Summer harvest 2021 has been busier than ever. Labour shortages combined with few ‘good combining days' have certainly seen the grey hair count increase rapidly.
I've definitely farmed worse years, but I wouldn't be a true farmer without complaining would I now?
This year has seen me be promoted to full time combine driver again for the first time in a long time. It's been tough burning the candle at both ends for us all as flowers are a daily harvest and we have been lifting and grading potatoes four-to-five days a week before we start combining.
Earlier in the year, I took delivery of a new Claas Lexion 7700 with a 10.8 metre convio flex header. Like all good relationships, it took a few late nights together to really get used to each other and start working well.
The flex header has performed extremely well all season, especially when tackling some of the fields that decided to lie flat after some heavy rain.
Winter wheat has yielded at approximately 9 tonnes a hectare and 7t a hectare for spring wheat, which I am happy with considering the growing conditions since drilling it.
Potato prices have remained buoyant thus far in the season and I am finding that buyers are steering heavily towards quality over quantity.
A large percentage of our crop is still being exported for the Irish market and obtaining phytosanitary certificates to export via our local agents is becoming part of normal farm life.
Labor shortages have been the overwhelming issue for the summer flower season both cropping and packing.
The very tight window for harvesting and packing flowers before they spoil means that even small problems can soon become detrimental; being efficient and staffed correctly is imperative.
I am sure many other farmers that rely heavily on manual labour are also feeling the pinch in this department; I hope that this is a passing phase as opposed to a taste of what's to come with the future of Britain's workforce.
