The Combine is warming up ready for action!!

The Combine is warming up ready for action!!

The harvest is looming fast on the horizon; you may have noticed some activity on the farms around you as farmers are out with their sprayers and swathers. The Oil seed rape has set seed and the seeds are coming into early full maturity, to speed the ripening process and help with harvest timings the rape plant needs to be killed so the sun can dry it quicker.  

This can be done either by spraying it off with Roundup or by swathing a process of cutting the plant without thrashing the seed off it. Roundup is our preferred method as it will kill the plant and all the weeds (if any!!); we know when to spray by inspecting the crop. Once the seeds in the pods halfway up the plant are turning colour from green to brown to black we will be going in with the sprayer. The sprayer will have a mix of Glyphosate (Roundup) the broad spectrum herbicide to kill the plants, a water conditioner to help the plant to absorb the herbicide and a product called PodStick. PodStick is basically organic glue that coats the pods to keep them in tack as the plant dries out. It is a sort of safety product for us as farmers, Oil seed rape is very delicate once it is close to combining and the smallest of vibration from wind, rain or HALE will cause the seed to shed and fall on to the ground. As the plant dies and dries the pods become brittle as it shrinks and cracks, the PodStick just prevents this from happening and pod skin becomes more leathery than brittle. When you have put all your years’ effort into producing a high quality crop then you don’t want pound coins falling to the floor before the combine. Hale can be a huge problem and can strip crops off all their seed if a particularly harsh storm goes through the farm some people in know storm areas actually insure there high value crops against hale damage, an expensive process but in some case very necessary.

The Roundup will be applied and will need to be left for 14 days minimum before harvest. The moisture of the crops needs to be down below 10% at harvest to help with safe storage and easy combining. The straw will be chopped and incorporated back into the soil and soon after harvest our new cultivator will be sent in to mix the chopped straw and break up the soil to create a stale seed bed which will mean that any shed rape seed will germinate along with weeds like Black grass that then can be controlled before we drill the winter wheat in September.

The Grass seed crops are turning quickly with the 30+ degree heat; the weekend looks to be set fair so the grass may be ready for combining beginning of next week! This will be done with our specialist combine header, our Shelbourne Reynolds Stripper header is basically a giant hover attachment for our combine. Instead of cutting the plants close to the ground the stripper header has fingers that rotate quickly and literally pulls or strips the seed off the top of the plant and the air vacuum created by the rotation sucks the seed into the combine. When we combined our grass direct with our older previous two combines the knife struggled to cut the damp grass and then the combine struggled even more to thrash all the grass stalks going through it. With the new combine changing two to one we had to go down the Shelbourne Reynolds Stripper header route and we have not looked back. With the same area as what took us eight days difficult combining with two machines cutting direct into the crop only took us three and a half days with one machine and the new header. This saved us time, fuel and wearing parts as the combine insides are working at 15% capacity due to most of the stalks being left attached in the field. This also help with the hay crop that we take after the combine as due to the wet harvest in the last two years all the hay would have been lost in the field if we had not had the new header. The new header leaves it standing in the field and is more weather tolerant so we can pick our break in the weather to mow, tedder, rake and bale the stalks to make good hay with more control.

Harvest is a stressful but satisfying time of year, the hours are long normally 7am till sometimes 2am in the morning depending on the weather pressure. We do and try and consider all our neighbours and local residents by not combining close to houses late at night and picking days when the wind blows away from houses and full washing lines! But please also consider your local farmer, we are flying about as our years work comes to fruition. Please be patient and careful on the little country lanes as we will be in return. Tractors can be pulling heavy full trailers that need to be kept on the road and need to be kept moving as the combine in the field covers the ground so quickly, so please if you meet a tractor or see one coming in the distance please find a safe passing place and pull over so that we can squeeze past, don’t force us on to the verge as that is when accidents occur as verges give way or we hit a drainage gully which throws us off balance. If you are stuck behind a tractor remember if you can’t see our mirrors then we can’t see you! We will not hold you up for long and will always thank you for your cooperation with a smile and friendly wave.

We are stocking up on coffee and Red Bull, in desperate times in the early hours we may have to resort to making coffee with Red Bull, but fingers crossed all goes well this harvest and all with be safely gathered in. If you’re out walking or driving give us a wave, stop and have a chat if we don’t look too stressed just to make sure we are not asleep at the wheel!! BWB

Turtle Dove Research Project

The first thing that anyone visiting the farm sees at the moment as they drive down the farm drive is a large area of Mayweed. This is in fact deliberate and part of an RSPB study into the effectiveness of an autumn sown Wild Bird Seed Mix. This mix has been specially designed by Kings and contains arable weeds which lose out to dense crops and effective herbicides in arable crops.



Turtle Dove in Westhorpe



The mix contains Common Fumitory, Black Meddick, Common Mouse Ear, Common Vetch and Red and White Clover and is designed to provide small-seed eaters such as Turtle Doves a food source as soon as they arrive from wintering in Africa. The dry conditions in the spring have meant that the plants have suffered and struggled to establish well. The mayweed seems to be well suited to the dry conditions and it is interesting to note the difference between the 6 plots totalling 2 hectares. The more shaded areas which are slightly wetter have a better covering of Fumitory and Common Vetch and the dryer areas more mayweed. There is very little of the other plants especially clover. Incidentally clover seems to be doing well in the grass margins and areas of Pollen and Nectar Mix where there is more of a grass covering. Walking in the mixes today the Common Vetch, Fumitory and Mayweed are alive with Bumblebees, Honey bees, Hoverflies, Ladybirds and many other Butterflies, Insects and Spiders. 

The RSPB study can be found on http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.aspx?id=tcm%3A9-256893 but it involves watching, monitoring, ringing, radio tagging, nest finding and alot of listening for the unmistakable purring sound that is the Turtle Dove song. We are delighted to assist with a research project of this type as we feel that in is important to put all of the benefits of the work that we are doing to good use. By having tall hedges and areas of tall scrub we are providing the ideal nesting habitat for Turtle Doves and in recent years they have not let us down. Last year we were able to each and ring 5 adult birds at sites in Westhorpe and Gislingham which is not bad considering there was only 28 ringed in the UK in 2010.

These plots will be down for two years and hopefully will give us and the RSPB a greater understanding of the feeding and breeding habits of these birds which have declined by over 90% since 1970.

Pied Wagtail

Motacilla alba yarrellii

A slender black, white and grey bird. The female is greyer than the male and the juvenile is more of a yellowish-grey. Both sexes have an awkward, undulating flight, but their black and white tail makes them striking and obvious in flight.
The Pied Wagtail is the British sub-species of the White Wagtail that is found throughout the rest of Europe. They are not easy to tell apart, but the Pied Wagtail is essentially a darker species.

Size

16.5 - 18cm

Weight

17 - 25gms

Habitat

Open areas such as lawns, golf courses, picnic areas, supermarket car parks.

Nest

April-August. Uses holes in buildings, thick vegetation, old nests of other species or the open style of nest box. Made of leaves, twigs, moss and grass and lined with feathers and hair.

Eggs

2 broods of 3-5 whitish eggs with dark spots. Incubation is 11-13 days.

Food

Insects, peanut granules, mealworms, grated cheese, hi-energy ground blend, pinhead oatmeal.

Voice

Plain song that is a high pitched 'seel-vit'. Their main method of marking territories is through visual display.

Characteristics

The Pied Wagtail has adapted well to living alongside humans and most of its preferred habitats bring it into close contact with people. Although they get their name from routinely wagging their tails whilst standing still, they can often be recognised because of their characteristic darting, flitting, running and chasing after their natural food, insects.
They can be attracted to gardens by mealworms, peanut granules or even something as simple as grated cheese. Most Pied Wagtails 'stay put' all year but some from northern areas may move south in cold weather.
Large roosts of Pied Wagtails are frequently seen in trees on the edge of supermarket car parks etc., which are warmer that the equivalent places in the countryside.

BTO Statistics

The Pied Wagtail is a species in the Medium BTO Alert list. They have severely declined from waterways since the 1970's, which may indicate habitat problems. Approximately 10% of gardens have a resident Pied Wagtail but most of these reports have been taken from a cold winter spell.

Swallow

Hirundo rustica

Swallows are an attractive species with a glossy blue/black upper body and white underparts. They have distinctive red faces and throats plus long tail 'streamers' - male streamers are longer.

Size

17 - 19cm

Weight

16 - 25g

Habitat

Mixed farmland, often near cattle.

Nest

Usually on shelves or beams in buildings such as barns.

Eggs

4-5 red spotted white eggs.

Food

Flies, bees, butterflies and moths.

Voice

Sweet twittering song, a 'swit, swit, swit' call.

Characteristics

A graceful and elegant bird often seen swooping over water looking for insects, the Swallow arrives in the UK in March after a winter in Africa. Before migrating back to Africa huge flocks will gather together on telegraph wires.

BTO Statistics

Swallows are amber-listed as they have suffered moderate declines in recent years. The Swallow's vulnerability is thought to relate to a reduction in insect populations - their main source of food - and a shortage of suitable nesting sites.

Breeding

Nests are cup or half-cup shaped and built with a lot of mud. The incubation period lasts for 14-15 days, fledglings leave the nest 19-21 days after hatching. They are still fed by their parents for another week. Parents are very protective of their young and will mob any predators including cats and magpies and drive them away from the nest.

Feeding

Swallows eat and drink on the wing. However, if there is a shortage of flying insects they will take small invertebrates from the ground.

Best for... Conservation

It was a suprise but very pleasing to open up this weeks Farmers Weekly and be named the 'Best for... Conservation' blog in their feature on social media and the best agricultural bloggers. We have only been writing the blog for 6 months and have really enjoyed the challenge of writing about aspects of our farm that we find interesting. In the last week we have passed the 5000 hit mark. It is always very pleasing (and usually quite suprising) to meet people who enjoy reding the blog and with that in mind I would like to invite anyone who has any questions about farming or any countryside issues that you would like us to write about to send us an email at events@ejbarker.co.uk. I was also pleased to see Farmer Will's blog named the best for photography, this is a blog that we follow and the photos are excellent. PJB

LEAF Open Farm Sunday and Cereals

 

Last Sunday LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) coordinated an event across the whole country call Open Farm Sunday, the idea is for LEAF members and LEAF Demonstration farms to open their farm gates to the general public. LEAF are a very dynamic company working to ‘Link the Environment and Farming’ they do tremendous work educating farmers, teachers, school children and many other age and social groups with the importance of the environment and where their food comes from.  Our farm is a LEAF member and carrys out a LEAF Audit each year, this Audit looks at our business through a series of questions identify any areas that we could improve to make it more beneficial to the environment.

Jason and Katharine Salisbury own and run Whitegate Farm, Creeting St. Mary where they have their cheese making business called Suffolk Farmhouse Cheese (http://www.suffolkcheese.co.uk/), they are also LEAF members and hosted their second Open Farm Sunday. Patrick and I were invited by them to help out and talk to the general public about our business and work we do. We had a great morning with them as the general public came through the gate and started to get up and close with farming. Jason and Katharine had organised a full program of activities including farm tours, tractor and trailer rides, name the calf competition, basket weavers, wool spinners, children’s painting and colouring in exercises and of course cheese tasting! We take our hats off to them for organising such a full day and to get over a thousand people on to their farm is great and next year we hope to be helping them again to carry on with their success.

A couple of days later we were at Cereals the premier pure arable industry show and we popped in to see LEAF on there stand. We talked about our experience of helping on the Open Farm Sunday and although the weather was not very inviting they estimate that across the country over 100,000 people visited an open farm which is great news for LEAF and the industry as hopefully those people would have reconnected with where their food actually comes from and see what a good job British farmers do.

Cereals was another full day for us with lots to see and people to meet. Networking, chatting and looking out for new ideas was the aim of the day and we manage just about to get round and see everyone we had hoped. It is an impressive day out full show casing the changing face of this high tech industry.

We got home to discover our new machinary investment had been delivered, this investment was triggered by the dry spring and the deep cracks in the soil from lack of rain. The second hand cultivator will be used at shallow depths in preparing the fields for seed planting next year, we hope that it will reduce fuel usage and man hours in preperation for the autumn drilling. BWB

ChiffChaff

Phylloscopus collybita

The Chiffchaff is a small, olive-brown warbler, very similar in appearance to the Willow Warbler but distinguished by its song and legs that are normally black, rather than the brown of the Willow Warbler.
As with the Cuckoo, the Chiffchaff's name is a rough description of its two-tone song.

Size

10 - 11cm

Weight

6 - 9gms

Habitat

Mature open woodlands or parks, with taller trees and ground cover for nesting.

Nest

A grassy or leafy ball constructed on, or near to the ground.

Eggs

5-7 white eggs with a few light purple/grey marks.

Food

Predominantly small insects but, when in season, some fruit and berries. Will also take peanut cake, particularly if rubbed into the bark of a tree to avoid competition with more aggressive birds.

Voice

A repeated "chiff chaff" song with an emphatic "hweet" call.

Characteristics

Unremarkable in appearance at first sight, the Chiffchaff is about the size of Blue Tit, with brownish-olive upper-parts, off-white under-parts and a yellowish hint to the breast. Best separated from Willow Warbler by the distinctive "chiff chaff" song, the darker legs and, when perched, the habit of flicking its tail downwards.

BTO Statistics

The status of the Chiffchaff is currently green.

Breeding

Likes deciduous and mixed woodland, stands of trees, parks and mature gardens where there is thick undergrowth.