Thursday 9 August 2007

Late Nights

Combining is going well in this 'summer' month! We started cutting wheat on Monday (6th August). This is historically when we would start. Here is the combine cutting Hereward, a bread making variety of wheat, in Big Grass Drier field. The results so far have been disappointing on yield and quality. This wheat will probably not make milling grade and will be down graded to animal feed. I don't think it had enough sunlight when it was growing and the wet weather at the end of it's 'grain filling' time put the crops off resulting in poor grain fill , leading to depressed yields. At least the price is compensating for the lack of yield.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Jake. you must all be shattered with the early starts and late finishes. Are you doing all the driving of the combine or do you share this with others?

What happened to the field of Broad beans behind Pigeon Lane that runs down to the cricket field? Why weren't they picked when they were ready?

Hope the weather holds for the harvesting.

from Ian, Clare and the Gang @ Hillside

Jake Freestone said...

Ian, I don't do all the combining, Tim Stanford is the main driver I do lunch time and tea time relief and if we're going late then I drive it into the night, usually with Tod carting the grain away. The field was actually 'horse beans' which are harvested, with the combine, when they are dry. They go to make animal feed or if good enough into the export trade to the middle east where they are used for soups etc.