54 OSGODBY GRANGE FARM JUN / JUL 2023 • farmers-mart . co . uk
54 OSGODBY GRANGE FARM JUN / JUL 2023 • farmers-mart . co . uk
“ I ’ m in no schemes whatsoever but before anyone has a complete fit , I have left the field corners in as a proportion of my field margins and like most farmers I like where I live and I like wildlife . I had a good farming friend who recently asked me whether I liked wildlife . I said , I ’ ve got plenty I don ’ t want anymore and I ’ m willing to maintain what I ’ ve got .
Doug farms getting on for 2000 acres with owned acreage , several FBTs and is primary contractor on one farm . It ’ s wholly arable cropping .
“ We have 800 acres of winter wheat this year , and the variety is predominantly Skyfall which has performed year on year for over 20 years , outruns blackgrass and there ’ s a premium on it even if your protein ’ s a bit low . We can trade for biscuit or low-grade milling as well as use as feed and its yield is exceptional . This year we also have a bit of Typhoon and Dawsum .
“ We have gone full-on chemical control getting on top of blackgrass , which is no longer a worry . We Proplus and then Avodex it . It is rye grass that ’ s going to be the problem going forward . I have absolutely zero tolerance to it . If we see one stick we just spray off the whole headland . Doug ’ s 300 acres of winter barley is split between Tardis and Hawking varieties and is grown as feed for the cattle . It is his oilseed rape crop that has caused problems this year .
“ I had 200 acres of it but I ’ m down to 60 , so that ’ s now split between what ’ s left of the rape and spring oats now . We didn ’ t have the balls to wait until the second week in September and what we drilled was too dry , came slowly and didn ’ t grow fast enough to survive the flea beetle .
“ I think about oilseed rape every day , why do we fanny about with it , but the trouble is there isn ’ t just another good break crop on this heavy land where you can get some control of grass weeds .
“ Everyone says why don ’ t you grow beans and feed them to the cattle ? They are unpalatable and knock growth rates because they put them off eating the rest of diet and with the cattle it ’ s all about growth rate here . I ’ ve put in a big crop of red clover but I don ’ t want 200 acres of it . Doug ’ s other main crop is maize . “ I have 200 acres at home and getting on for 400 acres of primary stubble to stubble maize where we are primary contractor . The 200 at home is all fed to the cattle and the 400 goes through the anaerobic digester .
Doug has won awards for his cattle enterprise that sees him now finishing 3500 each year .
“ We have nearly 1000 in the yard all the time . I get them when they ’ ve a bit of size on them . They come from about 18 months , and the sweet point is about 22-24 months when they have more of a frame to work with .