And all the excitement that goes with it. This year, it was exciting. And wet. “Biblical” amounts of September rain got everyone a bit tense. The village where I work was flooded, not ideal planting conditions. But it didn’t last too long and gradually some windows emerged for drilling (planting seeds) and spraying and here at Meads Farm we are nearly all planted up. There is currently some sugarbeet being harvested and Tom is hoping to get some wheat planted after that but generally things are looking good. We are always a bit drier here and the land drains and dries more quickly so others around the country and not quite in the same boat (some need a literal boat). At work, where we have more clayey soils, we have planted a few fields and hoping to get a few more in – fingers crossed!
So a busy time of year, trying to keep up with what needs to happen in the field and working in the right weather windows. There is also work to do around the fields as well. Some of our habitat areas need to be mown. This means that the grasses and plants will come back again next year. If they are left untouched, some species will start to dominate. Tom has also been doing some hedge cutting. The hedges around the farm need to be cut every so often to ensure they remain a healthy and diverse habitat for species in the long term and also to stop them encroaching too far into the fields. About 7% of the farm is in environmental measures, which is brilliant but in the fields, we are keen to maintain area for food production. They are cut in rotation in different year. Different species like different types and size of hedge so this helps provide a variety across the farm. “Habitat Heterogeneity” to its friends. It is always a bit of a balance of when to cut hedges as if you leave it too late, areas become inaccessible with the tractor and hedge cutter as it is too wet. So, like everything with farming and managing land, we compromise. We have cut a few now in tricky wet areas and leave a bit to cut later in the year.
Weather, I think we’ve all had enough rain so maybe some sunshine and NO MORE FLOODS.