Grain Maize October 2021
Grain Maize harvest has started 3-4 weeks earlier than normal with very respectable yields so far. We are putting the earlier harvest down to the fact that we planted the maize early to maximise the benefits of planting under the degradable film. This year it seems to be paying off.
Once harvested, this will be taken back to the drying plant and then sent off for animal feed.
Bond Farms Harvest 2021
Harvest Time is Never Easy
Harvest 2021 has been a very stop-start affair due to the great British summer! We’ve been grabbing opportunities between the showers which in turn has meant lots of drying time. Bond Farms have two 30 tonne grain driers which have been our saviour this year, but higher moisture content has meant that the crop has been drying for up to 5 hours at a time. Yields this year have been slightly below average caused mainly by the 260 millimetres of rain we experienced during May, with our teams working relentless and long hours to get the harvest in, when the weather allowed, of course.
Harvest time is never easy and no sooner had we started the harvest, we were loading lorries to fulfil our harvest movement contracts, which amounted to 560 tonnes of oats and 700 tonnes of wheat. With each load requiring a Crop Passport which is generated and given to the haulier, verifying that all crops have been produced to the Red Tractor standard, harvest is an exacting task. As we near the end of our oats and wheat harvest for this year, the team continues to be busy, some cultivating, and other spreading broiler manure in preparation for the planting of the 2022 crops.
August has also seen our ‘growing partners’ harvest their own crops of salad potatoes and calabrese, and September will see us replanting next year’s oats and wheat crop, but our harvesting is still not yet complete as we will bring in our grain maize in late October, early November. So, keep your eyes on our YouTube and social media pages for the latest updates, pictures and videos of the team at work!