Where has the summer gone? So much has been achieved and there is so much left to achieve.
Harvest is very nearly over, and fields are beginning to turn brown again. It won’t be long before drilling starts in earnest. In the South East corner we appeared to be more fortunate than other areas with the weather this summer; two weeks of sunshine helped us make great inroads into our harvest.
Combining for us was relatively straightforward, with no major issues this year. The baler and trans-stacker have been incredibly busy, and Fergus has shifted a vast number of bales, working throughout the night on several occasions (the roads are so much quieter at 2.30am, or so he leads me to believe; personally, I like my bed at that time).
The cows have now started the new season’s silage and, considering the weather conditions, the analysis has been very good. They appear to be milking well at the moment. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
Having recently read several articles on the glyphosate topic I was amazed to find out that farmers are still being blamed for glyphosate poisoning in rivers. How can this be?
It would now appear that most of the glyphosate is coming from additives contained in detergents and household cleaning products. In recent research carried out in conjunction with water companies, it transpires that a substance used in washing powder/liquid transforms into glyphosate during the wastewater treatment process. This would explain the mysterious glyphosate content in rivers that has been linked to farming and farmers.
So, what are water companies doing about it? The answer is nothing at all. Yet again farmers are being blamed for pollution. Water companies continue to expel raw sewage and many other substances into many places that are illegal and accept the fines that are imposed upon them for doing so.
Perhaps the situation is similar to the atrazine issue, where it was banned for use in agriculture only to discover later that the railway companies were using it neat on the railway tracks to control weeds, which is where the pollution was coming from.
I am writing this in the middle of a field at the Pony Club Championships, thankfully a successful trip but one that has seen me walking more than 17miles a day. GCSE ‘A Level’ results day has left us incredibly proud of Monty for gaining the grades he required to go to Reading University to study agriculture with business.
This was a fantastic achievement while working full time on the farm. I am sure he will have a blast at uni and make lifelong friends as we did. I hope all those who have taken exams this year have realised their dreams, but remember that there are many roads to Rome, not all of them involving exams.
School is looming for Ted and Zara; a 5.30am alarm is not a prospect to which I am looking forward. The cold, dark mornings are looming ever closer, and I am sure that the weather will turn very quickly. Summer seems to be over in a flash. Life at 100mph is something we all seem to thrive on, but the longer days certainly make it easier.
I wish you all a successful new crop season.
Until next time stay safe.
