Farm Diary

On Saturday we had two silage contractors running into Crouchlands, as we were cutting the last block of maize at Hascome which had been drilled late, and starting on the maize grown for us on contract at Southwater.

This created a fair amount of mayhem at the farm as umpteen trailers were flying in from all directions! The last 100 acres of maize was clamped in the field at Ripley on Sunday, so there was a great deal of sheeting up to do.

With nearly 300 acres of maize in clamps at Ripley vermin is a worry and with several sheets of plastic over the clamps and soil all the way around the edges; covered then by heavy netted sheets, with some rat bait we should hopefully be alright.

It has been a good year for maize, with the constant rain making up for a lack of sunshine and warmth on the light sandy soils. The crops have been variable, and it has not been the bumper crop of last year, but I would say that the yield is certainly above average.

Looking at the massive clamp of silage at Crouchlands, it does not seem possible that the cows are going to eat all this, but they certainly will, and no doubt we will wonder at some point if we have enough; we always do.

The last of the cows will be housed this week, as grass quality has deteriorated, and the ground is getting soft. I can never understand why the clay soils in this part of the world get soft in late autumn when there is no rain.

It is almost as if day length and warmth are needed in order to keep the weald clay dry, and without sufficient day temperatures, it all begins to go soggy.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette October 22