It is a relatively quiet time at Wexcombe Farm. The crops are heading towards harvest enjoying the sunny weather we have been having and the sheep and cattle are working their way around our grass fields. As a result, this is a good time of year for a bit of education and I have been on a number of farm visits as well as hosting a few.
The first of these was Open Farm Sunday. This is a national event which was conceived as a way of bringing consumers and farmers together to demonstrate not only how food is grown, but also to highlight the many other things that farmers do for the countryside – such as encouraging wildlife onto farms.
Our Ope
n Farm Sunday was a fantastic success, we welcomed over 600 visitors. The weather was perfect for the day and 330 people were taken around the farm on tractor/trailer rides. There were children’s races, a barbecue with burgers made from Wexcombe beef (which sold out as we closed!) and a Farm Trail where people followed a route passing machinery, animals and crops with information boards.
I took 160 people around the farm explaining what we do and how and why we do it. In the main field there was a village fete atmosphere with a tea tent, face painting and other kids activities. Some wonderful scarecrows were entered in a competition which was judged by London jewellery designer, Rosie Wolfenden of Tatty Devine. I need to take this opportunity to thank all of the many people who helped me to stage the day.
The second event was an annual trip to ‘Cereals’. This year it was held at Boothby Graffoe in Lincolnshire. 25,000 farmers visit this arable farming event where tractor and machinery manufacturers, as well as plant breeders and other support industries, all display their wares. It is a good show for meeting up with other farmers from around the country and in the conference hall there are some lively debates on many current issues affecting farming.
The next event also took place here at Wexcombe. Sixteen farmers from around the country were invited to look around the farm. We all had one thing in common – the new seed drill that we have all bought (see previous article “Time for change”).
This was a great opportunity for me to share my experience from our first spring drilling season. There were lots of useful discussions and ideas of what we may do this autumn and into the future. There are not many people No-till Farming in England and as a result, sharing experiences as we make the change will help to eliminate mistakes.
The final event was a trip, for seven local farmers, up to Leicestershire to visit the Allerton Project. This is a research farm run by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust where they are studying the effects of different farming methods on wildlife and the environment.
This was a fascinating day. We started with an hour in a classroom, getting an overview of the Project and seeing some of their results. This was then followed by a farm walk, seeing first hand what they are doing. There were some really interesting aspects of the visit. Over the last 23 years that the project has been running, they have been studying the effects of both Predator Control and Supplementary Feeding on farmland bird numbers. The results are very clear-cut, both these actions have a massive positive effect on bird populations.
Though not palatable to everyone predator control, particularly of foxes and corvids, is for many birds (especially ground nesting species like lapwing) vital to their numbers recovering. When this is followed up with targeted supplementary feeding during the ‘hungry gap’ (the months of February, March and April) bird numbers can quickly start to recover.
Also fascinating to me was seeing the project undertaking a shift towards No-till Farming and with a full time soil scientist on site there will hopefully be some more help for those of us farmers who are also making this shift away from ploughing and cultivation.
There is one thing for sure after this month: I can confirm I am #AlwaysLearning!
