Wildlife is pushing the boundaries on the farm

Back to winter conditions again as rain lashes down almost every day it seems, with hail at the weekend for good measure; Sunday was the exception, and the difference made by the sun and wind was incredible.
Gwyn Jones' Farm DiaryGwyn Jones' Farm Diary
Gwyn Jones' Farm Diary

Most of the rain seems to arrive at night and I just about hear it over the nightingale who should be giving up all hope of attracting a mate by now? I think maybe the tree outside our bedroom window is where all nightingales come in turn to sing, maybe a competition so see who can sing the longest without a break. Our boiler started to emit black smoke the other day, and low and behold a blue-tit is building a nest in the air intake! Wildlife certainly push the boundaries around here.

This weather reminds me of the springs we had in the 1980s which always seemed to be heading in the right direction until May and grass silage time. Wet late cuts of grass with sulphuric acid as an additive (very effective it was too although it cost several pairs of jeans a season); ruts in the fields I seem to remember were the norm as we cut around 30 acres on a good day. Thank goodness we got our grass silage done this year, but there are a few fields left which were too wet; goodness knows when they will come in now. We are almost there with the maize but still the last block to power-harrow and drill which I hope will be done this week.

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The early maize looks good but so do the weeds and it is too wet to spray the crops we drilled last week. We have managed to spray the rest of our maize, but we shall need to spray again without doubt.

Grass growth is phenomenal, and I am struggling to keep on top of it at Tillington despite our best efforts. We are not out of control yet, but we are teetering on the edge, as the heifers cannot eat enough to get ahead and on to some lower covers.

I might have to cut a paddock or two for silage and bring it back to Crouchlands.

Grass growth this spring has been incredible, with or without fertilizer it has just poured out of the ground. The aftermath following our silage making just over a week ago is getting going and the first application of fertilizer was made after it was cut.

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It will be time to top it up soon, and almost regardless of weather, the second cut is likely to be very good. If this is the case, it will enable me to make the late first cut on the remaining fields into silage for the Anaerobic Digester. Quality will not be good enough for the cows, but the AD plant will digest all that fibre, and seems to produce good quantities of gas from this sort of material.

I can’t imagine the mess we would have made by now if the cows were out,

I suspect that they would be back in for the third time with serious damage to gateways, tracks and paddocks. As it is they are very happy indeed, being waited on hand and foot.

All is not well though, as we have suddenly hit a very bad patch in our re-bagged first cut silage of last year. This is what happens in farming; we have had a good run with this material thinking that re-bagging was not the problem we thought it might be. It seems now that we were lucky and that our luck has run out.

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The milk has dropped dramatically and I am now attempting to replace all the grass silage in the diet with fresh grass, but how much longer can I travel on the land with my machine? So far so good, but I am bringing in half-loads so that I don’t make a mess. The forecast is not good and I do worry where we will be by the end of this month.

Will this appalling weather be followed by a heat-wave? Or are we in for a wet summer too? The maize and ourselves for that matter could do with some sun!

I see that we are no longer allowed to question climate change. In fact there is a clampdown on those who dare question the science, particularly if the individual happens to be a distinguished climate scientist himself.

In a repeat of the East Anglian problems of 2009, where some climate change scien+-tists emails revealed internal bullying of colleagues, Lennart Bengtsson, a distinguished climate scientist who joined the academic advisory board of Nigel Lawson’s ‘Global Warming Policy Foundation’ seems to have been forced to step down within a few weeks.

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Whilst we suffer all sorts of people knowledgeable and not so knowledgeable discussing all aspects of the science involved in GM plants and bovine TB and badgers, it seems that climate change is not open to discussion. Climate change has been hijacked by the Greens and the left, where it is used to justify all manner of restrictions, charges and legislation, especially if it harms business and capitalism.

This is a shame for all the other people who also care and worry about the climate and the planet we live on. It is therefore quite wrong to stifle debate, citing the topic as ‘too complex’ for ordinary people to grasp!

Apparently we might become confused or indeed draw the wrong conclusions if given any opinion or data which conflicts with the central message. I can’t think of anything where scientists are less certain of what the outcome really will be.

Of course the trends and data are compelling, but there are so many variables. I think many of us are concerned and interested in the subject, but it is hard to take everything we are told at face value and a healthy dose of scepticism is usually no bad thing. It is certainly complex, but patronising the public and bullying colleagues is not the answer.

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Europe is quite possibly too complex for people to grasp the detail and effects of it on our country too, but the general public are very good at bringing in some reality and simplicity; in this case Nigel Farage. Horrified as many of us are, the clear message here is ‘No more Westminster-centric nonsense – change your ways or else’. What are the climate change scientists afraid of? I think we know.

I was looking at my electricity bill the other day, especially the neat little circle they divide into segments. Only 52% of my bill is spent on actually buying electricity for me to use, a whopping 24% is spent getting it to the farm, and then VAT, green taxes mount up to 13%, 6% of the bill is for looking after me (!) and 5% profit. Very neat and tidy; if only farming operated on these simple principles.