Hi Grahame, where can one see the spreadsheet? I couldn't see it in the Files section.

It is always said, looking at spreadsheets of financial projections "the sunshine is in the bottom right corner" - ie far into the future, the bottom line! I have taken this news of revenue falling behind expenses as an excuse to dust off the 2017 projections that were made when the second round of our field members were invited to contribute £200. The "break even" figure then, with conventional crops and fairly light expenses, was on the basis of yield 5.7 tonnes /ha to be sold at £145/tonne. We all agreed to veer away from this, into new territory of heritage crops, agro forestry, and a lower input model; but sadly I think what one would conclude is this approach would not be financially viable for a farmer trying to make a living from the land.

Thanks for the report John, and thank you for your time sharing part of your world with us for the last few years. It's been a great experience being part of ourfield. I feel a small part closer to where my food comes from and understand a little more about the choices farmers need to take. Sorry we made a loss but hopefully you've learned some useful info to use (or not) on other parts of the farm. I'll continue to follow groundswell on social media and hope to make it in person too. All the best to everyone at the farm!

p.s. I think you're spot on with your comments about future ideas like this Abby. 60? people is a lot to stay engaged with and communication is both key and time consuming, so a focus on this could really boost any future projects.

Hmmm 7.5 tonnes from 28 acres :). Will be interested to ask John Letts what his thoughts on this are!

Thanks for the update and all your brilliant work and perseverance with OurField @John Cherry you have been a total star!!

It has been a real treat to be part of this and I am excited to see how the field progresses in future years as the trees develop and what you decide to do with it! Do you have a clear idea of what you will do next?

It does feel extra quiet without the lovely @Tony Allan around.

On reflection the two things it seems are v important if there ever was another ‘OurField’ are some funding for a group organiser/admin and a paid position for someone taking on a specific sales/marketing role for any outputs….both feel vital for a new project to flourish. Would be interested to hear others thoughts on this too.

Thanks to everyone, been a pleasure co-‘managing’ a field with you :)

Harvest was successful, we got two trailer loads off the field. I put it through the cleaner three times and ended up with 7.5 tonnes of wheat and about 20 tonnes of brome seed. Realistically, the experiment is over.

The income from the last two years combined with what's in the bank is unfortunately less than the costs of planting and harvesting, rent etc for the two years, so I think now is the time to wind up #ourfield.

It's been a lot of fun and very interesting from our point of view, but I it's course is run.

John

Thanks for doing that Oliver. Good to see how things are growing and the trees seem to be doing well. This is also on my listen list for anyone, like me, who didn't get to Groundswell (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000x4xx), which seems to be getting bigger and better every year. Well done John and family!

Hi everyone, for those who weren't able to be at Groundswell, I made a quick trip up to the field on Wednesday afternoon. Sadly I missed the tour, but I'm sure John and others can add the info I'm missing. I wasn't quite sure what the wheat variety was in the field, I'm afraid.

Here's a short video I made, which hopefully gives you an idea of what's going on in the field

Thanks John, the pictures are great and the crop looks healthy.

I appreciate the cereal yield per period of time has limits but of course an organic crop rotation while yielding cereals only once or twice in a rotation of 5, 6 or 7 years is productive during the rest of the rotation too, for instance with a diverse ley fixing nitrogen and providing grazing for livestock who also fertilise the ground leading to a cycling of nutrient to enable (one hopes) a healthy field for future years. And of course providing income during those years outside of the cereals.

And over the course of a rotation the mixtures of clovers, livestock manure, cereals and pulses works well by reducing weeds without herbicides and disease without fungicides and also feeds the soil without adding bought in bag fertiliser.

The perenniel approach is different and over time it will be interesting to see how it goes. As you say, John, time will tell.

John, what cereals do we have in there?

The trees are an exciting aspect and will help providing not just shelter but adding focus for more creatures, from the microbial to the feathered varieties who all bring their attributes to the field.

I can see us scything à la Rob Penn come the autumn!

- https://robpenn.net/slow-rise-a-bread-making-adventure/

Guess where the cows pooed.

To answer Stevens points below:

The whole idea of this continual wheat with a permanent understory of clover/trefoil/weeds is that you don't worry about the weeds as they are doing their thing, holding mycorrhizal fungi when the wheat is not there and protecting the soil. It obviates the need for rotations and fertiliser and sprays. If we harvest 1 tonne/acre every year, then that will effectively out-yield conventional organic farms, which might produce 3 tonnes/acre once every five years...

The field has had no sprays of any sort, no roundup, no fungicides, no weedkillers, no fertiliser and it looks ok, even with no rain to speak of for six weeks. I think it's an interesting experiment. The fruit trees look like they've taken ok too. Time will tell.

I've just spoken to John Letts who has taken last years harvest home. He is planning to malt a fair bit of it, as it was slightly musty from the weed seeds and then turn that into Groundswell Beer, ready to sell at the show (23rd/24th June, tickets available now...). He also has some better quality stuff which he'll get milled if anyone wants some flour in 5 kg bags. The weed seeds he dressed out he thinks could make into Blackgrass Whisky. Interesting times...

John

Pictures of field