BUS INE S S ON THE FARM


44


GIVING TIME IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING


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.


For many January is the start of the year, but the farming year is already well in train...


Autumn planted crops are well on by now, although with the difficult weather we had last back end, many farmers are keen to forget about 2023. The rams have been with the ewes and whilst we are waiting for them to be pregnancy scanned, they are almost into the second trimester at the turn of the year. Winter too is fading as the day length increases every day; that is as long as we don’t get a late snow fall.


So, thoughts turn to spring with brighter and hopefully drier days and lighter nights. We could do with some of that. We have recorded around 25% more rain than our average, although it is almost exactly the same as 2020 and less than 2019! Anyone looking to drill spring corn is going to hope for a dry and warm spring, including us. We also have some grass seeds to drill, so a warm April would be lovely.


As usual our hedging and fencing list is long enough. Many of the posts that my parents used when I was in school have come towards the end of their life and whilst some those fences are


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a bit shaky, a few are on the floor. We will change predominantly to chestnut posts, but some will still be creosote, although they are horrible to use. Gloves are essential and a splash of creosote on your face or arms is not nice.


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