ENTERTAINMENT ON THE FARM


84


LIFE ON THE FARM WORKING WI TH NATURE


Each month Richard Thomas will join us to talk about life on his family farm in North Herefordshire, where they farm beef, sheep, arable and apples. Their ethos is to try to farm in a more regenerative style for the benefit of future generations.


With midsummer now behind us and the gentle journey towards the autumn equinox well in train, the crops are looking pretty good. We only grow a small acreage of cereals here, but all the arable crops around us and in the surrounding parishes look well.


We seem to have had a good mix of wet and warm weather, after the cold and late spring. Grass is growing well too and now we have weaned the lambs we are glad of that.


We graze taller grass when possible, which has many benefits


for us and the stock. I have written about it before, but one of the main benefits is being more drought tolerant. The height of the plants above ground are indicative of the roots below ground. So, taller grass not only helps to shade the soil from the heat of the sun, but it also allows the plants to grow more roots.


More roots hold more water and that can only be a good thing, especially in a drier time. Soil should be 50% mineral and organic matter and 50% air and water. So within reason, the more roots you have, the more space you will have for air and water and the healthier your soil will be. If you want to know, dig


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