I am back! It has been a challenging time, but I am through it now, so returning to writing about farming matters. The agreed statement below concludes my 20 years as a local farm manager.
“Coppid Farming Enterprises and the Phillimore Family wishes to thank Simon Beddows for his dedicated and successful long service on the Farm at Dunsden. A decision to adopt a contract farming approach means we are parting ways, but we remain extremely grateful for all of his efforts”
Onwards and upwards, it’s time to move on. I have been asked to take on a really interesting role which will allow me to make use of my thirty odd years of farm management and agronomy skills. My new job is an Agronomic Technology Consultant for one of the major John Deere machinery dealers. At the time of writing, I am two weeks in and absolutely loving it. I had better try and explain what it is before I head off into my more normal column subject of farming and countryside matters.
Agronomy is the science and technology of growing crops. I am a qualified and annually registered agronomist. Think ‘crop doctor’ as a good analogy, whereby I diagnose and provide remedies for ailing crop plants. Much of the job involves caring for the soil and plants, using technology and practical farming knowledge to produce the end result at harvest.
What has that got to do with a global company such as John Deere or even one of its dealers selling farm machinery and tractors? Modern tractors and harvesters are fast becoming computers on wheels. It is already possible to buy driverless tractors, although not yet working in UK fields. Automation in the cab is taking over from the driver, whilst at the same time producing a lot of data. I have spent the last fifteen years involved with on farm trials and the development of such technology. This, along with my practical experience and agronomy skills, has won me a change of career direction. I will be helping farmers and growers get to grips with current and future technological advances from John Deere. This will enable them to make informed decisions about growing their crops whilst increasing productivity.
Now where did I leave off in my May column? Oh yes, I remember the long running argument about food verses the environment and future government support. It would be nice to report that a smooth transition to a new system is making rapid progress. Sadly, that as with many of the current government’s big ideas, is not moving quickly enough. Farmers along with environmental groups feel that the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) does not really go far enough to protect the environment or provide us with enough food to sustain our ever-growing population. Much time and money has been spent by the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to create something new and fit for our post Brexit countryside and food requirements. It seems like another well known government white elephant not to have made it to the final station.
The UK harvest of 2023 must be one of the most expensive ever to have been grown. The season was hit with high fertiliser, fuel and labour costs. Agreed the price of grain soared, but that was way before we had even put the crops in the ground. Whilst some of that can be offset by selling your crops forward, it is a very unwise farmer who sells all his crop before it is safely in the barn.
With true optimism shown by even the most pessimistic of farmers, crops are being sown for harvest 2024 and the fields are changing from golden yellow to brown and now again to green. North, East and West of us storm Babet has wreaked havoc. Loss of life, damage to property and for farmers newly sown crops washed away. What have we done to the planet and where do we go from here? There will be plenty for me to write about in the coming months.