April used to be the month for showers there has now been 42 days without any rain. The sea buckthorn field at Devereux farm has had 101 mm of rain since January 1st, this being almost 50% of last year’s total and 40% less of the average over 33 years since 1984.
What does all that mean? The sea buckthorn looks well but there are some odd plants under stress with leaves dessicated and potentially looking as if they might die. This will not be due to lack of rain but more likely these plants are in areas where the soil is predominantly rank clay. This would put the plants under stress and allow disease to get the upper hand.
I still believe that the compost tea application has a beneficial effect under these conditions. To test the case the Siberian plants will be split up so some will have an application every month, some every six weeks, and some every two months. This is not necessarily a scientific study but with the plants under stress it will be an indication as to which areas have more/less plants with disease or other stress symptoms.
One of the issues with farming is that every year is different as this season’s weather conditions are indicating. With sea buckthorn there is the added issue that there are no guidelines as to how to manage the crop here in the UK. As the crop is also being grown organically the options are limited. In past year’s the overall weed population has been allowed to grow both between the rows and in-between the plants. This has become a real problem, particularly for weeds like creeping thistle which has spread across the site to such a degree that this year a zero tolerance approach has started. Mowing between the rows every two weeks to a very tight sward height together with striming between the plants.
Striming up until now has been with a Stihl petrol backpack strimer. A great tool, but in the long term reducing the carbon footprint of producing the crop is important. I believe that within 10 years carbon foot-printing will appear on food labels. Apart from that it is only right that we should make every effort to reduce use of fossil fuels – and every small bit counts. So this month a Stihl electric strimer arrived. Its battery is still a real constrain as one battery charge allows striming of about 75 plants only. It then takes 2 hours to recharge. All this means is starting every day with striming, then planning the day so that other jobs fit in-between up to four striming sessions a day. Technology still has a way to go before battery power becomes a fully convenient option, but for now the opportunity of not having to be reliant on the petrol station feels good.
Standards are part of what develops quality. Quality is often a subjective issue and it is made up of many factors. Choosing to be organic fits with the desire not to be using chemicals, which may impact on soil health and product quality. Proving these issues is difficult, but there is certainty in as much as – if you don’t use chemicals, you can be certain that neither soil nor product will have any form of contaminant. Interestingly as Brexit gathers pace, last week, on April 19th the EU established a new electronic tracking system for all imports into the EU of organic products. This aims to further ensure that organic means organic and that food products can be traced back to the grower. Memories of the horse meat scandal in Europe is just one area where fraudulent product labelling tried to pass off substitute product onto consumers. It is in the best interests of both growers and consumers that there is confidence in standards and this EU system sounds like a positive move to further close loopholes.
Carbon foot-printing has been discussed in terms of food miles, but this is often confusing as sometimes low energy production methods in warm climates can be beneficial against UK production even with the inclusion of air transport. We have become so used to exotic foods becoming the norm and there being no reliance on seasonal foods that understanding what food miles are acceptable and what are not is difficult to assess. That said the individual producer can influence production methods to reduce energy reliance and use. This is fine but it is only when this is benchmarked against other products that the efforts of the individual can be assessed objectively by the market and the consumer. Carbon foot-printing is just one other standard awaiting acceptance in the marketplace. If climate change is going to be managed then these standards might be one means of ensuring that food production is accountable and able to identify the means to limit its impacts upon the global environment.
As the president of the US has remarked that climate change is a hoax one needs to consider the evidence. As a farmer the weather that we are growing used to is no longer consistent with seasons. As a coastal farmer the seas are becoming more threatening with flood risk from surge tides now becoming a five yearly occurence rather than a once in a lifetime event. The problem with ignoring these issues is that time is not on our side and it is a supremely selfish attitude to think that the problem will not be an issue in our lifetime.
All one can do is do your individual best and hope that collectively enough effort is made that our children and theirs will not have to suffer the consequences of our lack of taking responsibility for these issues.
