farmer's wives

[peonyflower]

I am married to an arable farmer who is struggling with this year's harvest. Anyone else in the same boat?

peonyflower,you have my sympathy.I didn't marry a farmer,but all of my family are farmers and most of my friends.We are thankfully finished now,but the farm opposite is still bringing wheat in.I could hear grain dryers going all Saturday night.Our neighbours are trying to get a second crop of hay in,we left ours to rot in the field,it was so poor it wasn't worth the diesel to mow it ect.

Hang on in there.

Combine latest - the fuel pump or something has gone wrong so the crop is still unharvested and it is impossible to get a shot of another combine because everyone else is harvesting just now.
And why do the reps come when dhs are stuck under a piece of machinery? We never see them for months then loads came to try and flog us their wares. I was sent to fend them off. They were all complaining about the prices the grain was going for and hanging about for ages. Hmmf.

At this rate we will be sent to take a scythe to it or something plus there was a little bit of rain last night.

Peony - have you managed to gather your crop in?
How is your dh (and you too)? Is he still harvesting?

It makes me so sad to read this thread, as farmer's make such a vital contribution to this country in so many ways.

What can we, the public, do to improve the situation, if anything? Is there anything else apart from buying British where possible, asking for British produce if it's not stocked, and being prepared to pay reasonable prices for a quality product?

Thank you Bramshott.To hear that means a lot.I'm not involved directly in farming much anymore,but do grow veg & plants for sale on the family farm.One of the ways anyone can help is to buy directly from the farm gate,or farmers market if possible.If not,like you suggested,asking the supermarkets to stock local & British products.

Not married to a farmer but really sad to hear what is happenig to you. I try and buy local/British produce and meat. Didn't know I could buy from farm gates. Will look into doing that.

Have been moaning about rubbish summer, but hadn't thought that hard about how it was affecting farmers. Hope things improve for you all.

another horsey lady here surrounded by farmers. Its heartbreaking so you all have my upmost sympathy.
They have been combineing late into the night here (NE) whilst the weather has been fine.
I wish more people would buy british and from farm shops etc and not imported meat.
I thought the beef prices had risen btw- we have some cows to sell and was thinking of sending them to mart soon.

We got the combine going!!! The first field has been done and when dh came in with the first load of barley, he looked like a different person (He jumped out of the tractor and gave me a huge hug)

Fingers crossed for tomorrow but we will be starting early and finishing late.

It is wonderful to feel the love from all of you and thank you for all your support.

I just want to add that Tesco built five mega slaughter houses in South America and it is my belief that they are possibly responsible for the glut of inferior meat that is coming into this country.
The really yucky stuff that is left over goes into meat pies, burgers, currys etc and they rarely state where the meat source originated.

If we bought locally and boycotted the big supermarkets for meat then the consumer would dictate who they wanted as suppliers and not the other way round.

Yes, we are getting more corn in. It's still slow going and we've got an electrical problem with the elevator in the grain store. Of course...
Anyway - DH seems much happier that things are going in the right direction and have decided not to plant total farm for next year so we may save some input costs. We'll see how dry the land is and do as much as we can. Think this will take a few years to catch up on though.

Totally agree on buying British and think this is a really good place to spread the word. I try and sell from the farm gate and it is amazing to hear the reaction of people to the quality of our produce. Plus they find the prices good.

We all need to eat better, be more responsible and I certainly don't want to eat a miserable burger that has flown half way round the world to get to the shelf!!

Gentleotter,I can believe this about Tescos.Our local cattlemarket says they are the worst of the bunch into dictating what they will & won't accept.Apparently,if you have to use a supermarket,Morrisons are the ones who give the farmers/growers the best deal.Most of their meat is British.One of the reasons I stopped shopping in the CO OP was that they only stocked Danish Bacon-you'd think a company which likes to trumpet its 'green credentials' would be promoting local food,wouldn't you?[hmmm].

Anyway,glad to hear that things are improving for all of you struggling to finish harvesting.

Hello - we are still plodding on and we should be finished by tonight. It has been hard going and rain yesterday plus a burst oil pipe on the bailer stopped us.

I've seen others with their funky combines and got quite wistful as ours is a 1974 model and only does a little cut.

Truthfully, it has been nightmarish as dh, my eldest son and I have had to juggle looking after the children while we each take turns to cut, collect the grain or bail. DH and our son worked till well after midnight on Friday but started to get stuck in the boggy part of the field.

I'm off to make our 'pieces' and flasks then hopefully the sun will have dried the straw enough to bale.
My body aches and I'm looking forward to a big fat soak in Radox tonight.

Hi ladies ... Gosh this makes hard reading!

DH is a herdsman on an organic dairy farm in Leicestershire.
We have a contractor to do the wheat and barley. It used to be a mixed farm but, since going organic, the cows need so much more space for grazing so the arable got pushed out. This means that the contractor has us low on his list of priorities ... which in turn meant he came to combine back in August. DH's boss was on holiday and DH pulled 3 20-hour days in a row to get the stuff in but it was in before the weather turned ... all his boss could say when he got back was 'Oh, I think you got it in too early. It would have been better to wait a fortnight!'
DH is just glad that it's in because otherwise it'd still be standing now and then they have no food or bedding for the cows this winter!

I agree about buying local, the big supermarkets have a lot to answer for! Tho I heard that Asda are putting a lot of money into British farming ... might be the start of something better...?

Good luck with the rest of the harvest everyone

I think Asda and Morrison are trying but it tends to be the more expensive stuff (Asda put a photo of the farmer on the packet!)

Marks & Spencer sell British mostly but are really expensive and I have heard that they can put pressure on the smaller farmers/bakers etc, sometimes putting them out of business.

We don't have Waitrose or Sainsbury up here so I have no idea where their meat source is from.

I would ask if as many people as possible just try for one week to buy from their local butcher and see the difference in taste and price. Butchers will tell you some nifty recipes, how to cook the meat and how you can get the best from cheaper cuts. Soup made with meat goes a long way too.

Right, that's me called to do my share outside! I will probably fall out of the tractor sideways in a few hours and be walking like John Wayne for a while. AND there is only a four track of 'The Best of Charlie Pride' to listen to. None of this CD malarkey.

Hugs from GentleOtter

Can I whinge a bit and mooch for sympathy? Drama happened!

We finally got the grain in. I have been on bailing duties but the last field was so rough (huge mole hills and ruts) that I cracked two ribs when I hit a massive bump, smacked my head off the roof of the tractor and was flung around like a rag doll.
We never knew the ribs were damaged until today so I'm faffing about with a hot water bottle and strong pain killers.

There are still several acres left to bale but it is raining again. Dh is off being busy and so much happier that the grain is in.

Gentleotter,

Hope you are ok, its a nightmare isn't it.. DH has got the past caring stage. We've come to the conclusion that it will getting on xmas by the time he finishes. Combines still breaking down, it's unbelievable. Take careX Hope peonyflower is ok too.