With the grain stores filled to the brim with cereals and seeds waiting to be transported to our processing facility at Berwick-upon-Tweed, it is safe to say that it has been a busy, but successful first year at The Mead.
And just because the harvest has finished doesn’t mean that the farm sits in silence. There is a constant hum of activity as the drilling of next year’s crops is already well underway.
Before we look too far ahead, let us look back at a busy 12 months.
Ploughing on into Autumn and the eye of the storm
Following a good 2021 harvest, good moisture levels gave us favourable conditions for freshly planted crops to become established ahead of the winter. Ideally, crops need to be able to survive the snow and frost of winter, but not develop too much as they enter dormancy over winter a vital step for autumn-sown crops.
Storm Arwen at the end of November left some considerable damage to the woodland around the farm and ripped young plants that didn’t have fully formed root structures from the ground, leaving the crops rather battered and bruised. Once the storm had passed and the damage assessed, the growing conditions throughout December, January and February remained favourable, So much so that Ross, our Farm Manager, could get top dressings of fertiliser to the autumn sown crops done early.
Spring springs on The Mead
Much-needed moisture in early March made for good conditions to drill spring crops as well as giving the crops sown in the autumn a good watering to help their growth continue.
The well-documented good weather over the summer brought crops to maturity quicker than normal, with harvest getting underway two to three weeks earlier than may have been expected and the last of the spring barley harvested by the 16th August.
While the year has gone well, it hasn’t been without its challenges. The warm weather meant that spraying plans had to be closely monitored and altered so as not to add any additional stress to the crops growing in very dry conditions.
Looking to the future
2022 saw the first year of growing linseed at The Mead and it was encouraging to see the crop perform well with yields above average and of good quality. Not only will 2023 see more linseed planted, but we also plan to invest in a new harvesting method to make what is a notoriously difficult crop easier to bring in from the field.
As the last few springs have seen drier conditions, we are sowing more autumn crops to get around any establishment issues that may occur.
With all the grain now resting in the shed, it is safe to say that it has been a busy, but successful 12 months.
If you want to know more about The Mead and growing trial crops, then contact us today.