Richard Fonge writes:

Harvest is now finished, some three weeks earlier than in the average year. A question asked of me recently was what happens to the stems of the corn. The straw as it is known is used to bed the livestock in their winter housing. It then becomes manure which is then returned to the land as an organic material. You will have seen the corn fields around Sulgrave that some have had the straw baled for that reason whilst in others the straw has been chopped by the combine, leaving the residue to be incorporated back into the soil. This is vital for the soil structure. In the fields up the concrete road beyond the bridge and indeed around the area, you may have noticed large heaps of a black material, which is spread after harvest and incorporated into the soil. This is sludge waste from the sewerage works. The sludge and soil are both tested to make sure they are beneficial to the soil and the following crop.

The straw from the linseed is of a high calorific value and can be burnt in burners for central heating. This brings me to the use of crops for alternative energy. As you leave Sulgrave towards the Magpie junction there is a field of maize. Likewise if you take the footpath to Stuchbury, when you get to the parish boundary, it is maize again across a wide area. When harvested later this autumn it will be stored for use in anaerobic digesters, providing electrical power. Most crops have to be rotated but with maize you can grow it continuously without any agronomic failure.

Finally the livestock with the drought we have had, have had to have some supplementary feeding. But the recent rains and shorter days should encourage grass growth. Meaning better Autumn grazing and the sound of law mowers once again.

Richard Fonge

More harvest time photos by Graham Roberts

See Richard’s previous agricultural notes:

October 2017

November 2017

December 2017

January 2018

February 2018

March 2018

April 2018

May 2018

June 2018

July 2018

 

Richard Fonge writes:

July sees the start of the grain harvest. This year due to our prolonged spell of hot weather, the start of combining the barley and oil seed rape is a good fortnight earlier, with the wheat not far behind. The crops have died off rapidly rather than a slower ripening. It will be interesting to see how the yield and quality have been affected.

As you may have observed all farm machinery is of a great size and power today. Modern technology has replaced labour, so we see an efficient agriculture around us, producing high quality food. An interesting comparison to show the development from sixty years ago. Then a combine had a cutting width of 8ft and harvested 10 acres a day, producing around 15 tonnes of wheat. Today the width of cut is 30ft (and some are up to 40ft). The yield of the wheat is 4 tonnes per acre or thereabouts and the acreage done in a day 80 so harvesting 300 tonnes plus. In 1958 all milling wheat was mainly imported from Canada by the major millers. But by the early eighties we had bred our own varieties and become self sufficient.

The Spring beans up Barrow Hill have now flowered. If you walked through them at the end of last month, you could not help but notice the fantastic scent and the presence and sound of bees working hard.

July is the month when many of the lambs born in the early spring are ready for the butcher. Those remaining are weaned and finished on grass. Their mothers milk has now dried up and the ewes will have a complete rest before meeting up with the rams in the Autumn.

Finally is is sad to see the railway tunnel boarded up due to the unsafety of the brick work and the footpath diverted. The tunnel was built because the railway went through an old green lane that was the main route for horse and cart and people to go eastwards from Sulgrave. The Cluniac monks used it way back in the late 12th century to carry their produce to the Mother Church in Northampton from their church at Stuchbury.

It is so important to remember and respect the history of where one lives.

Richard Fonge

See here for a map of footpaths and bridleways in Sulgrave Parish.

See here for a website report from 2014 detailing the original proposal to divert Bridleway AY4 where it crosses the disused Great Central Railway. The tunnel is now to be permanently closed, with a footpath for pedestrians over the embankment and an option for horse riders to follow the originally proposed diversion to the north.

Richard Fonge writes:

June is the month of the longest day. Also the month when hay was made. This farming practice is now in decline, as most livestock is fed on silage, either from a clamp or wrapped as can be seen up the gated road. Horses are the prime eaters of hay. To make good hay you need at least four days of sunshine from mowing the grass to baling and then into barn for storage. I often hear people romanticising about making hay in years gone by, but believe me it was hard dusty work, and then you had the frustration of rain falling on the day of baling, resulting in an inferior product which had to be dried out again. The grass needs to be wilted and dried a little for silage, to make good winter feed but the task takes only two days at most. By sealing the the grass in a bag or clamp, fermentation takes place, and it is ready to be eaten in six weeks. Silage can be handled mechanically when feeding livestock, whereas stabled horses are fed by hand and a hay bale is easier.

In the field near to the Culworth turn a linseed crop is growing. It has a lovely blue flower. You may notice that sometimes you see it other times not. This is because it only comes out with the sun. The linseed seed is crushed and the oil used in paints and certain woods mainly. It is the same plant as Flax, which was grown widely in the past, mainly for the fibre of its stems. Linen comes from the linseed plant.

See next page for photos of hay being baled by modern machinery and the linseed field. Click on “read the rest of this entry”.

(more…)

Richard Fonge writes:

We are all thankful for the warmer weather after one of the latest wet and cold Springs for many a year. Because of the weather, Spring crops have been sown much later. An example on your walks is the field on Barrow Hill, sown with mustard as you may recall last autumn, now planted with Spring beans. In an average year these would have been planted in mid March, so a good five weeks late. This abnormal lateness has a significant effect on yield.

The Manor field now has cattle in it as do the fields up the gated road, once again a little later than normal due to the wet ground. I often hear people refer to these animals as cows. So here is a brief explanation of the terminology:

A cow is a female producing milk. A heifer a young female. A bull an entire male. A steer a castrated male. Therefore the animals you see in the fields around the village are all steers being reared for beef. These steers vary greatly in colour. This is because they are different breeds. The breed names come from their county or area of origin. To add interest to your walk (and it could be a quiz question at the Star) there are three breeds in the Manor field. The Hereford with its distinctive white face and red body. The South Devon, a light colour and a long somewhat mournful face and the Devon with the rich ruby red coat. The gated road steers are mostly Aberdeen Angus and therefore black in colour. The other thing to notice is that each animal has a yellow ear tag in each ear. All calves (term used to describe the young of both genders) have to be registered by the age of 28 days. The tags denote the country and farm of origin, and a number specific to that animal. Therefore all animals are traceable and are worthless if the tag is lost and not replaced. Sheep are also ear tagged and an extra point of interest concerning them is that the flock on the footpath behind Wemyss farm are the Romney Marsh breed. A breed not often seen in this area. Note the tufted knot of wool on their forehead.

Finally the cuckoo has been heard and our lovely part of England is looking at its best with the various blossoms especially the horse chestnut a particular favourite of mine and the fresh greenness of the foliage.

Richard Fonge.

To see pictures of the animals referred to in Richard’s article, with maps of where they are to be seen, click on “Read the rest of this entry”.

(more…)

Richard Fonge writes:

This has been a late spring, with the wet and cold delaying the planting of Spring crops. They will now be planted a month later than is normal. It has also delayed the application of nitrogen, used to stimulate growth in both corn crops and grassland and therefore production. The cereal crops sown last autumn around the parish now require a fungicide spray. For any crop to fruit it requires the leaf to be kept green so that photosynthesis can take place. A fungicide does just that by keeping the many leaf diseases that attack wheat, barley, oat plants etc at bay. Keeping the leaf free from disease helps to make a bolder grain of corn, of higher quality. Fungicides came on the market in the late 1970s and have greatly increased the yields of all crops, in a safe and positive way, thereby enabling us to feed an ever expanding population. All sprays applied are only done so on the recommendation of an agronomist (plant doctor).

The ewes and lambs have not returned as I write to fields on the footpath to Stuchbury. Instead I noticed a small group of young sheep. I suspect that they are ewe lambs. That is last years lambs who will be bred from next year. The fields from the gated road across to the old railway line are now full of ewes and lambs. They have had a pretty wet time of it but have come through well as their mothers have plenty of milk for them. Lambs are reared on the ewes milk and grass in the main.

Towards the end of April the ground dries up and as the grass grows beef cattle will be returning to the Manor fields and up the gated road. But spring will have truly come when the Swallows arrive. April 10th is the day in a normal year, but we are at least six days behind this year. Sadly the sound of the cuckoo has disappeared from the countryside. Let us hope we hear him again. They usually arrive around the last week of April.

It’s a great time of year to be in the countryside, witnessing all the new life emerging.

Richard Fonge

Richard Fonge writes:

March has come in more like a lion, so let us hope it goes out like a lamb with some true spring weather. Lambs are now being seen in the fields up the gated road and of course they have been born to the ewes we have been following since conception last October in the field on the footpath to Stuchbury. All the ewes are marked with a number to correspond with their lambs,making it easier to match up if they get separated or there is a tragedy.It is so important that we all keep to the Countryside Code and keep our dogs on their leads when walking the footpaths where stock are present. Signs are there for a reason and the landowners wishes should be respected.

This is turning out to be a late spring,with the early March snow followed by a period of wet. This means that there is a delay in the sowing of Spring crops and the winter crops that now require some nitrogen to stimulate growth,especially the Oilseed Rape which is beginning to suffer as the ground is too wet for tractors to get on the land.

All crops need the right nutrients to produce to their optimum. Phosphate and potash for root and general development and nitrogen for growth. These are all applied under the recommendation of an agronomist employed by the individual Farmer and after regular monitoring of the soil, through testing. An interesting development since the demise of heavy industry and therefore cleaner air is that there is a lack of Sulphur for our plants,and this is now applied where necessary in an artificial way. Roses for example need spraying for black spot more frequently than they did when there was a more polluted atmosphere.

It looks therefore that there will be more to report on in April, but one thing is certain,nature invariably balances things out.

Richard Fonge.

Richard Fonge writes:

February the years shortest month, with the first signs of Spring in the offing. February the 2nd is Candelmas a Christian festival and the winter Equinox. That is halfway between the shortest day and the Spring Equinox. There is a very good old country saying, that a good farmer has half his hay to feed his stock on Candelmas day. If we have a late spring, stock can still need supplementary feed till the end of April.

The sheep we saw with the rams in October will be having their lambs at the end of the month at their farm in Greatworth before returning to the same pasture and the mustard up on the field at Barrow Hill, has now died back and will soon be incorporated into the soil.

So much depends on the weather and ground conditions as to when a farmer can get onto the land to start sowing his crops and fertilising, spraying etc at this time of year.

So before we see tractors at work, around the village or stock back again in the pastures, it is worth mentioning the strict production criteria that quite rightly all farmers have to comply with. All farms have to keep a record of all field operations and management decisions relating to each individual field and a movement and medicine record of their animals. If producing for a supermarket, there will be additional compliances to comply with.

The pasture field at the bottom of the bridle way which adjoins the old railway line has slits in the turf at regular intervals. The field has been sub-soiled, that is a means of breaking a pan up by passing a thick tine through the soil at a depth of 15 to 18 inches normally. This helps in drainage and lifts and aerates the soil, so improving the grass.

A comparison to look out for is the different methods of sowing. On the footpath to Stuchbury and as you go to Barrow Hill, these crops have been sown directly into the soil, whereas those up the concrete road have been sown after some cultivation. The other observational point to notice is the straightness of the rows of corn. Whilst the operators of farm machinery are highly skilled, their tractors are today guided by G.P.S., so making a straight line simpler.

Looking forward to spring and the new life it brings.

Richard Fonge

Winter aconites alongside the “gated” (or Moreton) Road.

Richard Fonge writes:

I always feel that January is a month that has very little going for it, especially this year with its many dank days. However there are two visible signs of new life. Hazel catkins are out and the first wild flower the small delicate Aconite can be seen beneath the Horse Chestnut as you leave the village up the gated road, and further up on the right side verge.
As very little happens on the farmland this month, I would like to draw your attention to two landscape features,many centuries apart.
Firstly the tramlines you will see running through the arable fields. They are made by the drill at sowing time. The tractor driver can set the drill to not sow down the relevant spouts at pre determined intervals. Usually every 24 metres, but those on the concrete road fields are at 32 metres. They are used as roadways for later arable operations,which I will write about in future letters.

Three “tramlines” through the fields next to the disused railway

The second feature are the ridge and furrow,still to be found in some grassland around the village,but the best examples in the area can be seen down either side of Blacklocks Hill on the way to Banbury. It was the Anglo Saxons who when they cleared the woodland,to farm the land did so by ploughing the land uphill to form a ridge.Crops grew on that ridge with the furrow a drainage channel. The length of each ridge was a furlong andthe distance between each ridge a perch. A furlong is 220yards, a perch 5.5 yards.

Ridge and Furrow in the fields between Sulgrave and Weston

So four perches equals one chain or 22 yards. Therefore one chain multiplied by one furlong equals one acre.
I mentioned that the chain measurement is still used in hedge laying in lasts month notes, well the furlong is of course still used in horse racing, As it is an eighth of a mile. We have races of 7 furlongs or a mile and three furlongs for example. There are two very plausible theories why the the measurement is a furlong. It was the length the oxen could plough before needing a breather, and the length a man could clear the woodland in a year,so he could start to cultivate and grow crops. The Saxons were very good farmers and worked in co-operation with each other, sharing the different soils between them.

Richard Fonge.

Richard Fonge writes of December farm activities such as housing the animals for the winter and hedge trimming and laying. See “rest of this entry”.

(more…)

November this year has started warmer than average, so we see cattle out in the fields that would normally be housed by now. The field at the top of Barrow hill has been planted with mustard. This is what is known as a cover crop. This material provides cover and a good habitat for wildlife during the winter and will then die down in early spring, returning green manure to the soil, before being planted with a cereal crop.

Field sown with mustard on Barrow Hill

See more on Sulgrave farming in November by clicking on “read the rest of this entry”.

(more…)