{"id":1586,"date":"2024-07-21T08:29:45","date_gmt":"2024-07-21T08:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/?p=1586"},"modified":"2024-07-21T08:29:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-21T08:29:45","slug":"on-the-farm-in-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/highlights\/on-the-farm-in-august\/07-2024","title":{"rendered":"On the Farm in August"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Remember that line from Only Fools and Horses, when Trigger explains to Del and Rodney that road sweepers have an old saying: \u201cLook after your broom.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A New Holland combine taking a break in a Lincolnshire field.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd your broom will look after you?\u201d continues Rodney, to which Trigger replies \u201cNo Dave, it\u2019s just \u2018look after your broom.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, any arable farmer worth their grain will say that looking after your combine makes sense. Our New Holland is maintained by Ryan at Russell\u2019s, with an inspection that took place back in February followed by our pre-harvest maintenance and servicing. The company has 12 depots including Tuxford and Harby depots, and Ryan spends several days meticulously maintaining the machine. Our combine is about to undertake harvest number nine with us, which is testimony to the diligent maintenance it receives and the care we take with its operation and servicing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing the machine totally naked, without its cheerful yellow farings, you can peer into its inner workings: a mass of chains, belts, sprockets and bearings, hydraulics, clutches and electronics. A modern combine has over 15,000 individual parts, all working in harmony to achieve incredible productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1850, harvesting grain from an acre of land took many labourers 23 hours. By the start of the 20th century that had dropped to just eight hours. Today, harvesting an acre is achieved in less than half an hour, with much cleaner grain and greater comfort thanks to air-conditioned cabs and a decent radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike Trigger\u2019s broom, our New Holland hasn\u2019t had 17 new headers and 14 new augers\u2026 but with modern combines from names like New Holland, Claas and a John Deere costing up to \u00a3750,000, it certainly pays to take care of your machine, using an airline to blow out the mechanism each day, for example, which also ensures excess dust and chaff doesn\u2019t build up, which can also increase the risk of fire since the machines run incredibly hot, especially on a warm day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another essential for ensuring a successful harvest is the control of one of the most pernicious thorns in an arable farmer\u2019s side, blackgrass. Just a single head of blackgrass can produce up to 500 seeds and for every 100 ears per square metre, wheat yields are reduced by a tonne per hectare. In the event of blackgrass presence, farmers have to remove 98%\u2008of the blades, not to eradicate it; just to prevent the prevalence of it increasing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re fighting a constant battle to prevent blackgrass on our land and I\u2019m happy to report that we\u2019re on top of it, with nine clean harvests, but its control still requires a good deal of constant diligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2008really believe that in the event of blackgrass  you have to stop growing winter wheat and concentrate on spring cereals. We use a traffic light system to categorise fields and opted to plant four continuous years of spring barley in our worst-affected fields, as bushy barley can smother out blackgrass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previously we\u2019ve relied on pre-emergent sprays followed by peri-emergent and post-emergent sprays, with costs of blackgrass control somewhere in the region of \u00a3250\/ha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past ten years or so, we\u2019ve managed to eliminate peri- and post-emergence sprays and instead employed gangs to hand-pull rogues in our fields. We also use glyphosate to spray off entire areas of wheat in a field where blackgrass is a problem, sacrificing the crop but also eliminating the blackgrass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve also had to stop baling hay because no matter how \u2018hygienic\u2019 contractors are when it comes to blowing out their balers with compressed air, it\u2019s impossible to get into all of the nooks and crannies and remove all of the blackgrass seeds from a contractor\u2019s previous job which means blackgrass seeds from elsewhere are introduced onto the farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doing so has also taken our costs down to \u00a3172\/ha, despite this more labour-intensive approach. Blackgrass will always be a problem, but it\u2019s not unsurmountable, as long as you\u2019re diligent and keep on top of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time of writing, we\u2019ve been treated to lovely sunshine at the Lincolnshire Show, a celebration of the very best that the county has to offer. Also at the time of writing, the European football tournament is taking place. We\u2019re assured by the media that football is \u2018coming home.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That remains to be seen [update: it didn\u2019t], but one event which is definitely coming home and is also attended by an enthusiastic audience is Cereals, which I\u2019m delighted to announce will take place at Roy Ward Farm, Leadenham on 11th and 12th June 2025. Tickets are on sale now, and it\u2019s a source of immense pride that the event will once again be back in Lincolnshire, the county that feeds the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch Wardy\u2019s Waffle:\u2008Our farming correspondent Andrew Ward MBE farms 1,600 acres in Lincolnshire, growing wheat, barley, oilseed rape, sugar beet, beans and oats. Andrew has his own YouTube channel, Wardy\u2019s Waffle, which is enjoyed by over 15,700 subscribers. Watch his updates Wednesday evenings from 7pm and Sunday mornings at 8am. Search YouTube for @WardysWaffleAndrewWard.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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