The last month of my first year on the farm. So much has been achieved although some things are clearly a slow burn process. I took the decision early on that I would be managing a herd of Dairy Cows – a first for me. I thought that I might be ready to start the herd around June so it was pleasant surprise to be able to buy the first Cows in mid-March as all the prerequisite feeding requirements had been met. We have yet to produce our first farm made Cheese but the stock is growing along with a small Butter mountain😅 But the Cows are already producing enough Milk for me to be able to sell some on. Other slow burns are the Chickens and the Bees. Hopefully we’ll be selling some Eggs and Honey soon but I have at least had a small amount of income from the sale of young Chickens bred on the farm. Currently, the crops remain my main farm produced source of income.
July is the start of Harvest season and my winter Barley was ready to cut. Positioning the header trailer so that the Harvester could pick it up was fun…
…parking the Arion half into the grain silo😅 All necessary because there’s no space at the entry to the field. Once hooked up I was able to get on with the harvest…
…The field produced over 29000ltrs of grain. Then it was time to bale the Straw…
With the bales collected and stored I mulched the crop stubble before sending a worker in to apply lime while I took 2000ltrs of Milk to the dairy. Getting a labourer to lime the field was an error on my part – I should have left that for after planting the Oilseed Radish that will be used to part fertilize the field. Additionally, I don’t think the ai workers are very good at liming. Next time I think I’ll do it myself🤣
The second week of July saw me harvesting Oats for a neighbour while a worker cut the grass in field 103 and windrowed it ready for baling. My own Oat crop in field 5 will be ready for harvest next month. With the grass all tidied up it was time for me to make the first silage bales on the farm…
…These will be stored to allow the grass to ferment and then sold when the price is good. We currently have a lot of silage on the farm, so this will turn a profit as we don’t need the amount we’re producing for our herd at its current size, of which more shortly. With the grass having suffered some damage in the hail storms, I decided to buy a grass roller…
…This tool not only rolls in the leftover grass clippings but also has tines that remove weeds from between the grass and the ability to reseed any areas where the grass has died. Using a roller after mowing acts as a fertilizing step too, so it will save some money in the long term and is good for the environment. The only downside is that we’re running out of garage space!
The 3rd week of July started with more hail…
…although the cows didn’t seem to mind. Once more I’m left wondering about damage to my crops and hoping it isn’t too bad. The weather quickly improved and I was able to get a worker to mow fields 19 and 21 while I earned some money doing a cultivating contract with leased equipment…
Then I played follow-on with my worker, baling the grass for silage in field 21 while they were windrowing field 19…
Collecting the silage bales proved slightly problematic, one of them having rolled into the stream…
…IRL you’d get a front-loader with a grab or bale spikes to retrieve it. Or you might get a couple of farmhands to help you roll it back up the bank to the field. In game we can’t do that last one but I can simulate it with the Super Strength mod which is what I did👍 Then I rolled both fields to complete the work and put nutrients back into the soil…
The end of week 3 saw a lot of thought. It is clear that I have an over-production situation when it comes to grass. While I may need this level of production when the herd reaches 60 Cows, I don’t currently. This got me thinking about how best to deal with the situation. That thinking went far beyond grass and cows. Ultimately I want to get into root crops though I can’t do that just yet. But once I do, I’ll be able to instate a proper 4-crop rotation system on all my fields which is beneficial for yields. By buying the planter earlier in the year I opened up this possibility.
When the Farming Sim side of the brain kicks in I can wind up lying there thinking when I’m supposed to be sleeping! Time for some research into French Farming and crops. It turns out that France produces more Sugar Beet than any other country in the EU! Alongside that, the main crops are Wheat and Corn – That’s a 3 crop rotation right there! Add in a cover crop like Alfalfa and you have the 4 crop rotation. I also discovered that Soy Beans are increasingly common as a crop choice.
What do I need to get to the position of being able to do Sugar Beet? I will need a Beet Harvester and a tool to haulm the top leaves before harvesting. The harvester could be an incredibly expensive all-in-one machine but it is possible to get a cheaper option that can be hauled by my 230HP tractor. So the plan of action is to get €100K together for a Grimme Rootster. In the interim I’ll rotate the crops as best I can.
Which brings us back to the grass situation. I will keep field 103 as grass for the time being, but I decided to return fields 19 and 21 to crop production. Because of their size, I’ll work them as a single field. Thus, the 4th week of July began with my cultivating in the grass in these fields in preparation for a crop…
I did a variety of chores around the farm and then at the middle of the week I picked up a contract that would keep me busy until its end – Harvesting Spinach…
…A job that dragged on into night before it was completed but which netted me over €9000 😎👍
August looms and it will be a busy month. I have to sow fields 19 & 21 as well as field 31 – I’ve yet to decide which crops to plant. Field 5 and 32 will be ready for harvesting. I’ll try to fit in some harvesting for neighbours too as I need to keep the money rolling in! See you next time😎👍
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