2018/9 crop updates

Sorry for radio silence, but I'll give a quick update:

The heritage wheats yielded a shade under a tonne an acre, the emmer and spelt wheat did rather less as it was swamped with weeds, the rye was an almost complete wipe-out at the bottom of the field; most of it drowned before it got going in that horrible wet early winter we had after we drilled the seed. John Letts has effectively maintained ownership of the crop, but is happy to arrange for it to be milled for flour or turned into gin or beer...what-ever the collective would like. I haven't talked to him lately (we've both been quite busy), but will update when I know more.

Meanwhile...we went to Wakelyn's last week to have a look at Martin Wolfe's fantastic legacy: a 55acre farm with dozens of rows of trees dividing the fields into strips. It was a windy day, but the farm was basking in a lovely calm micro-climate. We were shown round by Martin's son David (Martin himself died last year) and gave us lots of ideas for an agroforestry trial on ourfield. David admitted that a lot of the strips that Martin planted are a bit too close to each other (some of the original rows are barely 12 yards apart), so we thought we'd aim for 24 or even 30 yard wide strips to allow the wheat a bit of sunlight. We have a beer blender who is renting a shed at Lannock who is very keen to get hold of some apples for cider making and other fruits for adding to their beer, so we'll have a basic market for a lot of the fruit that we'll grow.

It seems sensible to start with the top half of the field only as this will be quite a labour intensive project. Tree planting will ideally take place before Christmas (depending on how horrible the weather is this year). We'll drill the wheat before then, probably after grazing the clover and weeds down as far as possible. Early drilled wheat will have much better chance of getting away and yielding more strongly. We could graze it again in the New Year to help the wheat tiller and further suppress the clover and weeds.

Any thoughts or comments?

John

Yes, agreed. The issues with handling food grade as opposed to animal feed as well as marketing, gaining committments etc. are all aspects that we do need to all be much more aware of.

Agreed, thanks for the update John. It's a shame the YQ did not get a good price but I'm sure it was the best choice. Good luck with the harvest in this heat, if it goes ahead!

Dear John

Very many thanks for letting us know that you hope to be harvesting today. I hope the weeds don't cause too much trouble/

Your comments on marketing confirm that understand the market is very important indeed.

Thanks for finding time to send the message.

Best Tony (Allan)

Quick update:

We are hoping to combine ourfield plots tomorrow...sounds like it'll be nice and hot which will make dealing with the weeds a bit easier. I'll let you know how it goes, if it goes...

On last years YQ that was earmarked for e5 Bakehouse, we had a change of plan as e5 stopped taking it with the lame excuse (inter alia) that flour sales were down during lockdown. My impression was that if you had flour for sale you could name your price, but then I'm only a farmer. As I said before, whilst they waited for sales to pick up, the mice moved into the bags of clean grain and made merry, so we've emptied the bags onto the heap of YQ we grew ourselves and sold it for a disappointing £155/tonne, which was the best price we could get.

John

Trees ... Thank you John for the updates on tree planting research and on marketing and milling grain. Your message is much appreciated. There is much to consider.

Local markets ... Re-establishing local marketing systems is not easy and not made easier by disruptions such as the Covid crisis. The crisis has rung alarm bells - which is good. But getting the local marketing infrastructures in place is demanding. Do members - in addition to Rosy - have evidence of local innovation.

Farming Today (Friday 10 July) .... was depressing. The excellent representative from the tenant farmers organisation revealed that Tesco was back with contracts that can only reduce farm gate prices. Best Tony (Allan)

Trees are still a happy idea. Not sure what grant situation etc is, but would be very happy to have help with planting and looking after. Need to decide all sorts of things before then, like what's it for? Nuts, fruit or timber? Who's going to kill the squirrels? Any input gratefully received. Autumn is the ideal time to plant...but a lot of decisions need moving before then.

Meanwhile the 2020 crop is a bit of a curates egg. There are patches of nothing bar sterile brome (an evil grass weed whose seeds bore through your clothing and then into your flesh) and there are patches of wheat that look like you could walk across the top of the crop. And a lot of stuff which is halfway between those extremes. John Letts called in the other day and seemed quite pleased with how it all looked, I've got the odd photo but they stubbornly remain locked down in my mobile telephone. Harvest won't be until mid August.

e5 Bakehouse have gone a bit quiet on the lovely YQ that we bagged up for them. They've had half of it, but lost interest in the rest. I sold a tonne to a friend who mills a bit down in Kent (available from Pure Kent on internet I think, he also grinds rapeseed oil and sell it as Pure Kent). The mice have now got into the bags that remain here. It's all very wearing. Think we'll have to buy a small mill and grind the mouse free bags ourselves. We've got a few little bags of wholemeal which we've ground with a Mockmill. Really nice stuff to bake with, if anyone wants some. £2 for a 1.25kg bag.

Hope you're all keeping well

John

I'm just catching up - tree planting scheme does sound brilliant idea and could be a great way for us all to get involved helping planting - when in Autumn do you think the trees might go in? Is this still the plan?
How is everything looking in the run up to harvest? And are e5 taking any more of the Ourfield YQ @John Cherry ?

Better late than never! Just a quick note after catching up with the various threads here; a. the loaves look spectacular! b.fully support the tree planting scheme - what scope is there for getting involved and assisting with this / notwithstanding the lock-down issues? c. Really interesting moment for uk / global food supply chains and initiatives such as this - looking forward to paying closer attention from now on!

Dear Steven

I know Tim well. My international reputation is the result of my work on water embedded in international food commodity trade. It has become known as a 'virtual water trade'. We enjoy a version of food security nationally and globally as a consequence of food commodity trade. Farmers manage the 92% of water embedded in food on society's behalf. The 92% figure is the total of the freshwater consumption and the consumption of effective rainfall - soil water. The latter accounts for about 70% of the consumption. Unfortunately the global food system is dysfunctional and unsustainable.

The way water is managed and mismanaged is the consequence of what happens in the food system. Mainly in mode 1 where food is produced by farmers. On realizing this condition I have involved myself in food and farming. I found Tim Lang's seminars at City University a very useful way to engage. Tim is a very generous professional.

Thank you again for finding the time to send your email. Stay safe. Best TonyA