Farming from March to September Only

[DrWazzock]

Father never grew winter crops until we got some very wet springs in the 1980’s. I remember the bridge to the farm was busted out with floodwater in April in 1980 something.

 

[DrWazzock]

we could maybe spend the winter somewhere exotic instead of lathered in mud. Could probably run to an appartment somewhere....... like the Isle of Wight.

 

[bobk]

If farmers did work March to September food would be a f**k sight more expensive than it is now .

 

[puppet]

I can see the wish to free up time. I know arable goes on longer than the summer but livestock is immensely tying. You have to like it. They need looking and once you get into some decent numbers there seems to be problems every couple of days. We do split calving so are looking at cows 3 times a day for almost 6 months a year. Today was 'quiet' yet spent 6 hours with a breaker replacing posts in the cattle pens. My local builder could have done it but probably charged £200.
I would not change farming enterprise just now with a no-deal Brexit so close until we see the sheep trade. If it goes OK then sheep can let you go to dog and stick farming - ok, quad bike too. We hardly handle sheep for 3 months from tupping to scanning in February. Cattle are every day using 2 tractors. Anything involving crops or cattle involves plenty expensive metal.

 

[SilliamWhale]

It’s great . We leave the UK ,end of October Or Beginning of November Turning early March spending time with our daughter and son in law in Australia and a quick visit over to New Zealand been Doing it since 2014 ,miss all the UK dreadful winter weather , and leave the Uk farm for our other son-in-law to look after while we are away. I don’t think we’ll be going this year. Some Sort of bug is stopping My Wife and myself wanting to go. But we will miss them for not being able to see them. And my bit of Australian farming .

That does sound like a good idea! No good if you've got a dog though!

 

[bobk]

It’s great . We leave the UK ,end of October Or Beginning of November Turning early March spending time with our daughter and son in law in Australia and a quick visit over to New Zealand been Doing it since 2014 ,miss all the UK dreadful winter weather , and leave the Uk farm for our other son-in-law to look after while we are away. I don’t think we’ll be going this year. Some Sort of bug is stopping My Wife and myself wanting to go. But we will miss them for not being able to see them. And my bit of Australian farming .

Doubt you would get in this year , got to find a flight first .

 

[kiwi pom]

I get dropping beet, especially if you're doing it yourself, but what's wrong with winter cereals? What do you have to do with them that's so time consuming in winter? If the weather doesn't cooperate in the autumn, leave planting until spring.
Do sheep take that much work if set up well?

I think there's 2 of you on 200 ish acres? Not having a go but I'm not sure what you find to do 12 months of the year that keeps you both so busy.

 

[kiwi pom]

If farmers did work March to September food would be a fudge sight more expensive than it is now .

Would it? A lot of the larger farms have staff that do the work.
Certainly the last full time job I had in the UK was on a unit that didn't see the boss putting in big hours. Much of the winter was spent at different shoots, including his own, and when he wasn't shooting he was fishing somewhere.
That was on Dairy, arable, spuds and beef.

If the staff only worked March to September, there'd be a problem.

 

[Renaultman]

I get dropping beet, especially if you're doing it yourself, but what's wrong with winter cereals? What do you have to do with them that's so time consuming in winter? If the weather doesn't cooperate in the autumn, leave planting until spring.
Do sheep take that much work if set up well?

I think there's 2 of you on 200 ish acres? Not having a go but I'm not sure what you find to do 12 months of the year that keeps you both so busy.

I was going to post almost exactly this. If the opportunity is there to get winter crops in well I would be sorely tempted to take it.

 

[bankrupt]

a unit that didn't see the boss putting in big hours. Much of the winter was spent at different shoots, including his own, and when he wasn't shooting he was fishing somewhere.

This is the ideal system I have been busily working towards. Unfortunately, have to admit it's somewhat less close to fruition now than it was 50 years or so ago - further away than ever, in fact.

 

[DrWazzock]

I get dropping beet, especially if you're doing it yourself, but what's wrong with winter cereals? What do you have to do with them that's so time consuming in winter? If the weather doesn't cooperate in the autumn, leave planting until spring.
Do sheep take that much work if set up well?

I think there's 2 of you on 200 ish acres? Not having a go but I'm not sure what you find to do 12 months of the year that keeps you both so busy.

There isn't enough work to keep two of us fully occupied but there is enough to tie us up. Which is why I want to concentrate the work into six months and blitz it in short periods of intense activity rather than dribble it through the year.
The problem with winter cereals is they need drilling by 4th October. So we have chopped straw on the ground. So it needs ploughing or incorporating. Then the seedbed has no time for weathering so needs battering down with something to get it drillable. Then they probably need slug pellets on the heavy area depending on monitoring which is another job. Then they need spraying with a robust and expensive preem or peri em as there has been no time for a black grass chit and with no seed dressings they need a couple of insecticide sprays and maybe 3 sprays of manganese to get through the winter at random times according to the weather and crop stage. You have to go at the right time otherwise you will be making a hell of a mess. As winter goes on you might need to antifreeze the sprayer between each application. All eats into time and you never know when it will be. Might be one day this week, a couple next week, sprays to order, delieveries, records.
At the same time I am drying and loading this years harvest and starting the beet harvest. When is the beet lorry arriving? A couple of loads this week, maybe a load next week? When can I harvest beet? All depends on the weather. A bearing goes on the harvester. Another day gone or more.
So I am thinking of doing the primary cultivations/straw incorporation by end of September, leaving it to weather over winter and flush the blackgrass, put the sprayer away, close the door. Return in the spring, spray off the rubbish, drill into nice weathered tilth with no further cultivation. Cheap herbicide, no insecticide, no slug pellets, very little managanese problems as daylight is increasing. No beet and no sheep so no tie up over winter.
I think its better all round for us on this farm with soils that are delicate.
We are going to try it anyway. Brother will be away from end of Sept to end of Feb now anyway. Sheep nearly all gone.
He will come back in the spring and we will blitz the drilling, blitz the top dressing, and we can blitz the spraying having maybe only two spring crops rather than 5 crops all of different types and at different stages.
And not having to get the sheep in every random time will help. I don't understand how people say you can leave them for weeks on end. We draft fat lambs off every week, which means getting them in twice a week, once to find out how many we have got then to load them when the lorry arrives. Then you get cases of lameness or mastitis which probably need attention and a course of injections. What do people do? Just leave them to die in agony? The idea that sheep can be run with low labour requirement is just rubbish IMO unless you want to go round and pick up the dead ones once a week or just pull off all your lambs as stores and give them away at the end of the year.

 

[kiwi pom]

This is the ideal system I have been busily working towards. Unfortunately, have to admit it's somewhat less close to fruition now than it was 50 years or so ago - further away than ever, in fact.

Yep its how the job should be really, build up your business then have staff that can run it day to day for you so you can concentrate either on growing the business further or enjoying the results of your work.

 

[DRC]

How well fenced is the farm, as I’d be tempted to grass the lot under an enviro scheme, even go organic , and run the sheep extensively . Payments of around £200 acre for arable reversion with the sheep on top.
Take holidays from full time job at lambing .
Potter round at weekends

 

[DrWazzock]

How well fenced is the farm, as I’d be tempted to grass the lot under an enviro scheme, even go organic , and run the sheep extensively . Payments of around £200 acre for arable reversion with the sheep on top.
Take holidays from full time job at lambing .
Potter round at weekends

Er, no way!!!
I used to harvest most of the beet during my christmas holiday when I worked full time and combined during my summer holiday. Went back to work knackered. No thanks.

 

[Johnnyboxer]

We are thinking of giving this a try. Nothing but spring combinable crops. Alright we won’t make a fortune but might have less of a bad time all round and we can work off farm for a 6 months clear run. Change is as good as a rest and all that. At the moment the year just seems to drag on from one pain in the ass problem to another.
Sheep going, beet going. Shut the shop on 30th September, reopen 1st March. Maybe down to two spring crops, barley and something else. Could be a way forward for our small patch and break the cycle.

Sounds a great plan
Wish you well [emoji106]

 

[texas pete]

Er, no way!!!
I used to harvest most of the beet during my christmas holiday when I worked full time and combined during my summer holiday. Went back to work knackered. No thanks.

Too right. Whatever you do needs to fit in around you, not the other way around.

 

[kiwi pom]

There isn't enough work to keep two of us fully occupied but there is enough to tie us up. Which is why I want to concentrate the work into six months and blitz it in short periods of intense activity rather than dribble it through the year.
The problem with winter cereals is they need drilling by 4th October. So we have chopped straw on the ground. So it needs ploughing or incorporating. Then the seedbed has no time for weathering so needs battering down with something to get it drillable. Then they probably need slug pellets on the heavy area depending on monitoring which is another job. Then they need spraying with a robust and expensive preem or peri em as there has been no time for a black grass chit and with no seed dressings they need a couple of insecticide sprays and maybe 3 sprays of manganese to get through the winter at random times according to the weather and crop stage. You have to go at the right time otherwise you will be making a hell of a mess. As winter goes on you might need to antifreeze the sprayer between each application. All eats into time and you never know when it will be. Might be one day this week, a couple next week, sprays to order, delieveries, records.
At the same time I am drying and loading this years harvest and starting the beet harvest. When is the beet lorry arriving? A couple of loads this week, maybe a load next week? When can I harvest beet? All depends on the weather. A bearing goes on the harvester. Another day gone or more.
So I am thinking of doing the primary cultivations/straw incorporation by end of September, leaving it to weather over winter and flush the blackgrass, put the sprayer away, close the door. Return in the spring, spray off the rubbish, drill into nice weathered tilth with no further cultivation. Cheap herbicide, no insecticide, no slug pellets, very little managanese problems as daylight is increasing. No beet and no sheep so no tie up over winter.
I think its better all round for us on this farm with soils that are delicate.
We are going to try it anyway. Brother will be away from end of Sept to end of Feb now anyway. Sheep nearly all gone.
He will come back in the spring and we will blitz the drilling, blitz the top dressing, and we can blitz the spraying having maybe only two spring crops rather than 5 crops all of different types and at different stages.
And not having to get the sheep in every random time will help. I don't understand how people say you can leave them for weeks on end. We draft fat lambs off every week, which means getting them in twice a week, once to find out how many we have got then to load them when the lorry arrives. Then you get cases of lameness or mastitis which probably need attention and a course of injections. What do people do? Just leave them to die in agony? The idea that sheep can be run with low labour requirement is just rubbish IMO unless you want to go round and pick up the dead ones once a week or just pull off all your lambs as stores and give them away at the end of the year.

I suppose with the sheep, you're as busy with 100 as 1000. I'm told, breeding out problems is essential, but I know nothing about them other than my mother in law owns a sheep farm.
Next question, what job can you do during the winter that you can leave every spring to go back farming?

 

[Mc115reed]

There isn't enough work to keep two of us fully occupied but there is enough to tie us up. Which is why I want to concentrate the work into six months and blitz it in short periods of intense activity rather than dribble it through the year.
The problem with winter cereals is they need drilling by 4th October. So we have chopped straw on the ground. So it needs ploughing or incorporating. Then the seedbed has no time for weathering so needs battering down with something to get it drillable. Then they probably need slug pellets on the heavy area depending on monitoring which is another job. Then they need spraying with a robust and expensive preem or peri em as there has been no time for a black grass chit and with no seed dressings they need a couple of insecticide sprays and maybe 3 sprays of manganese to get through the winter at random times according to the weather and crop stage. You have to go at the right time otherwise you will be making a hell of a mess. As winter goes on you might need to antifreeze the sprayer between each application. All eats into time and you never know when it will be. Might be one day this week, a couple next week, sprays to order, delieveries, records.
At the same time I am drying and loading this years harvest and starting the beet harvest. When is the beet lorry arriving? A couple of loads this week, maybe a load next week? When can I harvest beet? All depends on the weather. A bearing goes on the harvester. Another day gone or more.
So I am thinking of doing the primary cultivations/straw incorporation by end of September, leaving it to weather over winter and flush the blackgrass, put the sprayer away, close the door. Return in the spring, spray off the rubbish, drill into nice weathered tilth with no further cultivation. Cheap herbicide, no insecticide, no slug pellets, very little managanese problems as daylight is increasing. No beet and no sheep so no tie up over winter.
I think its better all round for us on this farm with soils that are delicate.
We are going to try it anyway. Brother will be away from end of Sept to end of Feb now anyway. Sheep nearly all gone.
He will come back in the spring and we will blitz the drilling, blitz the top dressing, and we can blitz the spraying having maybe only two spring crops rather than 5 crops all of different types and at different stages.
And not having to get the sheep in every random time will help. I don't understand how people say you can leave them for weeks on end. We draft fat lambs off every week, which means getting them in twice a week, once to find out how many we have got then to load them when the lorry arrives. Then you get cases of lameness or mastitis which probably need attention and a course of injections. What do people do? Just leave them to die in agony? The idea that sheep can be run with low labour requirement is just rubbish IMO unless you want to go round and pick up the dead ones once a week or just pull off all your lambs as stores and give them away at the end of the year.

My best suggestion.... and only because somebody very local to me does it and has been doing it for years over 700 acre ... spring barley drilled cheaply (he spreads with fert drill then discs it in then Cambridge rolls)...... depending on the year, spread turnip seed mid August before harvest into standing crop or spread with fert spreader post harvest and disc and Cambridge roll... find some Welsh man or other large scale sheep man... few thousand store lambs/ cull ewes in from about mid December which farm owner spends most days shooting or in the pub... sheep man looks after his sheep.... come March they send a fleet of wagons for them.... .... spread spring barley seed with fert spinner... disc it in... Cambridge roll... repeat...

If your local too and AD plant plenty of digestate on the turnips helps ...

He grows best crop of turnips around every year... his spring barley ain’t great but he’s been in the pub all winter and his summers not been much harder so what can you expect....

 

[Steevo]

few thousand store lambs/ cull ewes in from about mid December which farm owner spends most days shooting or in the pub...

Wow, what a life...!

This is sounding like Victorian times.....when is the open season for sheep?

 

[Hereward]

There isn't enough work to keep two of us fully occupied but there is enough to tie us up. Which is why I want to concentrate the work into six months and blitz it in short periods of intense activity rather than dribble it through the year.
The problem with winter cereals is they need drilling by 4th October. So we have chopped straw on the ground. So it needs ploughing or incorporating. Then the seedbed has no time for weathering so needs battering down with something to get it drillable. Then they probably need slug pellets on the heavy area depending on monitoring which is another job. Then they need spraying with a robust and expensive preem or peri em as there has been no time for a black grass chit and with no seed dressings they need a couple of insecticide sprays and maybe 3 sprays of manganese to get through the winter at random times according to the weather and crop stage. You have to go at the right time otherwise you will be making a hell of a mess. As winter goes on you might need to antifreeze the sprayer between each application. All eats into time and you never know when it will be. Might be one day this week, a couple next week, sprays to order, delieveries, records.
At the same time I am drying and loading this years harvest and starting the beet harvest. When is the beet lorry arriving? A couple of loads this week, maybe a load next week? When can I harvest beet? All depends on the weather. A bearing goes on the harvester. Another day gone or more.
So I am thinking of doing the primary cultivations/straw incorporation by end of September, leaving it to weather over winter and flush the blackgrass, put the sprayer away, close the door. Return in the spring, spray off the rubbish, drill into nice weathered tilth with no further cultivation. Cheap herbicide, no insecticide, no slug pellets, very little managanese problems as daylight is increasing. No beet and no sheep so no tie up over winter.
I think its better all round for us on this farm with soils that are delicate.
We are going to try it anyway. Brother will be away from end of Sept to end of Feb now anyway. Sheep nearly all gone.
He will come back in the spring and we will blitz the drilling, blitz the top dressing, and we can blitz the spraying having maybe only two spring crops rather than 5 crops all of different types and at different stages.
And not having to get the sheep in every random time will help. I don't understand how people say you can leave them for weeks on end. We draft fat lambs off every week, which means getting them in twice a week, once to find out how many we have got then to load them when the lorry arrives. Then you get cases of lameness or mastitis which probably need attention and a course of injections. What do people do? Just leave them to die in agony? The idea that sheep can be run with low labour requirement is just rubbish IMO unless you want to go round and pick up the dead ones once a week or just pull off all your lambs as stores and give them away at the end of the year.

Whether you've got twenty sheep or two hundred you have to be on alert the whole time. I agree that low labour sheep is rubbish, we did have tack sheep here for a year or two, never again they were rarely look at, we ended up getting them in ourselves and treating the lame ones as the owner was not bothered, obviously that was the last time we had tack sheep.