From LEAF Farmer Duncan Farrington
July Newsletter
July is upon us
and thoughts on the farm turn to harvest. A time of all hands to the deck, long days, excitement of bringing the year’s labours in, and no doubt a few frustrations along the way. This is what we have been building up to all year, and despite the technology we use in the twenty first century, resulting in far less people being involved now than just a few decades ago, it is still a great time of camaraderie among the farming community. Traditionally whole villages would be involved at this time of year. It is the reason why long summer school holidays exist, as children as well as adults were all expected to join in the task. A task that is not as romantic as we may imagine when looking back through rose tinted spectacles, as it was very much a physical, hot and dirty job, carried out by malnourished people for very little return. Although we think of harvest as gathering in the fields of golden wheat, it starts earlier with the cutting of silage in May and then hay during June on farms with livestock. This will be used to feed animals during the long winter months. In the mean time we are still getting everything ready for our harvest later in the month. The combine, tractors and other machinery are all serviced and ready to go; the grain stores have been cleaned from top to bottom, ready to store the grain. But we are still busily building a new storage bin, replacing a rather ancient one well past its prime. The main engineering work is nearly complete before the electrician comes to wire it all together and check all systems are go. It has taken longer than we hoped, but we will get there. June and July are also a time for farmers to visit the agricultural shows. I haven’t managed to get to any for a couple of years, but this year I will visit two. Cereals: A bit of a dry affair, unless you have a particular interest in big shiny agricultural machinery, and as the name suggests cereal crop varieties. It is now the premier agricultural trade show in the UK, and an excellent chance for the industry to see and learn about the very latest technology and understanding of everything from the latest tractor, crop variety, environmental ideas, or just to catch up with colleagues. The Royal Agricultural show on the other hand is a bit more of a family day out. No longer Europe’s premier agricultural trade show. It is still the main showcase for British agriculture to the wider population. It is the place to enter your prize winning animal to be judged against other producers, where the stakes are high as this is the most prestigious show on livestock calendar. It is a place where agriculture meets retailer; where political leader meet agricultural leader; and where international delegations come to meet British Agriculture. If this is all too much there are also plenty of stalls who will happily sell you anything from a pair of trendy wellies to a fishing rod. I’m going because for some reason I agreed to talk on a platform with the movers and shakers in the industry, including the boss of a well known supermarket, which happens to be one of my main customers. It may not be dirty, but possibly after that, sitting for long hours on a tractor in harvest may seem not such a bad job after all.
