Blankney Farm Update – 14 October 2022

The autumn has been a bit more normal!

Soils have worked well and we have completed drilling of winter barley, winter rye and next week, we will complete winter wheat establishment.

We completed our maize harvest 4 weeks early this year. Yields were down 22%, which was not unexpected, with only 60% of the required rainfall achieved.

Irrigation is now complete on our grass and lucerne – 10,484 acre inches were applied to the fields, with a total water volume of 1,052,330 cubic meters.

Our sugar beet harvest will start next week. The crop has grown well in the last 8 weeks and we are hoping for above average yields.

This week, we were pleased to host the Harmston Young Farmers for a tour of our production site. It was a pleasure to see a local young farmer group so well supported by so many members.

We also hosted the NFU and Water Resources East for a workshop on how Lincolnshire abstraction groups work, and their role in local catchment water management.