Average yield 4 tons an acre in 1980!

[db9go]

I feel sorry for the guy who took it on!

why

 

[warksfarmer]

I feel sorry for the guy who took it on!

Lots of my grandfathers generation were similar to John. Proper old school. Went to work in a shirt and tie. They were precise with everything they did. Farms were immaculate and they made a profit because they had a bit of everything. It was just how it was done at that time.

 

[ajd132]

why

Having him stand with a stop watching timing when you roll after ploughing between 14-27 minutes as someone mentioned!
There’s attention to detail but that sounds extreme. Would love to hear the thought process behind it. Not knocking it by the way

 

[Simon C]

Hello Simon,when your brother worked for John Mclaren when he contract farmed John Muirheads farm,do you know if they went back to conventional farming e.g ploughing,pressing etc or was the land still min tilled or direct drilled.and how did they farm once the burning ban was put in place?

It was all ploughed, or heavy disced followed by a deep subsoiler.

 

[CORK]

It was all ploughed, or heavy disced followed by a deep subsoiler.

I’ve watched the John Muirhead videos numerous times as I find them fascinating. His attention to detail is so impressive.
Did he repeatedly get yields far above the local average? Or was the crop featured in the video a one off?

Also, did he have a Scottish background? Both he and his neighbour featured in the video have what I would consider as Scottish surnames.

 

[Simon C]

I’ve watched the John Muirhead videos numerous times as I find them fascinating. His attention to detail is so impressive.
Did he repeatedly get yields far above the local average? Or was the crop featured in the video a one off?

Also, did he have a Scottish background? Both he and his neighbour featured in the video have what I would consider as Scottish surnames.

More than half the farming families round came from either Scotland, Lancashire or Yorkshire, mostly between the wars when land was literally dirt cheap.

John's farm had a dairy herd for many years until he went all arable, (as did nearly every farm round here), and so he was basically using up the fertility from the cows. After a while he sold and leased back the farm but when he retired all the money had gone. He was probably the first farmer that we ever heard of getting 4t/acre, but it seems his "attention to detail" was costing more the the returns.

 

[Lowland1]

I watched these videos and thought the broadcasting idea made a lot of sense with regard to plant spacing so I've given it a go. Broadcasting seed has a bad reputation as it's usually a last resort but I noticed on the video how much care was taken with the seeded preparation. It's worked quite well for us. It's interesting what you can pick up from the past.

 

[glasshouse]

Having him stand with a stop watching timing when you roll after ploughing between 14-27 minutes as someone mentioned!
There’s attention to detail but that sounds extreme. Would love to hear the thought process behind it. Not knocking it by the way

I used a plough press only once, i reckon it buggered the heavy damp soil newly ploughed
Yield was poor.
It needed to dry, but not too much, hence the stopwatch approach

 

[robs1]

When we first started to grow some barley to feed to the cows we always broadcast the seed it worked well and yielded as well as when we moved to powerharrow drilling which we only did you make spraying more accurate. Perhaps we ought to go back to it using undressed seed, would be the ultimate zero tilling.

 

[Terrier]

His establishment rates for that soil type are phenomenal. Especially considering that they also include winter kill. Testament to how good a system it was.

 

[robs1]

His establishment rates for that soil type are phenomenal. Especially considering that they also include winter kill. Testament to how good a system it was.

Or how bad today's soils are from several decades of over working them plus lots of harsh chemicals

 

[quattro]

I used a plough press only once, i reckon it buggered the heavy damp soil newly ploughed
Yield was poor.
It needed to dry, but not too much, hence the stopwatch approach

Surely that would all be weather determined

 

[ajd132]

Or how bad today's soils are from several decades of over working them plus lots of harsh chemicals

Several decades of the type of farming in the video…..

 

[Lowland1]

There was an article in Power Farming in the late eighties / early nineties about him having sold all his machinery and having it all farmed by a contractor and just having a 5000 for mowing around the yard.

 

[chipchap]

Most of these guys achieving spectacular yields in the early days were relying on fertility generated from previous systems leaving large amounts of soil fertility, be it pig,cattle, or chicken manure.

 

[CORK]

There’s no denying that background fertility from historic land use will help yield but we all know farmers in a particular parish who continuously achieve higher crop or animal productivity despite farming under the same sky as as their neighbours.
Attention to detail or the farmer factor plays a very big role.
From a financial point of view, I guess the sweet spot is consistently achieving an excellent profit margin while not exposing oneself to too much risk.

 

[robs1]

There’s no denying that background fertility from historic land use will help yield but we all know farmers in a particular parish who continuously achieve higher crop or animal productivity despite farming under the same sky as as their neighbours.
Attention to detail or the farmer factor plays a very big role.
From a financial point of view, I guess the sweet spot is consistently achieving an excellent profit margin while not exposing oneself to too much risk.

To paraphrase. Yield is vanity profit is sanity

 

[CORK]

To paraphrase. Yield is vanity profit is sanity

True, the old phrase is turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.

That said, it’s hard to have actual profit without decent turnover.
Some making handmade pottery for a local craft shop may have a great profit margin but on a tiny level of turnover.

 

[Lowland1]

True, the old phrase is turnover is vanity, profit is sanity.

That said, it’s hard to have actual profit without decent turnover.
Some making handmade pottery for a local craft shop may have a great profit margin but on a tiny level of turnover.

You can live well on zero profit with a high turnover and very poorly on a big profit on a small turnover.

 

[bankrupt]

You can live well on zero profit with a high turnover and very poorly on a big profit on a small turnover.

Zero profit's easier said than done this time, but not completely impossible, fortunately.