June has been followed by July. A strange statement, but this was June 2016 – the month and year of Brexit. June 1916 was also part of another momentus event – the Battle of the Somme. Both are historic events, but like all history, time moves on and people live through it. As a dedicated European, currently I think I am standing at one end of a long dark tunnel. I have great faith in our new prime minister which means there will be light at the end of the tunnel and all that needs to be done is control a fear of the unknown.
Leadership is essential in troubled times. As a somewhat unconventional farmer my future as a small farmer is focused on an alternative crop ( sea buckthorn). I have huge uncertainties about living on an eroding coastline with a sea may become for aggressive as climate change takes hold. Andrea Leadsom is now my Leader as the new Minister at DEFRA. The old Department of Energy and climate Change has been dissolved with Energy being merged into Business. So does that mean the new government is a climate change sceptic. Maybe it is considered an unaffordable funding area? Alternatively if might be merged into DEFRA which is of course the Depertment for the Environment.
The conservative Fresh Start project provided some outlines of post Brexit priorities. Food security and protection of the countryside; reduced red tape; improved access to international markets. Support for rural development; intervention to stop wheat and milk farmgate prices falling below cost of production; expanding UK investment in science and technology and grant funding animal welfare. A commendable wish list that is highly supportable.
Pre Brexit I had the feeling that there was only one government department pulling the strings – that being the Treasury. If a project was essential or politically sensitive then it gained support. In the reality of post Brexit our new Chancellor has already said there will be no emergency budget. A reassuring statement that I hope shines a beacon for both UK agriculture and the country as a whole. Beneath this glimmer of optimism I have to say that the tunnel I am looking into is still dark, dank and cold – but there will be and always is light at the other end.
On a similar note I view the sea buckthorn project at Devereux farm. The difference is that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is bright. This year the fact that the weather of winter 2015/16 was so poor resulted in the male sea buckthorn coming through the season in poor health. Their poor health led to poor pollination which simply resulted in a very small number of berries.
As with our post Brexit chancellor looking at his position, I look at mine and see that through changing the management of the plants i can feel that the problem is containable and solvable. A summer of monthly foliar feeds has developed a field of strong growth and healthy plants. Some individual diseased plants are still an issue but I suspect that will always be a result of a localised problem of soil health.
This month the first area of plants have been covered with a mesh grid on which to hang anti bird netting. The birds are still, and will always be an issue. Devereux farm’s locality by the Hamford water national nature reserve and our practice of creating and maintaining wildlife habitat leads to an environment in which birds will thrive. I could shoot them and there are some pests which need culling if they damage the environment they live it. But there are alternatives available and those are the approaches that need to be taken.
This coming week the Soil Association are coming for the first preliminary inspection in the transition process for the sea buckthorn to go organic. The sea buckthorn is grown organically anyway, but as a new crop I see it as an essential part of the process to conform to a management system that consumers understand and trust in. So there will be more paperwork and I hope support and advice as to how to both manage the crop and bring it to market.
Although there are few berries to find harvest this year will take a more academic role. The german method of harvesting sea buckthorn focuses on cutting branches and freezing them so that the berries fall off the frozen branches easily and without damage.Most of the plants are Devereux are thornless, larger berried, sweeter siberian varieties. Traditionally these are hand picked by very skilled pickers. Without the availability of Siberian pickers I need to find an alternative.
The Lisavenko research institute in Siberia has suggested four of the varieties at Devereux as possibly more suitable than others with this branch cutting/freezing process. As experience has shown, these Siberian varieties has been prone to stress and disease whilst adapting to live in their new environment in Essex. So cutting branches could trigger susceptability to disease. I hope that the fact the plants are in such good condition following this year’s programme of monthly foliar feeds will give them the ability to recover and regenerate from this method of harvesting. With a research plan put together by East Malling research I hope that this may provide a more efficient way of harvesting our siberian varieties as they grow into maturity in the future.
Right at the beginning of this blog I mentioned the issue of living on the coast. This week I saw the Naze cliffs that protect our family farm on here in North east Essex came every closer to breaching threatening the farm with being flooded by the North Sea. Whether this is driven by changing climate or not, the threat is real and will become a dominant issue over the next few years. But then as with Brexit and the sea buckthorn – there will be solutions – it just takes time and in an era of networking and collaboration, almost anything is possible.
