[Charles Hunt]

Or start a flying business!!

[Paul_Sengupta]

Mrs McC and I have eaten our way through a chest freezerfull of grub - the freezer has now gone to the end of my road for pick up and recycling.

If it works, put it on freecycle, for someone to come and pick it up to use. At the start of lockdown 1, you couldn't get hold of a freezer for love nor money they were in such demand.

[Bill McCarthy]

The sheep ultrasonic scan for lambs gives a lambing percentage of 198% which works out at approx two lambs per ewe. The results chit was found in the tractor this morning. A mix of singles, twins (mostly, and ideal), triplets and TWO sets of bliddy quads this year - one of them gave the quads last year. Cheviot sheep, with singles, are good for adopting the extras for the triplets etc. The high percentage must be due to a good summer and an extra shot of pre tupping trace elements.

[Cessna571]

@TheFarmer
I always wondered why there is no machine/method to remove the stones.

Some sort of teeth that that form a large flint sized sieve maybe?

Once a year over the years would surely make quite some difference.

Or do the stones in the soil offer a benefit for drainage or some such.

I wondered this because in our first house, whenever doing anything in the garden we’d pick out a small pile of stones. (it was a very stony garden!)

I’m sure it made a difference over the years.

[Bill McCarthy]

For potato growers, stones are riddled out and buried in a deep side furrow, or collected, during bed preparation. Stones below a certain size are seen as a good thing up in the far north - they retain heat absorbed during the day and release it during the night. It’s boulders that get pulled up by the plough that are a pain and have to be lifted.

[Charles Hunt]

C571

I'm sure I have seen such a machine in the fields around Brighton, soil/stone mix in, large flints retained.

[PeteSpencer]

Wish they did that at our strip which on one side abuts directly on the crop field.Stones the size of matchboxes and bigger get flung up onto our grass.

The soil is very 'stoney' and before the first grass cut of the year we have to inspect very carefully the half mile of our common border and remove the stones.

(We used to have the same problem with mole hills, but they haven't been a problem in recent years.....

A juicy great flint can wreck a triple gang mower in seconds..........................

[Paul_Sengupta]

There was a farming programme on TV the other day where they were selling some old machinery they hadn't used in years. One thing they sold was one of these stone remover things if I remember correctly.

[kanga]

.. one of these stone remover things...

ISTR having one of those on a penknife

[Pete L]

Were you one of the models for the Thelwell cartoon*?

* a horse's leg surrounded by a troop of scouts with the rider saying "I'm sorry I ever mentioned he had a stone in his foot".

Non-farming - but the water meadow our paddock was cut from is living up to it's name. It seems we now have two seasons - dry and rainy. The airfield is at the same elevation and in the same condition.

[TheFarmer]

In a few weeks time the autumn planted crops will wake up, and you lot are going to wish I’d never started this thread.

We are going to take it from a dormant autumn planted crop, right through the growing season, the harvest, the crop storage/drying, selling, and loading out.

And then you’ll see how much farmers don’t make!

[Flyingfemme]

Looking forward to it. I find looking at other people’s businesses fascinating. Especially when they are good at it. There’s often an idea, or principle, that transplants well.

[Miscellaneous]

Looking forward to it. I find looking at other people’s businesses fascinating. Especially when they are good at it. There’s often an idea, or principle, that transplants well.

Me also. One of the biggest revelations is how many across the spectrum are not good at it, yet manage to survive. Not good having different contexts. FTAOD, none of which are directed at @TheFarmer.

[Bill McCarthy]

The plough is still in the shed and will stay there until the ground dries up. I have seen some farmers ploughing, even when there is a layer of snow on the ground - the worst possible thing to do. If one went into that field long after the thaw, and turned the furrow back over, he would find snow remaining underground. I have seen neighbours rushing things, putting seed down in late March, then comes late cold weather. I have sown a spring crop well into May, the breather is up in a week, and come harvest, we are all combining at the same time.

[akg1486]

Looking forward to it. I find looking at other people’s businesses fascinating. Especially when they are good at it. There’s often an idea, or principle, that transplants well.

You can give it a go yourself without getting all muddy: https://farming-simulator.com/

I haven't played that myself, but it's fascinating there's a market for such a big variety of games that simulate other people's jobs.

The interest in farming is natural: not only do we all eat and have an interest in how food is produced, but most of us are only a few generations removed from farmers. Three generations in my case on almost all sides.