A good year, but not the greatest. While the rest of the country was enjoying the biggest harvest ever, our yields were slightly down on last year's record. It is a sobering thought that the average (repeat, average) wheat yield in the United Kingdom last harvest was 60cwt per acre (7.5 tonnes/ha). As recently as seven years ago at Thriplow we were pretty excited if a single field yielded this amount.

But we certainly have nothing to complain about. On the contrary. It was this realisation of our own good fortune which helped make the SEND A TONNE TO AFRICA campaign so successful. The farming industry, which is so often depicted as being mean and narrow-minded, raised 10,000 tonnes of wheat for the starving people of Africa. I t was particularly good that the livestock areas of Wales and the North - which grow very little wheat - were so generous. One million pounds has been raised in six months, and already 7000 tonnes of wheat have been shipped from this country.

CEREALS  (1600 acres)

The reason our yields were down on last yearís is largely due to the fact that we were growing more third wheats than before. The success of the harvest was undoubtedly the Brock which, at 85cwt an acre, broke our record for a single field. well. Brimstone, which is an excellent variety, never really had a chance. A combination of a very low seed rate and severe rabbit damage meant that 15 acres had to be ploughed up this spring. Galahad was another wheat which did  exceptionally well, and it was surprising that the seed trade took so little in the autumn. Among the barleys, Halcyon again did well and looks as if it will definitely tale the place of Otter. Panda was a bit disappointing after last year s amazing perf ormance. It suffered badly from Loose Smut even when the seed had been treated with Baytan. Tipper has never quite made the grade with the maltsters, though the yield continues; to be good. Next year we shall no longer be growing Norman, Igri and Tipper - all of which have done well in their day.

Our experiment with Durum wheat was a failure. The yield of 30cwt per acre (3.7 tonnes/ha) meant that we made a substantial loss - even, with the seed premium. But we shall persevere this year and have drilled the crop six weeks later than we did last year.

We stopped burning straw completely this harvest. In spite of all our fears, we managed to chop and incorporate the straw without any difficulties at all. With choppers fitted to the combines, two new ploughs with high clearance, trashboards and furrow presses, we did not need any of the fancy machines which are advertised so widely. Our land is, of course, light and therefore easy to work. What effect straw incorporation will have on futu re yields will become clear over the next few years.

HERBAGE SEED

A good year. The Mantilla we were growing for the first time produced 14cwt an acre after drying and cleaning. Contender, a late perennial, will not do so well and looks as if it will give nearer 7cwt per acre. The thrashed straw was the best quality we have ever known, looking like reasonable hay when we baled it. This was all treated with ammonia and should provide the sheep with some excellent feed this winter. Next year w e shall be growing Rathlin for NSDO as well as second year Mantilla.

OILSEED RAPE

A good year, marred only by bad pigeon damage and the fact that the crop was sold far too early - hitting the bottom of the market at £255 per tonne. However, a yield of 27 cwt per acre (3.3 tonnes/ha) went some way to compensate for this mistake. Next year we shall once again be growing rape for seed. The variety is Mikado which is the first to be bred in this country by the Plant Breeding Institute.

PEAS

The best year we have ever had. An average yield 2 tonnes per acre was the sort of thing we have only dreamed about. The economic results are still uncertain because the crop was grown on an open seed contract and we have yet to fix a price. But clearly conditions were perfect for peas. We shall just hope that they repeat themselves this year when we shall be growing some Filby leafless peas for NSDO. The balance will be Progreta.

SUGAR BEET

Six  weeks  after we dr illed the beet we realised that there  was not going to be a crop worth the name.  Plant emergence  averaged no  more than 28% What caused this problem remains  unclear.  The chemical  people blamed the fertiliser (urea) and ADAS thought it was a combination of Yaltox and Goltx.  But there was never  any proof.  So we re-drilled the whole crop in the second week of May and  sat  back to see how much yield we lost.  The yield  was&n bsp; 13 tonnes  per acre (33 tonnes/ha).  This would have improved if  we had  been less keen to lift all the beet by the end of October to get  a good entry for cereals.  Next year we shall  increase  the crop to about 235  acres.

SHEEP

Last year was crunch time for the livestock at  Thriplow.  Either herd would  have  to  go.  A  quick sheep made a lot more  sense  - and So we increased the flock fro m  450 now have two flocks,  the first 450 the second 600 in mid-March.  Unlike ~o the permanent paddocks, the sheep the  sheep  or  the  suckler calculation  showed  that the quite  a bit more money too. ewes  to 1150.  This means we will lamb in-mid January and the cattle,  which were tied  can  move  round  the  farm and make  use  of  the  herbage  seed aftermaths  and the two y ear leys.  Even if the EEC Sheep  Regime becomes less favourable (as it certainly will), we should be able to  make money if our lambing average is 1.5 and we get them away reasonably fast. This year we failed on the latter point.

The  Charollais flock continues to grow. We sold some animals at  the Banbury Sale and now have the foundation for a good  pedigree unit.

CATTLE

For the reasons above, the herd was reduced from 90 to 10 suckler cows.  We k ept some of our best Charolais heifers to make use  of the few paddocks around the farm.

MACHINERY

The number of John Deere tractors continues to increase.  We sold four  Schluters  and  bought three 2140s and  a  4850.  This  latter machine,  with its 215 hp,  is easily the biggest tractor we have ever had.  It is used for all the various soil preparations which are  inevitable as part of a non straw-burning  regime.&nb sp; We  also bought two 6 furrow Dowdeswell ploughs, complete with trashboards and  furrow presses.  After many years of using a Contractor,  we purchased  a Cousins subsoiler.  The IH 1480 axial flow  combine was  sold  after four less-than-successful years,  and  has  been replaced by a Claas Dominator 106 (making a total of three).  The Dominator  116CS  has  also been replaced by  a  new  model.  Bu t perhaps the most significant new machine was the 12 metre  Horsch Accord  drill.  This  has speeded up drilling by enabling  us  to cover 50 acres at a single fill. It also ensures that there  are no  mistakes  in  the 24 metre  tramlines.  Other  new  equipment included another Land Rover and a Blench Dutch Harrow.

THE FUTURE

The  Partyís over.  Of that there can be no doubt.  The price  of wheat f ell by another 20% this year. Next year it could well fall by another 10% to be worth around £92 per tonne off the  combine. This  will be the biggest significant change we shall see in  the near  future.  Its effect will be that we make small profits  and not big ones.

It  is  one thing guessing about the future,  but  quite  another knowing  what  to  do  about it.  We have very  little  room  for manoeuvre  because  we  are inextricably locked  into  an  arable system.  In common with all other farmers,  we are always on  the look  out  for  alternative crops,  but the  lupins  and  evening primrose which are exciting some people, leave us unmoved.

When  it comes to cereals we shall try and keep in the  forefront of  new developments.  Thus it is particularly exciting to report that&nb sp; we  shall be growing 8 acres of Hybrid Wheat next  year  as part of our relationship with Rothwell Plant Breeders. Whether or not hybrids will ever make commercial sense remains to be seen. The  seed  will  clearly  cost a  great  deal  more  than  normal varieties,  but it looks as if an increase of yield around 15% is very possible. At a time when this country has 10 million tonnes of surplus cereals, it is hard to see how figures like this will make sense. But no farmer can afford to reduce his yields, unless at the same time he reduces his costs.  It is to investigate this question  that we shall be working with Friends of the Earth  this year. We shall take a single field and see what happens if we reduce our inputs drastically over the next five years. By looking  at Hybrids and Low Input at the same time,  we ought  at least  to  be prepared for any eventuality.  It  shoul d  also  be interesting.
 
The  easiest and most painless way of reducing costs is simply by spending less.  The Chancellor has now reduced the tax allowances on new machinery from 100% to 75%, and this will fall to 50% next year.  This fact,  together with lower profits,  will  inevitably mean that we buy less machinery and erect fewer buildings than we have done in the past. It is lucky that we are so well (some might say over) equipped.

I  wrote the first of these annual reports in December  1974.  It ended  with the words "After two good years   the outlook is  not very  encouraging unless corn prices continue to rise rapidly  in step  with other costs,  and this does not seem likely.  To  give some  idea  of  the problem,  a new Ford 5000 tractor  now  costs  £3500. Thus we have to assume that next year will not be a comfortabl e one.î

With hindsight (never a difficult commodity to obtain), it is now clear that I was writing at the dawn of the great arable boom. Corn prices did in fact rise faster than other costs. Hence our propserity over the past decade. I hope I am as wrong about the next decade as I was about the last.
 

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