Saxlingham – December Dilemma

When you cross into the month of December the world seems to change. Suddenly there are no tasks to do for other farmers – Suddenly there’s time to think and plan. Even so there is still work to do on my farm and also the stored grain and bales to sell. December’s first week gave me time to plough field 7…

…turning in the weeds and the stubble from last season’s harvest. I’m probably going to be planting Soy Beans in this field along with field 2. While I was rushed with the Canola crop, this time I will have the time to upgrade the ph status of the fields with lime…

…but, with the days now being very short just doing the one field was enough for the first week of December.

Snow came in spades at the start of the 2nd week…

…Though it would clear up later in the week allowing me to earn some money by cultivating in a neighbours failed crop. This is a beautiful time of the year…

…But there’s nothing beautiful about a failed crop…

That would be the only contract of the month allowing me to concentrate on the selling price of Barley. In the 3rd week of December the price hit the predicted best and I spent my time trundling back and forth to the old mill which was offering the best deal…

…Yeah – I can’t see what’s coming the other way.. Definitely wing and prayer driving 😅 Those trips showed that I no longer needed the Krampe trailer as the Bailey’s rear steering made deliveries to the mill ok…

…So I took the last load in the Krampe…

…Before selling it as surplus.

But now I have a dilemma – £300k in the bank and still with bales to sell. The possible choices are: –

1, Buy another arable field (preferably one that has a crop growing in it).

2, Buy a grass field to make money from silage.

3, Wait it out…

Option 1 is pretty straight forward or would be if fields were that cheap! It’s expensive buying farming land in the UK (and on this map!). There are a couple of fields that meet the criteria but they’re still on the small size and the largest one doesn’t have a crop. Additionally, they’re on the other side of the river though that is more an excuse than a problem!

Option 2 could be good – There’s a nice grass field at around £200k quite nearby but to move into Silage production would require buying a new 250HP tractor and mowing implements with a cost of around £300k – The 180HP Arion won’t cut it (Pun intended) 😅 Even so, this is an attractive option!

Option 3 is probably the realistic way forward for now. We will need that 250HP tractor sooner or later and also to expand our number of fields and sources of income. So for now I think we’ll soldier on with what we have. We’ll be able to earn more money in the spring when contract work becomes available once more. Ultimately this will be a 3 tractor farm but not today – Patience is both Wife number 2 and a virtue 🤣

I closed out December by selling almost all the straw bales…

…There didn’t seem any value in shifting the last 5 versus the cost of the fuel! I closed out the year with £358k in the bank with all payments made and all equipment serviced👍

What will the new year bring? Tune in to find out… See you soon 😎