Still quite a quiet time on the farm in February, especially such a wet February! Not a lot of farming to be done when it is so wet and still cold. Tom has been doing some fertilising in the drier periods, so the crops have food to grow. Peter has also been doing some ploughing of land ready for spring drilling.
We had some sheep on the farm over the winter, which was very exciting. These belonged to another farmer and came in to graze our “cover crops”. We planted the cover crops around September. The seeds are a mixture of different plants with different qualities. Cover crops are not harvested or sold, but instead planted to keep the soil covered, protecting it from rain and maintaining healthy roots in the soil. They are also good for wildlife and pretty. They grew really well and worked brilliantly….however, you have to get rid of them to allow you to plant the next “cash crop” – i.e. one you can sell. Enter, the sheep. The sheep munch it down, making it easier to then establish the crop. The sheep seemed to enjoy it too!
Maintenance is also ongoing with some hedge cutting and ditch maintenance. This is done in the winter to minimise impact on wildlife, and nesting birds particularly. The hedges need to be kept in check to stop them from expanding too far into the field. The ditches need clearing to allow the water (of which there is a lot) to leave the land.
More rain, more flooding. The field next to the river in Barrington is flooded again as I sit and write this. That land is soon going to go into a legume fallow under the new Sustainable Farm Incentive, as it is getting too tricky to crop with all the extreme rainfall.
To confirm, please stop raining!