Contracting Expanding

This is the time of year that Gordon is out and about cutting many miles of our own and some of our neighbours hedges.  In total we cut hedges on over 10,000 acres of farmland and many miles of roadside verges.  Some of the insides of the hedges are cut during the autumn before the crops are planted so that damage to the field margins (grass) are limited as the soil is still nice and dry and can carry the tractor.  The downside to this is that some of the berries on the hedges are cut off and therefore not eaten by the birds in the winter.

By leaving the roadside verges, spring cropping fields and many of the farm tracks until now to be trimmed, allows the hedgerow birds alot more time to feast on the hedgerow bounty.  These roadside hedges are cut every year which aids roadside safety and also, if done carefully can still provide a good source of berries even after the hedge trimmer has tidied up the hedge.  We even have a blower on the hedge trimmer to blow the chippings into the verges, off the roads, therefore reducing the risk of punctures to passing traffic.  Birds such as Yellow Hammers love a neatly trimmed hedge that they can perch up on, and guard their territory.

Hedge cutting is one of many services that we can offer to our neighbours around Bredon Hill.  Our farm machinery is also used at certain times of the year.  Our sprayer is contracted out to spray tall crops such as beans and oilseed rape in the summer.  With its taller wheels and high clearance the damage is far less that with a conventional tractor mounted sprayer.  It also does liquid fertiliser applications.  At this time of year our snow plough is also on standby incase it is needed around the hill.  We have a specific route but can always detour to clear a driveway or farm-yard along the way.

Dampened Enthusiasm

I think we might have been in this situation before! Rain that was not completely forecast at the weekend has arrived stopping the progress we made at the weekend. We managed an hour combining yesterday afternoon before rain arrived and more rain fell this morning, heavy enough to stop us for the day (I expect).

There are a few tidy-up jobs that will be done today as field work has also stopped.

A bearing to change on the hedge cutter before that is pressed into service. We can't cut any hedges until after the 31st July due to the cross compliance requirements. We would have taken a few wet days like this as an opportunity to get a few hedges trimmed up in the past.

There is also a new chopper belt tensioner that needs to be replaced on the combine. Hopefully when the sun does put in an appearance we should be ready to press on with our oilseed rape harvest.

Short back and sides

This is sight well known to locals at Overbury or anybody passing through the village at this time of year. It is Gordon, hedgcutting expert, pruning and very skillfully shaping and molding the hedges on the farm. Gordon has looked after, trimmed and shaped the hedges that every-one drives past for over 20 years. Some people notice and comment, which is great, others just get irate about the hold up as they scurry off to work, late because there was a slight frost on the windscreen that held them up. Hedge cutting is a very important job. Along the sides of roads and footpaths it removes obstructions and increases visibility for the general public. As hedges grow they need to be trimmed down to encourage growth lower down to give shelter to small mammals and birds. A nice A shaped hedge trimmed lightly every year will bear fruit that birds can eat during the winter. Leaving hedges uncut can result in a little more winter food but the hedge will soon revert to a bush, grow tall, and have a premature death. Look out for Gordon on your travels around the farm and admire the skills involved and learnt over a long period of time.