12th April 2024
Talking Taties: Never rains, it pours
Last month I said it would dry up soon…well it hasn’t! I can cope with a wet winter – in this part of the world we get an average of 760mm of rain per annum,…
Advertisement
Opinion
-
-
12th April 2024
Nature Natters: With farmers, not for farmers
Does science hold the solutions for farming in the future, or can many of the solutions be found closer to home, under the ground and in the hedges? With large investments from government and private…
-
11th April 2024
Smith’s Soapbox: Gone completely cuckoo
I’ll admit I’m not a huge believer in old weather sayings. I suspect it’s because as much as I’d treasure an accurate long-term weather forecast, I’ve yet to find one and that, in turn, causes…
-
11th April 2024
Last Word: Scoring an authentic goal
Have you ever asked yourself what success looks like? I for one realised a few years ago that it doesn’t always equate to what you initially anticipate.
-
10th March 2024
Last Word: Networking – unspoken torture
Now, what I’m about to discuss could be viewed as contradictory to my previous column which explored overcoming loneliness. But never mind, I’ll press on.
-
10th March 2024
Nature Natters: No Nature, No Farmers, No Food
During the past few weeks I've spent a lot of time on trains travelling to different parts of the country for meetings and conferences. While it's nice to sit back, relax, and let the train…
-
10th March 2024
Smith’s Soapbox: Perversity in places of power
Despite a few uplifting signs of spring such as an increase in birdsong and blossom in the hedgerows, there does seem to be a number of large black clouds threatening this year’s harvest that won’t go…
-
10th March 2024
Talking Taties: Knowledge is power
Unsurprisingly, I have no field work activities to report this month – the nearest we’ve been is making a muck heap in one of our driest undrained fields three times bigger than is required for…
-
12th February 2024
Talking Taties: What a winter, eh?
It seems a long time since the excellent BP2023 show at Harrogate in November and similarly superb CUPGRA conference in December.
-
12th February 2024
Smith’s Soapbox: No Red Tractor oil on troubled waters
From the perspective of a combinable crops business, a key weakness in Red Tractor assurance would seem to be how little of what leaves my farm ends up with a Red Tractor logo on it.
-
12th February 2024
Nature Natters: Inputs and outputs – the future of fossil fuel-based fertilisers
Like many, we’re coming out of winter with the already-planted crops in a very mixed condition – we don't have a single field with uniform establishment or condition of crops. The recent weather has certainly…