Or more specifically fertilizing! Tom and Peter have been busy over the last week getting the first application of fertilizer over the crops to kick start them into growing this spring. Mostly this has been artificial nitrogen in the form of little white pellets that go across the field and then get taken up by the crops. As it stands, everything is looking good.
The big cover crop and sheep field has had digestate put on it instead though. Digestate is a waste product from the Anaerobic Digestion plants that produce energy. It acts as a valuable fertilizer, provides the soil with organic matter and is utilizing a waste product so should be a win win win! It is quite bulky however and comes in large tankers and needs large machines to spread it so can create some soil damage in doing so (why is everything hard!). You also put quite a lot of it on the soil so can have different impacts on the soil biology. It is the first time using it on the farm here so we will see how it goes.
There are lots of different ways to fertilise crops and enhance soil but all of them bring pros and cons. A big part of a farmer’s job is weighing these up and applying them to the field in question, the crop and (of course!) the weather.
There has been a lot of chat about how it has rained everyday in 2026….not fun. Whilst this is affecting farmers around the country, it hasn’t caused us too much problem as the crops are all planted and our land generally drains well.
Weather wise: Presumably we would like some sunshine although probably need everything in moderation at the moment.