July has been one of the wettest on record but harvest 2023 has finally started..
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- Опубліковано 1 сер 2023
- July 2023 turned out to be one of the wettest on record and has made harvesting very difficult this year but we've finally managed to make a start on the OSR. Trouble is it's a disaster...
I just cannot get my head around being paid to not grow food in a country with an ever increasing population.
It’s immoral and an appalling use of my tax money, I do not give my consent for my tax money to be used this way.
ever increasing population and ever increasing cost of food!
Yes we need to go back to 57 million not struggling with 67million
To promote starvation and depopulation maybe? Just a thought.
Because the elites don't want us to.
Feed us full of processed rubbish to make us unhealthy. We should have fields for of animals
Thanks Harry for the update and showing the rest of us 'Non Farmers' how truly difficult it is to produce food crops for the consumer and market.
As much as abhor set aside, i cannot lay the blame on the farming community as they are being rinsed the whole way through. To quote JFK: For the farmer, is the only man in our economy who has to buy everything he buys at retail - sell everything he sells at wholesale - and pay the freight both ways. 🤬
Great quote! I never heard that before.
An interesting and sobering thought
The world mad but you not . Keep going
@maruiacancerc Sorry you have cancer but spamming all over the place isn't going to win you any fans.
And they're still all multi million acres!
Shows just how much money there is in farming.
I love Harry but let's not pretend that he's been hard done by.
The government seems determined to reduce our home grown food supply. The government scheme is just a different approach to the same sort of policies in the Netherlands.
Yep. All part of the WEF's Agenda 21. Depopulation by 8bn before 2035. Amazing that still 98% of the masses haven't woken up.
I'd say it's the farming unions which have pressured the govt to drum up these sorts of schemes.
It's not just our government. The aim is to curtail all growth.
@ericcson3429 No it's the World Economic Forum (the Davos lot). It's openly declared on their website and has been their drip-drip strategy for over 50 years. Approaching the end game now, unless people turn off the bbc etc and wake up.
I dont think people will willingly eat bugs and synthetic factory produced food, unless there is no alternative... looks like,thats where we are heading
I was in the farming industry for 42years it is so so frustrating my❤ goes out to you and all the other farmers
Subsidising farmers to avoid growing crops is madness. That there is a food shortage in the World just demonstrates to me that the UK Government has contempt for people.
They aren't subsidising them to "avoid growing crops" but to protect the soil and biodiversity, both of which are under extreme stress. If it is not done, yields will terminally decline.
It's mainly because every other major country subsidises their farmers. To make it a level playing field and to protect our own food supply it is, unfortunately, still a necessity.
@@finnjon5049so yeah, paid to not do anything. It makes no sense.
@@finnjon5049 ok, so where's all the food going to coming from???????????????
@@robertday8619 look at the packaging on the food in supermarkets, and that'll tell you.
Had to smile when you were pondering about the condition of the soil as to weather OSR might just be worth one more go. I gave up with it 2 years ago and had a resent conversation with a local merchant that went something like 'l don't care if you offer me £1000 per tonne I'm not growing the bloody stuff ". Good luck with the rest of harvest I'm looking to start wheat ASAP the only question is who will drive the combine, my 15 year old son or 88 year old dad, both of them are very keen.
Go with the 15 year old. It worked for me. But get Dad to do the lunch and tea breaks to give the 15 year old a break and make Dad still feel needed!
Wow. So sad to think that next year we will not have food from half of your farm.
On the other hand, we will have food from half his farm. 🙂
@@stevemawer848 That only half of us can afford 😭
Harry does not grow Human food, it`s either feed for animals of for fuel production.
@@JohnJones-cp4wh Got any evidence for that?
@@johnfrancis4401 I have heard him say most of his crop goes for feed.
105 mm of rain in July with me in Doncaster. Good going into stewardship schemes gives a known return but when are people going to realise a farmer needs a good return for food crops or we all starve. Wake up government and public
Great video. The cabbage stem flea beetle spray ban in the UK is what produced this failed crop before the wet weather made it impossible to harvest it.
That seed coating ban has really ruined the OSR in this country, Other countries can still use it and we can buy from them; that defeats the objective.
Last year we had to graze one of our fields of hay as the grass was just disappearing we ended up with 10 4ft round bales of basically straw off 8 acres we ended up with 66 bales as it was dad and I planned on feeding barley straw over winter though it would mean using more concentrated. Only one which was a neighbour's field that hadn't been grazed since the winter and one of our rented ones actually really performed. Out of those I had to start feeding them in July/August this year I have about 60 acres of hay and I've done about 6 due to the rain. I could have made it in June but there was barely any grass, we only got rain here the day after we lost my dad to cancer.
A piece on the economics of set aside land would be interesting.
I remember 50 years ago being in agricultural college and being told in a presentation by our principle that we should be proud to be farmers in the most efficient food producing nation in the world. He could not say that now when the government pays the farmer to not grow food.
The mad EU Brainset idea ...
1) the field wasn’t growing food in the first place. Oil seed rape is mainly destined for biofuel.
2) how much food is going to grow without pollinators?
3) even without the scheme, the harvest isn’t sustainable. Why woul Harry need to continue to grow rape? He also can’t plant wheat as it’s a low quality field.
I realise the AB6 and its payment is financially beneficial to Harry's business but it is sad that feeding the birds appears to be more important than feeding the population. Most probably there will have to be imports to take up the slack in supply
My thoughts exactly. So much for buy British!
It is more important. We've decimated wildlife over the years. There is plenty of food in this country there are just too many people. We are trying to feed the world not just our people. We keep feeding millions in Africa and Asia - they have big families - millions are trying to get into Europe - this just foments trouble - right wing parties are on the rise - more wars are inevitable over land and water - add to this weather changes. Feed the population of our country - slam the brakes on immigration and reverse it - plant trees and encourage wildlife to balance nature and climate change. Get a stronger government in instead of the traitors and bed-wetters we have had for years.
Don't bank on imports as this is happening all over the World. Look what's happening with the Dutch farmers, the sleazy Government is compulsory buying 3000 farms out of the equation driven by EU targets and mandates for their net zero nonsense. One of the biggest producers in Europe is gonna get a lot smaller. What's that going to do to the food supply chains???? Wakey wakey!!
Jeremy Clarkson hi-lighted the lack of insect kill on his Range Rover windscreen on his 1 st series of diddly squat farm, no insects no pollinators no fertilisation
@@bobstacey9311yet still everything grows… I smell bs
Sounds like you’ve had a dry month Harry 😂we had 246mm in July up here in Cumbria 🌧️
Looks like the UK is being encouraged to produce less of its own food. Would be good to see some stats on this, as you seem to bring a sensible perspective to these types of topics.
As always, we need to ask ourselves "who benefits"?
Same in Holland etc/..
@@beetleything1864 I was actually going to suggest that, we're far from being the only country.
You’re heading down a route that I’m considering myself and so are many of my neighbours. I’m very proud to be a food producer but the volatility that you show everyone is incredibly stressful and these fixed prices seem to be the sensible way to go, as they would be for any business.
Ever tried going for Miscanthus? 800£ stable return over 15 yeras.
Nice Panerai Harry. Harvest is going on here in Kent, can hear the sound of the combine in the fields and love it. Keep up your hard work farmers everywhere "
How about a Harry’s Watches video, you have an impressive collection.
We have actually never had more rain in the month of July here in Denmark since measurements began in the 1860s. Not in terms of amount of rain in mm, but days with rain. The sun hasn't been out much lately, so to speak, but the fields haven't been flooded with water. At least not in Jutland, where I live. It therefore looks as if the 2023 grain harvest will be quite good in Denmark, but the combining has not yet started properly (not until next week when good weather is expected). It may seem as if all the large low-pressure systems and thus really bad weather have gone a little south and north of us. In Norway, and especially in the south-western part of the country, large and small rivers overflow their banks with floods as a result. This in turn leads to landslides in the mountains and down into the fjords where people live. Some have even had to be evacuated in order to never be able to move back to their homes due to the danger of future serious rockfall.
Thanks Harry and good luck
Great Update Harry, thank you
Always a great video, thanks Harry.
Thanks very much Harry, always great to see what's going on with the farm
As always many thanks for the insight.
So interesting and informative. Thankyou ever so much Harry.
Your farming travails are fascinating viewing & always enjoy your peaceful & engaging pragmatism. Cheers Harry
rain here in 'eastern' Poland has been on and off....Harvest started (Rzepak) (oil seed rape) on Saturday/Sunday.......but it is a stuttering...rain sun rain sun. I heard a combine in the distance yesterday.......but rain stopped play again......even though it was a really sunny day with a good southerly breeze....I just opened the window and listened?????Nothing and there are so many fields around me...all South facing, all up on top of the hills.......probably same elevation as Harry.
Thanks for the report from the UK. It was a dry start in May lots of rain and storms here in the Great Lakes of North America.
Thanks for your Farm videos Harry, as I minibus driver in Essex I drive around the countryside and its always a pleasure to know how crops grow and I now have an understanding of the financial side of the business so keep up the good work. PS I am a petrol head as well.
So, a question: no more oil-seed rape, no more peas, beans, etc. Basically, no more nitrogen-fixers. What's the impact of that?
More reliance on natural gas for fertilisers. More power to Russia. More global warming. More problems for our future.
Letting the land rest in between crops will allow some nitrogen to regenerate from organic matter breakdown and bacterial activity
The best nitrogen fixer is letting the land lie fallow. Planting peas is a lukewarm sollution to get a bit of nitrogen and a cash crop.
@@OnzeManInKazakhstanfallow land increase nitrogen due to the breakdown of organic matter and the release of CO2
@@Gary_and_Linda CO2 ............ ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!! 🤯🤯🤯🤯
Well Done Charlie ... a thankless task really .. but you got it finished. Another wonderful update in your crazy farming world.
The old bumper sticker from the '60s: "Crime doesn't pay; nor does farming."
Well done Charlie and your self ,keep it going
Always interesting, never a dull moment farming, all the best.
very interesting insight to a farmers challenges. thank you
As a committed motorcyclist I can confirm this summer has thus far been a total disaster....
Thanks for the updates by the way 👍🏻
And I think we have had the hottest July here in Andalusia, it looks like we may continue to have the hottest August, what we wouldn't give for a little bit of that wet weather.
Probably what we'd give for a little bit of your sun!
😂😂
Well done Charlie.👍
Last month BBC weather said bad news, but good news for farmers and gardeners, plenty of rain. Why do they employ thick people. We need sun to grow, my allotment is struggling
Down here in the far west Rape is growing wild on our roadside verges, it's seven feet tall and no sign at all of beetle, perhaps Harry, you should bring your combine down here. Lol.
Thanks Harry for the update and information and knowledge shared!
Pfff, what a challenging year you're facing. Terribly dry and once time for harvest the actual crop arises, it starts to rain cats and docs and in huge amounts, filling uo the soil water content and groundwater tables. It is the same as in EUrope mainland. INcreasding challenges for farmers due to climate volatility and climate change impacts and market volatility on inputs, and crops, both volumes and prices. Just respect to farmer like you and family to see what might work another year.
Do you plan or maybe already did a video on the impact from leaving the EU after long debate?
Thanks again.
Hello Harry, I wonder if besides your main arable crops do you grow anything for personal/family use on your farm like herbs, greens, or tomatoes? How has your solar installation fared this year? Thanks for the update, I do hope you'll keep the videos going and keep being informative on the hardships farmers are facing.
Interesting as always Harry. You need to start training the boy so this channel can carry on for generations!
Well done Charlie :)
Establishment paying not to feed the people....who would have thought?
It is probably a good year to plant OSR, you would get a very quick germination and establishment as there is plenty of moisture in the soil therefore reducing the ammount of damage from the cabbage stem beetle.
Bad news for beekeepers😢🐝🐝, because rapeseed is one of the main honey crops in the UK.
You have to get the stuff out bloody quick before it sets in the supers though, otherwise it's new frames and more work for the bees.
@@mikeroz6549 Yes, you are right. However I heard a Russian beekeeper and he said his bees wintered on rapeseed oil honey, but he reduced the nest to 8 frames.
Over 100mm here in north Oxfordshire, harvest started with wheat last Friday
Go on Harry replant OSR can't be as bad next year and if the majority of other farmers are not planting OSR the market for it could be a real gold mine!
Love the channel Harry, Farm and Garage, my comment is only partly tongue in cheek.
clifton park system, norfolk four course, rotation of livestock , smallest possible expenditure on commercial fertilizers, increasing the fertility of soil, an economy of production for domestic demand,? Or this with quota agreements !!!
Not enough rain... too much rain :-)! Good work Charlie!
Glad you squeaked the OSR out before it rained again. Folks cursing the weather in out neck of the woods.
Bad luck with the osr Harry, can't decide whether the crap summer has been your biggest problem or the flea beetle. If you were allowed to use an effective insecticide as they seem to be doing in other countries,would that have made for a reasonable profit, given that the price can fluctuate so much. Would be interested to know how the profit compares with last year, after combine, herbicide costs. Just wanted to give a cheer for Charlie!! A chip off the 'old block' if ever there was eh. Thanks for the video posting, always fascinating, good luck with the wheat harvest too. What about barley for Mr Clarkson and his beer- then you could toast each other in style ha ha !!, cheers.
Didn't any of you car enthusiasts and car-nerds see what looked like the Wee Fergie behind the combine in the field!!! Where did that come from Harry! And what has happened to your 1954 Land Rover, Harry? Have you got rid of it? We haven't seen it for ages! Keep up the good work. Kind regards.
Price volatility on osr is crazy. How can smaller farms plan effectively for growing in 2024? Mixed farms, especially dairy/grain are in serious trouble. Up here on the North Yorkshire Moors it is now more profitable to sell the herd, close the dairy, and run the whole farm under the stewardship scheme. This year's grass and sileage is being supplemented with cattle nuts for beef production thanks to the weather, and prices have gone stratospheric. We're losing £100 average per beast.
For me the issue is that if Harry did not have other income, then he would be near Bankruptcy.
So its a good idea to apply for half the farm in a 'set a side' scheme and rotate it annually and give the soil a rest....
Love to know how the arithmetic works between this set-aside for the 2020s & a break cover crop like beans peas or even grass!?
We farm 32 miles north of you and funnily enough we had 101mm of rain in July. Have got our OSR in but nearly 1500 acres of wheat await combing. Plus spring beans after that. Doesn’t look good!
Good one Charlie…harvesting osr a bit different from Morocco. The cabbage stem flea beetle..beloved of the biodiversity brigade.
Most of us Brits are obsessed with the weather especially at this time of year 👍🏻🏴
But not for farming reasons..
Hello Harry, thank you for sharing your experience. Have you ever considered planting an energy crop such as Miscanthus which grows with little to no cultivation and which offers stable long term returns?
Learnt so much about farming from you H! I know nothing about it but would it have potentially worked if you had left the oil seed rape to self seed and grow a second crop, might that yield have been better? It appeared to be sprouting well where it had fallen. Keep up the hard work. Maybe one day you'll be appreciated.
Hi there Harry, Garry here farming in Kildare Ireland ,we have had 219mm of rain on our farm in July. Pure disaster!
Can I just say that I enjoy these farm updates. Makes me want to be a farmer. Watching these videos is a nice break from what's going on in my life right now.
Well done, Charlie, my boys wouldn't even mow the lawns!
Here in West Cumbria the Farmers are facing the same problem with OSR it must be hard to make ends meet if your main crop fails
What long hours farmers have to put in to get crops harvested in time. and little reward from the government, with shortages of home grown food, they should helping farmers to produce more. Good luck Harry. Bob
Thanks for sharing Harry. Can you perhaps talk a bit more in a future video about the conditions where you would reconsider adopting the environmental scheme in future?
Can all appreciate the certainty and support that this provides the farming industry. However it seems inevitable that removing productive arable land from the market will create more volatility and higher prices for those that stick it out. Curious to know whether you have considered this and how long you may be committing to?
When you review history, periods of inflation like we’ve experienced recently, tend to come in 3 waves. We’ve just had the first one, coming off the back of one of your best years to date. It may be so that the biggest rises in price & profitability for farmers is yet around the corner. I appreciate that you can only play the cards you are dealt with today, facing these increased costs, but curious to know if you can still pívot later.
I’m sure I’m not the only one that is glad to know you’re still growing wheat and committed to feeding the country. I hope you don’t feel disheartened, you’re doing an incredible job on the farm and we all appreciate the insights & quality content. Hoping the rewards are just around the corner!
you where very unlucky with the rain last august, around here( north worcs ) we had a bit more rain and the OSR took off. Alot less flee beetle problems as well, in fact the least problem weve had for a couple of years
I was out walking last night and the OSR here in Lincolnshire is up to shoulder height. Luck of the draw with the weather!
And the pest pressure in different areas.
great vids as always
The rapesed was hit hard this year but as you say last year it was your best crop.. Also the small birds and finches really love this crop it's great to see it growing, please plant it again!
Like someone else wrote it's very puzzling to see farmers getting paid to let agricultural land idle?
Anyway good luck 💚
Harry, you had 101mm there, my rain gauge here in co Clare in the west of Ireland recorded 261.5 mm! Wettest July in 30 years we are being told.
That must be soul destroying in the so called 'summer' 😢
Hi Harry, would love to hear your thoughts being a farmer and understanding more about the environment about your fuel video and the need for some of it to be produced using crops?
What i get to hear from my local news (Austria) is, that this has been the warmest july on record. Your experience seems to be different...so is mine! 🤔
Hi Harry, have you changed from AB15 to AB6 because of seed and establishment costs? My experience with AB6 is that the grass weeds become an issue and the soil doesn’t benefit from being bare for such a long period. Probably more importantly farmers are uncomfortable looking at land doing absolutely nothing for 12 months. Herbal leys under SFI look attractive. With the lower payment and seed costs compensated for with grass keep and forage value. If no demand then legume fallow. Plus the N value for next crop and the feel good factor when it’s alive with 🐝.
Constant use of the same farmland for similar crops is what led to the Great Dust Bowl in the American Midwest. that is when resting 1/3rd and diversifying crops grown began.
I'm surprised the rainfall isn't higher,I haven't seen our local data yet but im expecting it to be nearer 200 than 100 in sunny Devon
Same here in Wales. We've had rain every day for 5 weeks.
For a lot of farmers, it will be a late harvest this year. Not bern dry enough for long enough up here
I can't believe that with a worldwide food shortage, the government can even think about paying farmers to leave the ground with nothing in!!!
Something has to change.
What a crazy situation !
Harry do you talk to Clarkson about your crops and share thoughts on what you'll grow next season?
Also your issues like the grub problem?
Thanks
Andrew
Another topic
I have been reading about new advances in rotary engines by Mazda and Liquid Piston and how easy it was to adapt these to different fuels. Based on the fact that it seems okay to ship wood pellets across the Atlantic to fuel Drax, then there should be no obection to use plant oil to drive vehicles. When you learn that it took 10 litres of fuel to get one litre to the front line, I could imagine there would be a great benefit to grow suitable crops to meet that need.
Personally, I like the idea of driving round to the local farm to get filled up rather than the garage.
From your knowledge, what would be a suitable plant to grow?
Also with your other hat with motor vehicles, what is your view about rotary engines?
Tim Lamyman (Guinness World Record for the highest wheat and barley yields) has been doing some interesting work on OSR and counteracting Cabbage Stem Flea Beatle with Bionature. Even if you're giving up OSR you'll find it interesting.
Hi Harry. An interesting commentary. Just watched your August vlog first but this one was interesting. Yes your rape seed crop is small. 2 foot plants I assume as a result of the beetle infestation that you mentioned. The crops around me were around 4-5 feet tall before harvesting. I am finding your planning logic interesting. Not being a farmer, it is interesting to understand the problems and decisions you have to deal with. Good luck!!
Needs to slow that reel down no wonder it's on the ground
There's me, fretting that I can't mow my lawn.
So you sign up for this Government scheme and then how long will it be before they declare all farmland that isn't used for growing crops must be used for windfarms/solarfarms/housing? Just a different way of doing what the Dutch are doing but without the same resistance.
You’ve had a dry July there. We had 223 mm in Ormskirk SW Lancs. More than double your total.
if many farmers also decide to ditch OSR surely youd think the price next year would be higher, Id gamble and plant more.
Knowing nothing about agriculture, i appreciate your efforts to educate people goes how difficult it is.
With news about BRICS and how China will be setting up commodity exchanges that might be free of the vagaries of western traders and Wall st, I wonder what this will do for prices as obviously they will rise dramatically.
I know that you cannot yet plant industrial hemp but I would love to hear your views? From what I understand it requires no herbicides or pesticides and little fertiliser and fourteen times less water than cotton. As for uses, the list is endless and might be the ideal cash crop for the world. It is also patent free.
Bloody hard work (and risk) for little gain (or thanks).
Rather you than me Harry 🤨
Only second video in. Fantastic presenting. Although personally I wouldn't touch anything sprayed with glyphosate!
Hope you dont let too much grain go over the back, else you might run into takeall problems if your just planning on growing stubbles and wheat.
All these subsidy schemes are economic insanity. It is an economic truth that 'all subsidies return to rents'. In this case that has two effects - it keeps Harry's land value high, hence distorting the market for land. So, if Harry was a bad farmer and was going broke it would keep him going and preventing another better farmer from buying his land at an economic price. Thos subsidies are also part of a long standing UK cheap food policy, and of course all that does is end up in house prices and rents. What''s even worse is that all these subsidies are paid from money created ex nihilo or borrowed. The first destroys the real value of the savings of the prudent and thrifty and the latter out-competes private businesses needed those funds for wealth creating production.
We are ruled by idiots.
Completely understand your decision Harry. But it’s a mad world where you’re paid to do nothing, because it’s better financially. Politicians have a lot to answer for!!
Control the food and you control the people
We are in august and there is still standing(sort of, mostly not) wheat on the fields and every week we have 10-40 mm rain. I bet there the harvest will end in the next 2 weeks.