Oakley Farms

Harvest Log Day 8 Another smash and grab last night from a drying day after the storm. Still at Kingstone, started in two smaller fields and then moved into South Field giving us a bigger field to finish in as it got dark. A more settled forecast this week so should get something done. 3 fields in a smaller block nextdoor to start in tomorrow morning and then up the road is 110 acres at Moolham

Farm update and Harvest Log Day 7 A wet week had prevented any harvesting which is frustrating to say the least. But it has allowed us to finish topping down rape stubbles and also put the vintage chisel plough on the Cat and rip up all the horrible tramlines from a wet spring. We took the side knives off the header and put the dividers back on for Wheat, had a repair to do on our top cattle grid which acts as a sediment trap so that was taken out and welded up. With more of our modern machinery having Ad Blue, it was beginning to be quite a bind filling up everything from an ICB tank so Simon has bought a purpose built tank and pump unit to sit alongside the diesel tank which should make this a lot quicker and easier for everyone. We did manage to have a nibble into some Wheat on Friday evening up at Kingstone. Cleared two fields, Church field and Green close. This block is destined for OSR and with the contractor not able to get to us before the storm the next morning we chopped the straw. One thing we can’t have is wet rows of straw hanging around when we have rape to drill. It’s all good though as Dan from Three Oaks Farm Contracting is available from next week which will be Fantastic!

Harvest Log Day 6 All best laid plans and all that, in the yard early this morning, blow the combine down and service up, hook the header up behind the combine and head off up the A303 to Bondip, all dual carriageway pretty much, only about halfway there there’s a downpour! So off for breakfast it was. We did get going at lunchtime thankfully and have just finished Bondip East block which completes the rape harvesting this year. Today we have had both our Deeres on hauling along with local help John in his Claas who helps us out regularly. We still have wheat and beans to harvest up here but its heavy ground and crops tend to be a bit further behind than back home, plus we need at least 4 trailers to haul wheat back from here and our hire tractor isn’t due for another 10 days so it’s back home we go tomorrow morning with the combine and try some wheat.

Harvest Log Day 5 Back after the best day so far this year, 130 acres harvested today in probably my favourite block of fields up at Blackdown. 5 fields all link together, no header changes, high up above the town of Ilminster with views for miles. It was wet and needs drying but it’s a case of having to now with the forecast as it is, wheat ready and the quality is only going to go down. Back in the yard tonight, then the last lot of rape to cut tomorrow hopefully, 20 miles up the road at Bondip. 3 trailers tomorrow to haul

Looks to me like you need a bigger baler Smithy!! That’s some straw there, what combine is it?

Same here Smithy, 15mm from 3pm yesterday until this morning. How’s the yields?

Harvest Log Day 4 Grabbed a few hours yesterday before rained off yet again, at least thats the last two fields at Ilford Bridges done. 2 blocks of rape left, Blackdown and Bondip East, probably head to Blackdown next as that’s being bashed about a little by the weather as it’s high up on the hill.

Harvest Log Day 3 Got going again today at lunchtime after some sun made an appearance! Finished Selvinge block with River Ground and Selving Humpy before moving into the nextdoor block we call Ilford Bridges, taking off 7.5 hectares in Pump house before calling it a night.

No combining yesterday (Monday) as too wet, worked out quite well as we had GPS Geoff booked on from Hunt Forest Group to fit Starfire to some machines. Simon has decided to come away from Trimble because of reliability issues, he spec’ed the new Deeres with Starfire and decided to roll it out on the Cat, Combine and Sprayer, so a wet day well spent fitting and setting up. Since Hunts are the dealers for Bailey trailers we felt we needed to upgrade the farm bowser, used mainly for the 500 acre block of land 20 miles away at Bondip but also now farming Joes down the road too it future proofs fuel logistics. Geoff bought it along with him since he was coming up. Tom spent the day putting the toppers to use knocking down rape stubble at Selvinge and Colin dugthe old Chisel plough out of the nettles, see if we can get it up and running.

I lied…. Grabbed 35 acres from 4pm until rained off. With a nice breeze and a little sun most of the day we took a chance and took Selvinge Paddock and Brick yard off.

No combining here this weekend as it was wet and windy all day yesterday, so here’s what also happened at the end of last week. Simon bought a new welder for the workshop which was put straight to use by Ryan from up the road, welding a new towing eye on one of the older grain trailers, we like to use a coded welder for important jobs like this hence asking Ryan. Alan returned from the Cotswolds with our new purchase! A 2011 Cat Challenger MT765C. This replaces the Claas and becomes the new prime mover. A bit less horsepower but we are moving less soil nowadays. Ideally we would of liked an 8rx but were unable to strike up a deal, the price didn’t stack up, especially with the purchases over late and with one or two machines still to come this year, second hand horsepower for a couple years is the option at the moment. It came from a farm in Moreton on Marsh so on the way back Alan picked up a precast concrete slatted panel from Hopkins Concrete. Will install it as a wash bay sometime. He then picked up his digger as a return load home to Wales for a couple of weeks.

Harvest Log Day 1 Starting with winter Oilseed Rape down at Selvinge, a bit of a mess around day really, firstly had Paul out with us from Claas Western to help us set up and calibrate the GPS, so we lost a couple hours there but is to be expected. Then putting a trailer load over a weighbridge up the road so we could calibrate the yield monitor. Starting in Woolpits and a header change into nextdoor, West Field. We stopped at 2 for a couple hours to attend a funeral and then back cutting again at 4. Rounding off in some small fields will call it a day about midnight. Just under 70 acres today but it’s a start. A weekend of rain ahead.

Harvest 23 starts at Oakley Farms. Stay tuned for day one and the return of Harvest Log

Haha yes I have!! Too big here for Somerset! Would love a 1230 Convio though please Marge……!

The adventures of the last week involved going off to pick up the combine header, PDI can now be completed. We welcome the newest member of the squad, Tom. Tom has joined us to take the place of Colin who is retiring, his main roles will be sprayer driver, drilling rape, secondary cultivations and grain carting. Having a dedicated spray operator should help with the bottleneck in the spring when drilling. Tom spent the day on Monday with a tour of the farm and then getting used to the sprayer with some water. Tuesday I put the hedge cutter on to start opening up gateways and verges ready for harvest. Tom also started spraying off some rape and Pod Stik, the only spray day this week by the looks of it. We have bought an ex demo set of Spearhead flail toppers with the increased area of cover crops we are putting that need cutting in the spring ahead of drilling. They will also come in for knocking down rape stubble. Alan has finished levelling off the area to park some trailers on above the grainstore, he can now take the digger back after one more job for us. We discovered one of our original grain trailers amongst the brambles as well as an old chisel plough. Pulled the trailer out and put in the workshop as might come in handy for scrap metal or wheat screenings from the dryer. Claas Western came out in Friday and finished the PDI, afterwards we put the side knives on ready for the off into rape. Colin bought back some pallet racking that Simon bought in an auction, thought it would come in handy for storing parts/wheels on etc. Claas came to pick up the beloved Challenger which was a sad sight to see it leave the yard. Tom managed to get back out on the sprayer Sunday to spray off some more rape to see the week out.

June/July With harvest approaching the team on the farm has been busy sorting a few jobs out around the yard. The grainstore has been washed out and an insecticide sprayed to clear any mites etc. Grain trailers are having the once over one by one, the two newer ones don’t need much but the old ones need a bit if attention including a new towing eye. The decision has come to now upgrade the Claas 85e crawler, she has been great but is aging so something more modern is on the horizon, I have started to strip the cab out ready as she is sold. The new combine has now had its PDI, just waiting to pick the header up from Claas Western at Dorchester and we will be ready! Alan has done a grand job of the new track and also levelled some stone for the trailer parking area up behind the grainstore. We used one of the older grain trailers to haul it up to him.

Here is the proposed track into the back of the farm marked in red. Access can be gained already from a lane to the east the farm, there is already a bit of a track around the outside of the first field but would need levelling, it then changes to soil across the next two fields before dropping steeply down into the back of the farm. The plan is to stone up from the back of the farm, up the hill and stop where you turn 90 degrees along the top (this bit will be done next year) which is level and then joins the existing track which is L shaped. Doing the steep part first will help stop soil washing into the back of the farm which is why we have the cattle grid that acts as a storm drain and sediment trap. If we get this done it will make grain carting quicker from the north of the farm, cutting a big corner of travelling out, and allowing easier access to the blocks of land at Kingstone and Moolham.

May update Since the last update we managed to get all the remaining spring crops drilled, including beans and spring wheat. All crops have received all their fertiliser now, T1 & T2 is done on the wheats and the sprayer can now have a wash and some tlc, it’s been wet underfoot most of the spring and the tramlines ain’t pretty! Will have to do some remedial work after harvest. We have hired a 14t slew which Alan fetched for us and is kindly driving. He has been un covering an old yard at the back of the grainstore that was overgrown, the plan is to reclaim it, stone it up and create a bit more storage space. We are also making a new farm track that can be used as an entrance from the back, but it’s a long old way do probably stone up half this year and half next. We have also had a few new deliveries, the new combine arrived on the bank holiday, thanks to Claas Western for coming out to help unload it, now awaiting a pdi. The two new Deeres also arrived, the 6195r is now replaced with a 6r 215, and the 6155r with a 6r155. We haven’t had much chance to do a great deal with them yet but smart looking tractors. Finally on a sad note, Colin will be retiring in September, so an advert has been placed for a new member of the team, hopefully to start before harvest and transition whilst Colin is still about, when a slight restructuring in the Autumn.

A long overdue update, March was mainly a washout with days out on the land few and far between. We did manage to get 80 percent of the spring beans drilled before the weather broke, with about 120 acres left but it’s getting plenty late enough now, fingers crossed we can stitch them in this week. After that we have some spring wheat and triticale to drill. All the first does of Nitrogen has been applied to wheat, OSR has had its 2nd dose and a fungicide. Now working through T0 on the wheats over the Easter weekend. A couple of new things happening, planning permission has been granted to convert the roof space above the office into accommodation, mainly for harvest and seasonal workers. Alan also fetched a second hand Vaderstad Topdown from Cambridge Farm Machinery, felt we were a little lacking the in cultivation area so this should give us more flexibility.

In the last couple of weeks we have gently been getting out on the ground. Using the frost to make a start on moving some ground down at Yeabridge, soon had to give up as it thawed out but were able to carry on and finish last week as it dried up. John has been making great progress working around the fields destined for Spring Beans cutting the hedges. We have had the sprayer out to spray off some ground ready for spring too. The drill has been moved into the workshop for a few jobs and a load of Sulphur has also been delivered and put undercover. This will be put on the rape around the end of this month. The plan for the week ahead is to get the fert spinner in the workshop for a once over, no wheat or beans out this week, I think we will spray off some cover crops and look at starting to top them, however we are still tractorless at the moment! We have been assured that the new ones aren’t far away!

January Update At the start of this month we have made some good progress with winter maintenance, the cultivation equipment is pretty much done and the Challenger, next up is to go through the drill so its ready for Spring drilling. Last week we had 4 loads of Spring beans go which has made a good hole in the heap, this week we have 9 loads of Wheat going and the same again next week on two different contracts, this will make some room in the shed. John has been back to put the trimmer back on and make some use of these frosts to cut the field hedges ahead of spring cropping. Two loads of scalpings have also been tipped in the yard ready to extend out the back of the grainstore.

Just one last job to do….Merry Christmas everyone 🎄

December Update Quieter time on the farm now as we head towards Christmas, John has made great progress with the hedge trimming on his Claas as we are still a tractor down whilst waiting for the dealer to sort something out. All the roads around the farm are now nice and tidy and during the recent frosty weather made a start on the fields destined for Spring Beans. He still has Bondip roads to do when it comes back in wet which it inevitably will! December contracts for wheat and bean movements are now finished so the handler can take a well earned rest. We have the bulk of our grain going in January and February. We have started some winter maintenance on machinery now, the first machine to receive some tlc is old Bessie, her 20th year this coming season! Simon has been busy negotiating land over the last couple of months, successfully taking back 66 acres out of a long term tenant and also signing a contract farming agreement for 3 years for Joe down at Yeabridge Farm, long term listeners will recognise that name from years gone by! He has just shy of 200 acres which we have been down and sprayed off, now looking at spring cropping options for 2023 to fit into our rotation for 2024.

Got it in one! Although have never liked the spout design until now

There’s a combine shaped hole on the farm now. It was kept a secret but the machine we had last year was actually a development machine from Claas, one from each model was run for a season and then will be sent back to Germany and stripped apart for analysis, wear, problems etc. This all helps to to make constant changes and iron out anything for future models. Also having asked for our feedback too, something we suggested was a change of design for the end of the unloading auger as it came out in a wide pattern, fine for a chaser bin but not for trailers, especially with the speed. Look forward to our actual machine arriving next year. The John Deere 6195r is still having engine trouble which Deere can’t get to the bottom of, Simon has lost his patience and decided to go through the dealer so things are covered by warranty in the future, so it looks as if it won’t be coming back. The dealer has been very helpful and also keen to get the farm back after running Fendt for 7 years. An attractive package has been put together to start from fresh with warranty and servicing, something Simon likes as he now knows his costs and can budget for, we all learn from our mistakes. November wheat contract is going well, another 9 loads out this week which is making a hole in the store now.