Looking grim .......

[Devil's advocate]

Must be p€€ing down Barnsley now?
Heavy rain here, looking across your way and looks wet your way from up here.

gentle rain but dull. Edit, coming really dark now.

Spent the whole afternoon feeding lambs, few minutes penning a ewe & lambs & nipped to feed mill for some creep feed (lambs getting bored, nibbling ewes teats).

My late Feb drilled w barley & w wheat looks well, so something to be cheerful about.

Ewes calling for nuts, not due to be fed till 5pm.

 

[BrianV]

Yep was talking to some ‘expert’ about phosphates in rivers which is a huge problem now, we’re at the lower end of the catchment and he said the phosphates you’re seeing in your water were probably from sewage discharge in the upper catchment 40 years ago!

Funny how they never think to mention that when blaming farming

 

[Vader]

gentle rain but dull. Edit, coming really dark now.

Spent the whole afternoon feeding lambs, few minutes penning a ewe & lambs & nipped to feed mill for some creep feed (lambs getting bored, nibbling ewes teats).

My late Feb drilled w barley & w wheat looks well, so something to be cheerful about.

Ewes calling for nuts, not due to be fed till 5pm.

Lucky you on the drilling!
Got most the farm to redrill, but no chance at moment. Will need a good week dry weather before can travel.
Banging down again right now...

Spent a constructive afternoon making a climbing wall for son in the empty cow shed.

 

[bobk]

Lucky you on the drilling!
Got most the farm to redrill, but no chance at moment. Will need a good week dry weather before can travel.
Banging down again right now...

Spent a constructive afternoon making a climbing wall for son in the empty cow shed.

I'm losing the will to do it , best guess for starting is 15th April

 

[DrWazzock]

On the way to Lincoln I saw somebody ripping up stubbles with a pigtail drag on some fairly stiff land. On the way back I saw they were just setting in with a drill behind a Cat. Nobody dare leave moved soils to dry and they are right but it must have been a cheesy nibble seedbed. What else can they do though? It’s pretty desperate. Heavy blustery showers turning to more organised rain now and a very cold wind. Might come good in April. Who knows

 

[bobk]

On the way to Lincoln I saw somebody ripping up stubbles with a pigtail drag on some fairly stiff land. On the way back I saw they were just setting in with a drill behind a Cat. Nobody dare leave moved soils to dry and they are right but it must have been a cheesy nibble seedbed. What else can they do though? It’s pretty desperate. Heavy blustery showers turning to more organised rain now and a very cold wind. Might come good in April. Who knows

We've been saying this for months , last dry week was in september

 

[DrWazzock]

I can’t remember which year it was 2000’s. We didn’t do any spring drilling until 20th April but the beet and spring barley did really well. We paraplowed stubbles and ex beet land once most of the ponds had gone then power harrowed once it had further dried off. Didn’t bring up cacky clods to set like concrete, just shattered the surface. Might not have even needed the power Harrow but it helped level the slight paraplow ridges. Drilled with unidrill that didn’t block with trash. Seedbed didn’t dry out in subsequent drought. Think spring barley had no rain on it, but yielded very well.
But it if had stayed wet we couldn’t have done much.

 

[DrWazzock]

There’s still another three weeks or so before it’s game over for spring barley. Fingers crossed.

 

[DrWazzock]

And everybody said the paraplow would smear it underneath. Well maybe it did a bit but not as much as a plough and it got a bit of air and drainage into the soil without bring up clods and drying it out. Under rated 1970’s tool.

 

[onthehoof]

I can’t remember which year it was 2000’s. We didn’t do any spring drilling until 20th April but the beet and spring barley did really well. We paraplowed stubbles and ex beet land once most of the ponds had gone then power harrowed once it had further dried off. Didn’t bring up cacky clods to set like concrete, just shattered the surface. Might not have even needed the power Harrow but it helped level the slight paraplow ridges. Drilled with unidrill that didn’t block with trash. Seedbed didn’t dry out in subsequent drought. Think spring barley had no rain on it, but yielded very well.
But it if had stayed wet we couldn’t have done much.

Was 2000/01 foot and mouth year also, never forget that one!

 

[Devil's advocate]

Lucky you on the drilling!
Got most the farm to redrill, but no chance at moment. Will need a good week dry weather before can travel.
Banging down again right now...

Spent a constructive afternoon making a climbing wall for son in the empty cow shed.

I am lucky having some shallow gritstone soil, very free draining.

I've heavy land too which in a normal year is more profitable, be a week at least, some lattitude dressed wheat seed to dispose of too, if it gets too late for spring barley maybe drill at ultra high seed rate & graze its not really a break crop so don't know. Or low seed rate in the herbal ley????

Chucked it down here too, little gap in the weather to feed the outside sheep.

Two more sets of triplets so that makes 20 cade lambs. At least they will be easier to look after when it dries up, trained to drink from a teat bar.

I like climbing walls, was annoyed at Newby Hall when the fair ground attendent said it nice to see an older guy using the climbing wall.

 

[Devil's advocate]

Was 2000/01 foot and mouth year also, never forget that one!

We drilled 20 th Feb it was on the radio about F & M.

Winter barley it grew like a triffid.

 

[czechmate]

I am lucky having some shallow gritstone soil, very free draining.

I've heavy land too which in a normal year is more profitable, be a week at least, some lattitude dressed wheat seed to dispose of too, if it gets too late for spring barley maybe drill at ultra high seed rate & graze its not really a break crop so don't know. Or low seed rate in the herbal ley????

Chucked it down here too, little gap in the weather to feed the outside sheep.

Two more sets of triplets so that makes 20 cade lambs. At least they will be easier to look after when it dries up, trained to drink from a teat bar.

I like climbing walls, was annoyed at Newby Hall when the fair ground attendent said it nice to see an older guy using the climbing wall.

Feck, you’re not even 60

 

[Devil's advocate]

There’s still another three weeks or so before it’s game over for spring barley. Fingers crossed.

Five weeks on good land, but my agronomist agrees with you.

In fact he thought Xmas was too late, SFI mad he forgets I need the straw for customers.

 

[Devil's advocate]

Feck, you’re not even 60

Exactly.

I had shingles once & I asked why I had got an old persons illness.

The young girl of a GP stroked her chin & said "why would a 52 year old, get a middle aged person's illness, I wonder".

 

[czechmate]

Exactly.

I had shingles once & I asked why I had got an old persons illness.

The young girl of a GP stroked her chin & said "why would a 52 year old, get a middle aged person's illness, I wonder".

you old flirt

 

[Cab-over Pete]

Drove a few miles north today and some of the blackthorn were hellish thick with flowers.

Winter isn’t done with us yet.

Then I got home, tapped the barometer and I have never seen it so far back in the 20+ years I’ve had it. It’s been on “much rain “ for a couple of days, but now it’s well into “stormy”.

 

[Princess Pooper]

Exactly.

I had shingles once & I asked why I had got an old persons illness.

The young girl of a GP stroked her chin & said "why would a 52 year old, get a middle aged person's illness, I wonder".

I had shingles aged 31!

 

[Zippy768]

I ain't that old, but I have never seen weather like we had today.
Very strong winds from the south all day, and amazing amounts of rain. Proper sideways rain. Blowing into places you don't want.
Water pouring out of fields and roads flooded in places I've never seen.
And cold.
We must of had an 2 inches by this morning. That must of doubles by now

 

[kiwi pom]

Desperately in need if some global boiling now, absolutely freezing, ground sodden

Isn’t it warming that’s the problem now?
Warm wet winters instead of cold frozen ones
Old chap lives in Cheshire, he reckons they don’t get the cold like they used to.