Bure Valley Farm

March and April – Spring in the Bure Valley…. It’s going to be hectic!

When we last visited I’d just prepared a new field by ploughing and applying lime. That field doesn’t have a number on the map so henceforth, I’ll refer to it as the Triangle! Our first task for this month was to get a crop sown in field 1 – I decided to plant Wheat. This is the largest of our fields and I employed a farm labourer to do most of the work – freeing me up to provide seed refills as required…

…and to do other work. The sowing took most of the first week of March and I picked up a couple of fertilizing jobs to earn some cash while paying the labourer…

The second week began with rolling the newly sown field 1 to compact the soil – another task for the labourer during which I took the 7810 off to do some more fertilizing for neighbours…

With the work in field 1 complete I swapped the spreader for the seeder and set about sowing Oats in the Triangle…

…This is a tricky field to work so I felt it was best that I did it myself! That took up the rest of week 2. The days are still short but will soon get longer👍

Week 3 and I started by rolling the freshly sown crop in the triangle…

…And that was about it for the week – no contract work and nothing more I could do on my farm until the new crops come through. The 4th week of March was the same. I drove round my fields in the Land Rover to check on their status but there was nothing work wise. I picked up a tool kit from the shop to allow me to carry out minor changes to vehicles at the farm and I investigated the possible installation of a fuel tank but shelved the idea for the time being.

The first week of April started wet and I started by checking the state of the new crops in field 1 and the triangle – Both had sprouted but I’d have to wait for better weather before fertilizing them. Fortunately, by mid week, the rain cleared and I could get on with the work…

After completing the work I took the Fendt and the Spreader down to the dealer to get them serviced. While I was there I took a look at the second-hand stock and found a Valtra Q Series tractor at an affordable price…

…I was very tempted! But then logic took over – It has a lot of hours use and that means significantly increased maintenance bills – I decided not to buy. However, a similar tractor would be a good buy for the farm, so lets quickly chat about that.

Currently we have two tractors; The Fendt 515C and the John Deere 7810. Both are adequate for our current fields and equipment. However, at some stage in the future this farm will expand into root crops. A more powerful tractor in the 250HP range is one of the pre-requisites for this. The case can also be made that our current tractors are too closely matched in terms of ability – 150HP and 175HP. The heavier work usually falls to the 7810 but ploughing and rolling tasks would definitely benefit from a more powerful machine. If I do get to the position of being able to afford something like the Valtra Q, I would sell one of the other tractors. My current thinking is the 7810 because the Fendt is a better all-rounder – comfortable spreading fertilizer and shifting loads around the yard. We will make that decision when the time comes. On this occasion, the decision not to buy proved to be the right one as we shall see!

The second week of April saw me picking up some more fertilizing tasks on neighbouring farms…

…Entailing some cross-country drives down the tracks between fields.

The 3rd week and I started out by checking my crops again – the Rape in field 42 is growing well…

…The I popped into the dealer to get the Land Rover serviced. In the second-hand equipment I found this…

…A very nice Potato planter! Unfortunately, we’re not ready for this just yet🙄 And, I’m imagining the traffic chaos I’ll cause driving that down the B1354🤣

All the driving around and checking my crops brought me up to field 1 and naturally, I took a look across the road at field 14. It’s been ploughed but as yet the Norfolk Farmers Association haven’t planted it…

…I spent a while tugging at my non-existent beard as I contemplated a number of options open to me. Whilst not the best soil, it presented an opportunity to expand once more and also to reclaim land that was mine at the start – remember I sold it because it had a potato crop that I couldn’t harvest. If I bought it, there was still time to prepare the soil and sow a crop. I decided to go ahead – the more crops growing now, the more money I will be able to make over winter. There was a small risk that I’d need to buy a sprayer for weeds but I felt it was worth taking the chance. Thank God I didn’t buy that Valtra!

With field 14 back in the fold, I needed to press ahead – Taking soil samples…

…and, with the results back from the lab, liming it to correct the pH value. Then I could get on and sow a crop. I decided to take the 7810 out with the seeder and park it in readiness while I used the Fendt to do the liming. Of course, in the rush, I forgot to check how much seed was in the seeder! So we had the amusing spectacle of me delivering seed to myself🤣 …

Then I got on with the liming, only to be interrupted by rain…

…when the task was 2/3rds done and that put a stop to work for the rest of the week🙄

I was able to complete the liming at the start of the 4th week and then I set about sowing a crop of Soya Beans…

…This is not a common crop in the UK yet but is slowly growing in popularity as new varieties become available that are viable in the warmer areas of the country like East Anglia. Its main use is animal feed although there is a small market for Human consumption too and that is expected to show some growth.

I just completed the work when the rains came again and that was the end of farming for the month. At this point, it’s worth taking time to have a look at our ‘Sustainable Farming’ status. Back when I started, 15% of any money we made from our harvest would be lost because we were measured as being in the high 30’s to low 40’s on the sustainability scale. I’ve worked hard to improve that score by: Sampling the soil in all my fields; Direct drilling instead of cultivating; Rolling after sowing; Applying only the right amount of lime and fertilizer. All measures to reduce chemical use, vehicle activity and to prevent soil erosion. It comes at a cost of new equipment like the direct drill seeder above – more expensive than a standard seeder – and specialist equipment like the soil sampler. However, by vigorously applying the rules, I have made significant progress in the first 8 months and our farm’s current score is now on the positive side of the scale at 51…

…Which means we now get the full value of our crop. If I can improve further I may be able to get some bonus payments on my crops too!