Farming in May 2011

With the weather breaking one record after another; coldest, warmest, driest, this Farming Year year is not going to be without its challenges. Our spray programmes for the arable crops and orchards are planned according to the growth stages of the plants and trees. Because winter seemed to change into summer rather than spring these stages have concertinaed and applications that are usually several weeks apart have needed to be applied back to back.

Pesticide use can be a prickly issue and as an industry Farming Year has often preferred to keep quiet about the way we use sprays to control weeds, disease and pests rather than getting on the front foot about their use. Even the word 'pesticide' has negative connotations despite the fact most of us use them in some form everyday. Interestingly, when the triazole fungicide is used on the human skin for treating athlete's foot it's called anti-fungal. Maybe we should ban the word pesticide and simply refer to them as weed suppressors, anti-fungals and insect medicaments.

With all the fantastic weather in April it was very hard not to give into temptation and go silaging. We apply fertilizer to the grass earlier in the year and the amount is calculated so that come "S" (silaging) day all the nitrogen will have been used up in the growing grass. "S" day for us is 15th May and cutting early could result in high nitrogen levels which effects palatability. It doesn’t count for much if the cows won’t eat the easiest silage you ever made.

In preparation for our lambing season Rachel and I tuned into Lambing Live. The trouble-free, well rehearsed births became addictive viewing for us amateurs. One programme focused on how to spot a ewe about to lamb, we thought may be this is where we are going wrong. However, Dandelion, Nettle and Bramble obviously missed that episode which would explain why they skip the preamble and eat in a contented manner until the very last moment. At this point they show a slight flicker of discomfort by which time crisis point has been reached. All that said our viewing was not in vain, enter Marigold, Tulip, Daisy and Shaun.

Robert Davies
Hopes Ash Farms

Farming Fact: Using fertiliser produces 10 times more energy in crop growth than it consumes to manufacture.