. Cities owing their foundation to the communal skill of preserving sweet grass as hay; yet a recent visit to London for an athletics road race showed nothing but stone, concrete, glass and tarmac.
High profile global events such as ‘Live Earth’ may lead us into a fresh and ‘greener’ world, but I sadly doubt it. International treaties always seem to settle on the lowest possible compromise (fudge) but we cannot give up hope.
Nobody in our government seems to see the irony inherent in their policies that they want global agreements on climate change in distant countries, yet will glibly pander to the aspirations of our rapidly enlarging electorate with promises of unsustainable housing development.
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Garden rubbish is being fly-tipped quite regularly in the usual places, very organic and degradable, apart from the plastic bags that holds it. Sadly the dumpers do not seem to understand this and are quite indignant when confronted. The usual excuse is on the lines, “It will break down naturally in the hedgerow, we are just returning it to nature”.
A busy few weeks finalising plans for next years cropping have seen me analysing all of the costs of producing this year’s un-harvested crop. Recommendations from Andrew have been considered and the necessary orders for seed and fertiliser placed with the suppliers.
So, the healthy bank balance that resulted from selling all of last years crops will soon be dwindling as we pay for the delivery of the inputs for next season. We are holding our heads above the financial tides, but it would be very difficult without my second job and the hard work of Dad and Derek in my absence. It seems that farm-gate prices will rise a little this year as a result of the difficult weather conditions being experienced around the world.
The EU commissioners are being advised to drop the production control mechanism of 8% uncropped land, or set-aside. However the politicians, often lacking in leadership but hunting for a vote, are being persuaded to change the rules; much like they changed the reasons for the invasion in Iraq. You must remember the fuss about weapons of mass destruction, but when none were found, we discovered that we went to war to remove an unpalatable political regime. Our set-aside rules were conceived to control the excessive production of food under the old CAP (common agricultural policy), now we are being told they were really for habitat diversification.
Unfortunately, the British government already has no trust in us, and sets us targets and dates on which we can legally carry out our farming activities.
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I have been reliably informed that no French farmer would take kindly to distant politician trying to tell him when he could cut the grass around his field edges. Suspicion, and lack of trusts seems to pervade all of our society now; government by fear.
Pre-holiday activities at school have both staff and students ‘de-mob’ happy at least three weeks before the official end of term. Every lesson seems to be a struggle to follow the set texts; I have therefore abandoned most of them in the hope that we can all get some real, exciting and passionate learning done. Reading the adventures of Odysseus to one year 8 English class that I was covering for an absent colleague was a real joy, and the students wanted more!
Free ‘Q and A’ sessions in science have had my knowledge stretched so hard that I have had to resort to the Library (yes, we still have one even if it does say ‘Learning Resource Centre’ on the door), for definitive answers. Even if it does take a little longer, it is good to show pupils a well thumbed text, alongside the more usual ‘Google’ printout.
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Crops are ripening well, despite the rain, but I have no idea when we shall start harvesting. The soil has a good structure, as we have experienced no flooding despite the record amounts of water recorded for June. Perhaps I will soon have a few months of hard farm work, to help me clear my mind of all of the stuff that has been clogging up my quest for a quiet, stable yet passion filled life.
17/7/07
Continuing unsettled weather has postponed the crops ripening and the making of our hay. Dry conditions, sufficient to cure the grass into hay, seem not to feature on any weather forecasts so we will probably be making it during harvest. Another worry, as I try to juggle my aging resources and get this years crops in the granary as well as next year’s in the ground.
Young people, with clean driving licences, do not seem to be that keen to spend a summer in a hot (and sometimes dusty) tractor cab, transporting the grain from field to store. So I will have to rely on friends and family to get most of the work done.
We will soon have to combine our forces with a neighbouring farm to manage the heavy work load. I must admit that it will be hard to give up my yeoman independence, but co-operation seems to offer the best way forward.
The delay in harvest has allowed the experimenters from Rothamsted to continue to monitor the farm’s bee population as part of a PhD student’s research. Helping their work has become a family tradition, started by my grandfather; it is good to know that the farm has played a small part in making sure that wholesome food gets onto so many plates.
Other users, are free to enjoy their own monitoring of our work and wildlife as they use the tracks, paths and bridleways that criss-cross the farm. Unfortunately, all of these people have been conveniently classified as ‘NIMBYs’, by those that cannot see beyond the next marginal seat at election time; I can hear the distant rumble of concrete being laid on the widened motorway as I type.
The local council have decided that anyone who responded to their consultation on sites for ‘travellers’ was most likely a ‘racist’, as commenting on a small section of our population is not politically correct. You have to hand it too them; call a consultation but ignore the responses if they do not fit into your planned projects. Our local hospital is being lost under such a distorted process with the views of seemingly politically selected ‘focus groups’ being preferred to more general questionnaires.
Under the new proposals on planning laws, advocated by Mr Brown, it will be even harder for local people to question policies that will radically alter their lives and human rights. Some people are more equal than others, it seems that Orwell was right.
Evenings are beginning to slowly shorten, but there have been some magical sunsets recently. Every shepherd should have been delighted, if their house was not “on fire”, by the magnificent shades of red that saw the sun set over Langstone Bay this weekend. My short break at a Butser weekend was so relaxing that it has set me up for the final week of school before the long summer holidays (!). Even the committee meeting went quite well with an interesting discussion on the meaning of scientific experimentation and how it can affect the construction of Iron Age round houses.
Ninety seems a good age to still be playing Badminton. Dad’s sister reached that milestone this week and celebrated with four games in the village sports centre. Living life to the maximum that they can physically manage has kept both siblings lively, feisty and wise; I am very proud of them both. Even the afternoon tea party kept going back at my Aunt’s house until 11.00pm.
Shadows caste across the celebrations by the impending return of one of my aunts great grandsons to one of Mr Blair’s wars, did not dampen the spirits, if anything they heightened them.
So will it ever stop raining? Patience is a virtue we are told………
21/7/07
Nearly five centimetres of rain fell on Friday morning; and amazingly I am happy that our crops have not suffered the flooding that has affected much of the un-harvested crops in England.
The leaving ‘do’ that marks the end of the summer term at school was its predictable mixture of blandness and spice. It was a shame that some of those leaving did not say exactly what they thought of their time with us. I will remember it for the adverse effects of the sandwiches provided for our entertainment. I was up all last night prowling the bathrooms of the house; and in bed most of the day trying to get warm.
The heavy showers and biting wind made me wish that I was spread-eagled of some naturist beach on the side of the Mediterranean, not huddled under the duvet. And I don’t usually like beach holidays.
Lots of small maintenance jobs to get on with next week, but it looks unlikely that I will be able to cut the hay for a few more days. Much of the ‘battle’ of the next few weeks will be in my head as I try to keep calm and adjust tactical plans to the conditions prevailing each day.
The Doctor has me on yet another set of pills to keep my blood pressure to the government demanded target. More interesting side effects to play with!
25/7/07
Claas combine harvesters get more complicated, and bigger, each year.
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Yesterday, our neighbour Richard, started harvesting his desiccated (sprayed with glyphosate a couple of weeks ago) Oilseed Rape. Ours is ripening naturally, so is usually about a week to a fortnight later before we can harvest it. Undulating and moist seedbeds in the autumn did not leave the surface of the field in very good condition, neither has all of the recent rain; but the 30 foot wide cutter-bar is carried on rubber tracks and the large machine left surprisingly shallow track in the soil. Great to have the chance to ride in such a magnificent machine, I was chuffed when Richard beckoned me from my bike into his comfortable cab. I’m still a boy at heart and can be easily impressed by flashing lights and beeping computers.
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Very little field work done on the farm this week, but I have set up the combine for our Oilseed and spent some time discussing with Andrew the use of some pre harvest glyphosate on some of the weedier patches in the wheat. Even flow of material through the combine threshing mechanism is important if we are to complete harvest in good time; drying the weeds out should help.
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My composure is being challenged by the endless procession of politicians saying that “lessons have been learnt”, by the authorities dealing with the extensive flooding across the country in recent months. You would have thought that even the most blinkered politician would have realised that constant reorganisation of Government Ministries, and the deliberate loss of years of staff with years of practical expertise (in MAFF’s case the trusted agricultural experts were thought to have turned ‘native’), could leave us vulnerable to climate change events. Let’s hope that the dose of realism and ‘middle England’ voter suffering, will convince the control freaks that Canute was much wiser than his courtiers. It must be humbling for them to realise that focus groups and statements to the press are no substitute for good planning and management.
Field edges have always been a problem on this farm as we have struggled to maintain good hedges and woodland strips for ‘environmental’ reasons. ELS scheme strips have helped us to separate the crops and their feeds and medicines from the wild flora and fauna in the hedge. Leaving this strips unsprayed has caused quite a build up of grass weeds which do nothing for the quality of our crops or ease of harvest. One thought is to give every field a 3 metre boundary grass strip which could be mown regularly, providing seeds and flowers for birds and small mammals and give access to farm machinery when required. Very simple in concept, but hard to put into practice when RPA rules are involved. Eventually I plucked up courage to discuss ideas with the RPA office in Newcastle, the officer I spoke to was amazingly helpful.
Allowing for the delay of the EU in ratifying that the set-aside requirement for next year as 0% until September, she talked me through all of the implications of several ideas. Now I know that I will be able to include the strips as optional set-aside and will not be penalised, or given too much extra work in sub dividing fields into thin medieval strips. DEFRA staff, if this lady is anything to go by, have realised that many farmers are not basically out to hold the country to ransom, and quite enjoy the opportunity of working together.
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Management by agreement does not seem to be playing much of a role within our school. Every decision seems to be made behind closed doors with the mass of staff ignored in decisions that affect our work conditions dramatically. Announcing, by internal email on the very last day of term, major reductions in staff work space is rather provoking. No consultation has been allowed and the staff I have spoken with seem very resentful. It will be interesting to see what happens in September especially as the teacher trade unions are already giving advice on grievance procedures.
No getting away from this hassle even though I promised myself that I would have a clean break from the worries of teaching. Grand-father status within the staff room makes me consultant on many issues, gratifying but exhausting.
It looks like heavy rain again tomorrow, I have just my hay to worry about, not the total loss of crops that some farmers in the midlands are facing. Letting the crops go un-harvested must be hard to contemplate, and I feel for my colleagues. Yet it reminds me that farming is not a production business in a factory, so many factors are out of our control, and we need the flexibility to adapt to rapidly changing situations.
Perhaps the political restraints are being released just a little and we will be able to get on with our job of providing sustainable and wholesome food for the country, whatever the climate has in store for us.
30/7/07
Cutting the hay, at last, was a real joy this weekend, despite the tractor playing up a little with some ‘dirty’ diesel in its tank. The air line in the workshop was used to great effect to blow out the offending material which was blocking the tap at the bottom of the tractor’s tank. Otherwise it was wonderful to smell the newly mown grass and to watch the Muntjac deer, hares, rabbits and kestrels explore the suddenly changed terrain.
I managed to finish the job before Derek got back from his summer caravanning holiday; I did ask him to ‘tidy up’ the Park as I had ‘missed’ a few bits, just so honour could be satisfied.
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Even the wasp’s nest that I managed to cut the top off did not give me too much grief, but I did go to another part of the Park until the grumpy insects had quietened down a bit.
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Today Dad started turning the grass into rows to aid drying. After we had got the old implements attached to the old tractor, Derek and I could only watch as a very happy 86 year old man got on with some real tractor work, the first time since his mini-stroke this time last year. Underneath the rows of mown grass the ground is still very wet, so it will take a couple of days of wind and sunshine to dry everything out and cure the grass into storable hay.
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Crawler tractors are wonderful in damp conditions as we proved later on today when Derek and I shared the ploughing of the set-aside in RE27. Uneven soil was glided over on the rubber tracks with no smearing wheel slippage to cause problems when we try to create a fine seedbed later next month. Nearly all of the lengthy desiccated weeds were buried, but it was not match ploughing and any judge would give us poor marks if we had entered a competition.
A very busy day, but it was good to be busy as we seem to have spent a lot of time listening to the rain and unblocking gutters recently.
Unfortunately, I still can’t get away from a few problems at school, and had a working lunch with one of the Trade Union representatives to discuss the loss of some staff office space. The general opinion is that the staff need to demonstrate that their working conditions have been seriously degraded. Rather easy, I think, as we have about 20 extra people wanting to use a space that has been (seemingly) arbitrarily halved. Easy for the ‘decision makers’ to decide on cutting office space for others from the splendour of their own offices, but extremely difficult for the rest of us. Perhaps I should leave all of the hassle until September and just enjoy my work on the farm.
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