Let’s take a look back at the last couple of weeks with Tom, P.X. Farms Farm Manager:
When you are embraced in the thick of it, it’s easy to forget all the things you have been doing. Though it’s still very wet here, with another 20mm just recently, we are still really busy. In a ‘normal’ year, we would be spring drilling, but we still have 880 hectares of spring cropping to put in the ground. It will be interesting to see how this impacts our spring crops, but fingers crossed we have a dry spell and, before long, we can get on.
Woody is busy Letting water off the fields. pic.twitter.com/VgmNOZQgqP
— James S. Peck (@Pxfarms) February 23, 2024
Everyone is keen to get out of the yard and get back up on the land. Even though it has been a long winter since October, apart from these two frosty spells, about 60% of the winter cropping areas have had their first application. Whilst most farms do a three-way split of application, we have found two work best for us. By using an inhibitor product with the nitrogen, just to get back to the utilisation of the nitrogen, it stabilises it so there is less leaching. This obviously has a better impact on the environment, as well as reducing fertiliser applications.
First application of liquid fert, pic.twitter.com/RIsXqbspgy
— James S. Peck (@Pxfarms) February 27, 2024
We’ve been busy in the workshop doing annual maintenance on chaser bins ready to harvest and various cultivation equipment, and important safety maintenance like the Tilly tests continues on all the trailed equipment. We’ve also installed a new roof on some stables.
New roof installed on the stables. Great job by Chris and Brook. pic.twitter.com/KGjTpqDiUR
— James S. Peck (@Pxfarms) March 15, 2024
Out in the field, the diggers are still busy. We’ve hired another two diggers just because of the fact we’ve got so much water laid on land, and it seems a good use of time to put our team on diggers to facilitate water movement off the land, so we’re currently running four hire machine diggers.
4 diggers running, this one is fixing blown drains. pic.twitter.com/zmHKFdqxLX
— James S. Peck (@Pxfarms) March 15, 2024
We’ve also been doing a lot of work in the local community to help out clearing footpaths and digging out grips and ditches along the side of footpaths. This helps when people go for their walk around the village, so they’re not inundated with mud, and we’ve tried our best to keep the roads swept, which is always a challenge.
Community update, Pipe found to prevent home owners garden to flood and the high street. New culvert installed. Big Thanks to the neighbours allowing us entry. Hedge and brambles cut back, ditches dug out on both sides, spoil levelled out, has cost the business c. £4000. pic.twitter.com/2mQOGtskjS
— James S. Peck (@Pxfarms) March 2, 2024
James and I were kindly invited to Harsewinkel in Germany to visit the Claas factory and the parts facility, which was a really great trip. They make around 30 combines a day and have an impressive setup. We had a golden handover for our fourth and final machine, which we’re expecting for this coming harvest.
No2, No3 have arrived this week and 4 headers. Off to the factory in Germany for a handover of No4 on Tuesday. Looking forward to a tour as the last new one was 2009. pic.twitter.com/AcA3ZHw2zE
— James S. Peck (@Pxfarms) March 2, 2024
No4 in Germany, golden key handover. Great delight. Thank you Claas pic.twitter.com/2kOzhvzDyH
— James S. Peck (@Pxfarms) March 5, 2024
Our grain stores are continuing to empty from last year’s crops, and our colour sorter has been cleaning some spring oat seed for us. There is some availability for the grain store, so get in touch with the grain store office—01954 210211, option 3.
I am looking forward to some drier weather.