Oakley Farms

Certainly right there, what's left is very poor, dull and damp, it's depressing, even the spring beans are taking longer to ripen. We have been lucky with baling so far, made a mess up at Yarlington but that's now cultivated, we do have 200 acres on the floor though. Still it's pitched off a bit today so going drilling cover crops, need to keep the drill going now or OSR is going to be late!

Thanks Dave

Harvest Log Day 16 & 17 Saturday and Sunday have been 2 half days harvesting, we got going about 3/4pm on Saturday and stayed out until 11pm to finish off Atherstone. First thing this morning we moved up to Bondip and made a start before once again the heavens opened. We have given up on laying straw down now that Knott Oak Dairy, Simon Madge and Orchard have had there allocations and with 200 acres wet on the floor to try and dry enough is enough so chopping the lot. We have roughly 800 acres of wheat left split between 2 blocks and then 1000 acres of spring beans. We had Claas out today to change over the tank lid valve which has been playing up-probably due to excessive opening and closing with all the storms of rain! Ross has moped up the last of the winter barley in store 2B down to ABN and this weeks job is to return Reylands barley back after drying as well as hauling field grain if we cut any. On the farm front we have 2 days of Topdown left at Yarlington and starting to drill cover crops tomorrow. Mark is going to top the first lot of spuds tomorrow but has discovered a problem with his front hub, Redlynch will be out tomorrow to look at the seal. Midweek we may have a crack at digging some Shepody, not quite sure how we are going to do this as the harvester driver is also the chaser bin driver!

A nice quiet day today, just what everyone needed after rain overnight again. A day of servicing combines and chaser bin, we have been loading and hauling some of our own straw from Parsonage down to Knott Oak Dairy. Blight spraying continues every week as normal, it's looking like the Shepody could be ready for digging next week and today we have burnt off the first 80 acres of maincrop. In the background Webby has been working his way around the winter barley stubbles hedgecutting ahead of OSR. Hope to get out and cultivate Yarlington tomorrow. Duncan has been hauling in some spring barley from Chris Reyland up the road for drying, this will be delivered back next week and the other 2 trucks have been outloading OSR

Thanks chaps, it's been a vision for quite awhile so it's great to see it made, really pleased with them and how they fit in on the farm, ever better they were made by chap from the forum

Today has seen the start of an exciting new venture. Oakley Farms Grain Logistics We welcome 3 new members of staff, Steve Marsh (Transport Manager) Ross McKinley and Duncan Farrant. They will be driving 3 new Daf CF's, 500hp with rear tag axles, fresh from Taunton Dad. We have invested in 2 Fruehauf smooth sided bulk trailers and 1 Fruehauf ribbed bulker. All trailers are TASCC registered allowing movement of grain from farm to mill. During the winter the ribbed trailer will be taken off the scheme so to haul compost etc, then before harvest re sanitised and re registered. The trucks will also come in for hauling maize from the maus for bio gas. The bread and butter for these trucks is a good contract via Frontier (our grain marketing partner) to supply barley, wheat and rape into ABN mills at Uffculme and Cullumpton, occasionally Enstone. Other work will be via Wessex grain and Lloyds of Langport, including our own harvest work from our combines and collection of grain from local farms for drying, storage and marketing to end user, now offering the full package from seed to agronomy, harvest, drying, storage, marketing and haulage. Tomorrow Steve will use his truck and trailer to join us harvesting, this is where we will see full benefit from our chaser bin whilst Ross and Dunc will travel up to Newton Trailers to pick up the other 2 and bring back. This is really going to free up staff and cut the usage of part time harvest help as well as cutting the amount of tractors and trailers on the road. Many benefits

Harvest Log Day 15 14:00 start today after last nights rain, we have moved over to Ashill to Tony House's farm for 118 acres, relatively small fields over here with header changes. Tomorrow will go next door to Parsonage for 70 acres the family own then back to Knott Oak for that 52 acres. That's almost half way through the wheat now and the heap is beginning to mount up but there is 300t missing still in wet bins which we are slowly working through. A little of the OSR has gone out and A lot of the winter barley has been shifted on August contracts which is good and making room for the spring beans. A settled forecast ahead so all hands to the pump!

Harvest Log Day 14 Not a great deal to report today other than more done than expected, started off clearing up an odd 12 acre field at the bottom of Whitelackington and the moved up to Blackdown right up above Ilminster. We finished up there just after 7 and blew the combines down, bit of a discussion whether to move down to knott oak dairy for 52 acres this was turned down as it was getting damp and the straw is being used for the dairy. Caught up with Orchard today, balers were right in behind us again today and the chaser too as we always have trouble with kids up there and cutting bales so most is chased into stacks out the way, Clarkes is baled and stacked and started to move Yarlington but that is wet, cultivation needed before OSR up there unfortunately. The heavens have just opened again now tonight! Sprayed off OSR stubbles today ahead of cover crops and have a block up at Camelot to spray off tomorrow then may get the subsoiler going again through bale stacks or start repairing Yarlington if its catchy and the combines can't go.

It is an app yes, called HarvestYield, it's quite good and pretty accurate too.

The Park

Harvest Log Days 12 & 13 Saturday saw us drop into Clarkes at Downhead to mop up 212 acres of wheat for them there since it was on our way back towards home, spent the day there with everything going well. We have decided to leave Camelot East until later when we return back up this way to do Bondip so Saturday night we tracked everything back to the yard. Today has been our best day yet this year, a massive 238 acres cleared the whole of The Park, which is our own land. We are into the variety Skyfall now which is yielding well but a very poor sample which you can see from a picture below is growing out so milling is out the question, the woes of a wet harvest. It was all hands to the pump today with even the balers keeping right up behind with possible rain forecast tomorrow, everything cleared and stacked which is a lovely feeling. I need to catch up with how progress has gone on the baling front up at Yarlington which is wet and Clarkes too. If nothing of the rain comes we will go up on top the hill and grab Blackdown before heading west for a few customers. Tomorrow's plan is also to start drilling cover crops as before we know it rape will want to go in.

Harvest Log Day 11 Well not a great deal to report today apart from we managed to get the drier up and running after Perry's of Oakley had a motor on the shelf luckily. The first full day on wheat saw us finish the block at Yarlington which now gives Orchard contractors a sensible 245 acre block minus the headlands to bale up when dry enough and clear ready for OSR drilling. The current plan was to clear of the wheat ground destined for OSR as the following crop but we have 350 acres next door to Yarlington at Camelot to do which isn't going into rape, Clarkes a little way down the road on the way home to do and also we have to clear the wheat in The Park also not for OSR as we have Yesterdays Farming next weekend and that's needed for parking and ploughing match so has to be baled and hauled too, coupled with the weather it's a bit of a headache! We have a back log at the drier tonight after not being able to dry last night we have been behind all day, plus everything is running slower today with 19%. Both wet bins are full so all night tonight for James, I have a feeling a few local farmers will be using this service this year as the month goes on!

Busy times Dave, it sounds like it's all go, thanks for the update

Harvest Log Day 10 A short day but something, made a start again about 4pm, it's too wet but we've got to grab what we can when we can, unfortunately we have now paid for it with the intake elevator motor burnt out, no surprise when it's coming in at 21-22%. We are still up at North Cadbury, in around Northtown farm, chopping headlands and lying straw on the straight work, bit of a mess and it's plenty wet enough under foot. Hope to go again tomorrow with a full day and fingers crossed it will come down below 20%

Well with all this wet weather about we had chance to stick the drill back together, we had to go to Horsch and see about a new tank as the mounted loading auger made the last one become out of shape and the lids then wouldn't seal making the drill lose pressure, this has now been sorted and the new upgrade arrived today so Phil and Chris fit this to the old rear end. The rest of the staff have been removing irrigation pipes and reels from the spud fields as i don't we'll be needing them again!

I don't know about you chaps but it's beginning to get a little worrying now, losing quality rapidly now and colour.

No harvesting action going on here at the moment but we have an exciting announcement to make next week involving 3 new members of staff.

Harvest Log Day 9 A quick one tonight, day cut short by rain at 4:30pm today. A late start for us anyway by the time we had serviced the combines and took the side knives off and removed the in fill plates and got up to North Cadbury it was midday and gone. First bit of wheat back, JB Diego, early results make the yield look promising. Straw was chopped because of useless forecast and we are -83 acres into the wheat harvest, it helped having 60 in one field.

Harvest Log Day 8 Today we have cracked the rapeseed, 233 acres was the last block at Kingstone. Had an elevator slat go through combine 1 and through the chopper, changed the broken blades to keep going but the slat needs doing tomorrow...and into the wheat we go...if the weather holds! Not too sure where first at this point but it could be Bondip. I hope your balers are ready Mr Gillard

Another good update mate, still ahead of us up there! Keep it going!

Good to hear from you Smithy and how you're getting on is always interesting. Have you cut any osr yet and how far off is your wheat do you think? This catchy weather I think has now lost us the early start we had.

Harvest Log Days 6&7 Day 6 was cut short with this catchy weather, rained off again at Selvinge, another 80 acres in the shed though. Yesterday made a change with a whole days harvesting where we managed to finish this block comfortably. Another days rain today dampening down procedures, but things are looking good with 220 acres of rape left and the wheat about ready now, now lets have some sun!

Had some heavy storms now! Beginning to get a little worrying now! Hope the Claas combine is treating you alright

Harvest Log Day 5 Winter Barley successfully completed-glad to see that done, changed the headers over and side knives on and managed to get down to Selvinge and make a start on DK Extrovert, yields looking very promising for a dry year, spot yield at 4.6t/ha! Had a mishap with Chris's header during transport, a good response from Vaughan Agri saw us up and running in half an hour but further repairs needed tomorrow so header back to the yard tonight. Now rained off but got 30 acres off the first 40 acre field. Looking like Orchard managed to finish baling the barley up and the chaser working hard to stack everything up. An unsettled weekend ahead so planning on pulling the sub soiler through places where the Maus loaded wholecrop and if we get there start the winter barley bale stacks, Phil is still keeping the Topdown going through wholecrop stubbles. Catch up with you all next week!

Harvest Log Day 4 A chewy start today to finish off the remaining 180 acres at Wigborough leaving the drier struggling to keep up all day....we will be drying through the night! 7pm tonight we moved back opposite the main yard in The Meads, originally looking at the forecast with rain coming in the early hours we were going to cut through the night to finish not only this 90 acre block but the winter barley too, another look at 10pm now says nothing until 3pm tomorrow so we decided to wrap up for the night and take the pressure off the drier, easily finish off the last 50 acres tomorrow and then whilst it's raining clear up and put the side knives and plates on the headers for osr. With any luck we can track down to Selvinge and play about with some black seeds. A nice heap of barley in store 2B now and a rather full yard tonight!