[GrahamB]

Bloody magenta line-followers.

[Miscellaneous]

Any minute now someone is going to suggest having a whip round for the poor arable farmers.

On a serious note, great thread. I have a love of how things/systems/markets work.

Went to the livestock market last year and got worried when no-one would bid for particular lambs. I thought SWMBO's concern was going to result in her buying them. They eventually sold for £1 each.

[TheFarmer]

Bloody magenta line-followers.

I bet you didn’t know there was a wheat variety named after you, did you?

Are you early maturing too?!

[MikeB]

So can we expect to see fields with wiggly lines and Graham chucked in all directions when GPS jamming trials are being undertaken?

[kanga]

We choose our wheat variety for its strengths in certain aspects.
..

The Flyer Wheat crop is a variety called Graham. It’s in the list.
..

Any connexion to the 'Graham Cracker', a biscuit I encountered for the first time in the US ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_cracker

</idle but persistent curiosity about eponyms>

[TheFarmer]

Nope. Almost certainly not.

[Miscellaneous]

@TheFarmer I'm guessing your intended Scotland trip is not going to happen this year now, due harvest?

Now if you were a GP you'd just call in a locum.

[TheFarmer]

Sadly, that looks to be the case. I had thought that the early harvest would mean there’d be a two week quiet spell in late August. That hasn’t happened.

[GrahamB]

I bet you didn’t know there was a wheat variety named after you, did you?

Are you early maturing too?!

Mrs GB would argue quite the opposite, I’m sure.

[Pete L]

Have you planted earlier this year than average?

[TheFarmer]

Good question.

By about a week, yes. Partly because I have so much to do this year (I’ve also been asked to do some contracting work), and partly because I don’t trust the weather.

[TheFarmer]

Well, two weeks on, and we have some progress, albeit staggered.

The first picture shows the feint rows starting to appear. However, the lack of moisture has meant that there are effectively two growth stages (picture two).

Some seed found moisture on the day of planting, and some only for their first drink 4 days ago, and are just chitting now.

This isn’t a a problem, and it’ll all even up over the winter.

[Bill McCarthy]

What a lot of flint ! When clearing a field of stones after dressing, my late father used to say - leave everything the size of a spud and smaller (unles you’re a tattie grower of course) They do little harm, but do retain heat and put it back into the ground.

[Flying_john]

And I had visions of @thefarmer sowing like this !

[Bill McCarthy]

When I was a lad, I remember oats being sown with the fiddle sower and cast by hand. 1 cwt bags were set out at intervals (for refills) and to ensure the sowing rate was right. Then the horses came in to harrow, then rolled with granite rollers.