Want to talk to us? ✆ 01638 572800 ✉ info@camgrain.co.uk ✎ Subscribe to Newsletter
Over the Farm Gate is kindly supplied by - David White - Farmer Director
The “February fill dyke” maxim has been accurate this year, in contrast to last year when it was a very dry month. My tally is 104mm and counting. Little land work has been achieved to date here other than drilling a small area of spring wheat/bean bi-crop. With the soil in the fields at full water capacity I see no point in spreading expensive nitrogen which would clearly be at risk of leaching into water courses or worse running off with surface water. However, with longer days now winter crops have at last started to green up a little which is nice to see.
In preparation of the main drilling spring session oat seed has been cleaned, with Planet barley still to be done. Both have been lab tested by NIAB to check for seed borne diseases and received a clean bill of health so will be sown naked of fungicidal dressing. My harvest 23 bi-crop wheat was separated by my 1950’s era sieve dresser machine but the seed crops are now going through a new Polish air curtain cleaner which has the ability of off-taking 8 grades + dust (see pictures below). Grade one is heavy objects like stones so doesn’t yield much. The others can be amalgamated into good and screenings at whatever proportion I’m happy with. The beauty of this machine is its ability to clean anything from tiny Phacelia seed to beans by simply adjusting air volume/speed. Having proven successful as a pure cleaner, I will now add a “pre” single screen element to spilt bi-crops.
I’m lucky that I fall within the LENs (Landscape Enterprise Network) fund area so have been looking at options to enhance what we do on the farm. Many of the measures available have been covered by my, at last accepted, Defra SFI (Sustainable Farming Incentive) application. Others are very similar to what I’m proposing to do in an additional Countryside Stewardship application. However, the LENs innovation section does offer some capital grant opportunities around being a demonstration farm and being able to host groups for educational type events, which I will pursue. I’m really pleased Camgrain has been able to help facilitate this initiative with Nestle CP UK.
This year I have already been working with the Soil Association Exchange through LENs and this week we finished my farm Carbon Footprint measurement and did a farm soil and biodiversity benchmark assessment. This may be very useful when the supply chain starts to reward us through a premium payment for how their ingredients are being produced!
The two small flocks of sheep I’m hosting are coming to an end of the area I planted for them but may yet be folded onto some winter wheat if ground conditions dry up a little. Grazing wheat with sheep was a recognised thing many decades ago. The thinking behind this practice is that by removing the old possibly diseased growth they act as the first plant fungicide, which could be just the thing on my no “cide” fields.
Season 23 hedge and tree planting has at last been completed and The West Field Belt has been protected from the deer damage with a strand of electric fence. Hedges and trees now have carbon and biodiversity value. Farmers years ago, would have scoffed at the suggestion of a financial gain being possible for having hedges and trees on the farm (through SFI and Stewardship), so is the thought of getting a premium for biodiversity assured Regen farmed wheat ingredients such a far-fetched idea?I’m lucky that I fall within the LENs (Landscape Enterprise Network) fund area so have been looking at options to enhance what we do on the farm. Many of the measures available have been covered by my, at last accepted, Defra SFI (Sustainable Farming Incentive) application. Others are very similar to what I’m proposing to do in an additional Countryside Stewardship application. However, the LENs innovation section does offer some capital grant opportunities around being a demonstration farm and being able to host groups for educational type events, which I will pursue. I’m really pleased Camgrain has been able to help facilitate this initiative with Nestle CP UK.
This year I have already been working with the Soil Association Exchange through LENs and this week we finished my farm Carbon Footprint measurement and did a farm soil and biodiversity benchmark assessment. This may be very useful when the supply chain starts to reward us through a premium payment for how their ingredients are being produced!
And finally….
Can I put in a plug for the film ‘Six Inches of Soil’. I have been involved in the fundraising for this film following taking part in an earlier one made by Director Colin Ramsey and the team. I’ve seen ‘Six Inches of Soil’ develop from the first rough cut through to the fabulous, finished item it now is.
I would urge you to try and see it if you can. Screening dates are being added all the time https://www.sixinchesofsoil.org/screeningdates see March 19th for anyone near Cambridge. Often (but not always) it’s introduced by those staring or involved in the production, so it not only entertains but offers the audience chance to ask further questions raised by the subject, i.e. how is our food produced and what is its intrinsic link with the environment.
Keep safe, roll on spring!
