Archived News

23rd August 2012

Although we tried to make a start with the wheat at Park Farm, it  isn't ready and probably needs another week or more to ripen, however that's rather difficult without sunshine! 

The cutter bar is getting choked up and Laurence has to stop or reverse slightly to allow the  bar to shift the congestion. Once cut, the straw stems are clearly still green.

Green stubble

The wheat that was harvested has an 18% moisture content so all the grain will have to be dried in the grain drier prior to storeage as it must be below 15%.

So a quick move to Comb Farm on Monday evening and Tuesday to cut 60 acres which was ripe but still damp.  The wheat at Shalford only needed one trailer load drying but everything else has gone through the drier so far, which makes it an expensive harvest.

Wednesday morning the combine travelled via Dorking and Forest Green at 5am in order to reach Upfolds where another 60 acres of wheat has been harvested.

Last night the heavens opened and half an inch of rain fell . The tractor and trailer with a full load began to sink in the heavy soils;  Frank managed to back it up onto the field margin just in time.

Combining wheat at Upfold, this is ripe but was also 18%moisture content even before it rained

The last few acres were completed at Upfolds with a broken bearing on the return augre. Claas will come out to the farm tomorrow to fix this.

Tomorrow morning it will be a return journey of 15 miles which takes an hour but  is better than risking a journey over the hill and getting stuck between the rocks in the sunken lanes.