I think that many will agree that the past week or so of sun has been welcome and from driving around Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire it appears that many people have made a start with combining and the Oilseed Rape appears to be complete, Barley is well under way and the Winter Wheat is ripening well with the extra sun. A lot of people will be questioning Oilseed Rape in their rotation this coming season and although it is a good break crop, the low yields and the high-risk establishment to avoid the flea beetle and pigeons, mean it is not a crop that you want to be worrying whether it will break even or not and relying on the one in approximately three-year bumper crop.

Livestock prices seem settled with fat lambs consistently around 300 pence per kilo assisting many farmers with their cash flow. However, it seems strange that the price of wheat is low with feed wheat at £175 per tonne considering the reduced area of wheat drilled, with the expected lower yields, following the poor growing conditions through winter and spring. Does this mean yields are better than expected?

My first month at Bletsoes has flown by and I have been busy undertaking a variety of work from tenancy matters to planning applications for agricultural buildings plus attending the two machinery auctions, both of which were a success with strong prices achieved. Since moving back south and living on the family farm near Silverstone, any free evenings and weekends have been busy as there is always something to do, especially coming into harvest alongside some late summer haymaking. 

Once again, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) have changed their mind on the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). The proposed option to upgrade and add options into an existing SFI agreement on the anniversary date has now been removed. This does not stop you adding to the area of rotational options within a current SFI agreement, but it is important to remember that you must plant at least 50% of the rotational area within the agreement, each year. If you were planning to add to your SFI agreement this is now only possible by creating a new agreement to run alongside any existing agreements. If possible, from a management point of view it would be easier to have the agreement commencing in the same month as before however, the start date is in the hands of the RPA, so there is no guarantee.

On a positive SFI note the RPA have released an expanded offer of 102 new options to add to the 2023 SFI options and Countryside Stewardship options under one umbrella and split into the following categories:

• actions for agroforestry
• actions for boundary features
• actions for buffer strips
• actions for farmland wildlife on arable and horticultural land
• actions for farmland wildlife and habitats on grassland
• actions for heritage
• actions for integrated pest management
• actions for moorland
• actions for nutrient management
• actions for organic farming
• actions for precision farming
• actions for species recovery and management
• actions for soil health
• actions for waterbodies

As I mentioned earlier many people will be questioning Oilseed Rape as a break crop, and now is a good time to look through the various SFI options and ponder what may fit into the rotation, while you are sat on the combine, before drilling or early cultivations commence. Combining will also remind you of all the awkward shaped fields and triangle corners, and these can also be entered into an SFI option such as CAHL3 Grassy field corners or blocks. The payment rate may not seem that high for the option, however, add in the time saved turning around and shunting into these areas and the inevitably lower yields and the SFI options are probably not so bad. If you do wish to investigate the SFI options and how they can fit into a rotation, a member of the Agricultural Team will be happy to help.

The Countryside Stewardship Capital Grants will continue as they were alongside the Farm Technology Fund but the advice is to make the most of these grants while they are still available, especially with the new Chancellor Rachel Reeves reportedly looking to plug the DEFRA £20 billion black hole. 

In other news for the first time since March 2020 the Bank of England base rate has dropped albeit only one quarter of a percent to 5%, this will still make a difference to Base Rate loans and mortgages which will be welcomed by many and help with cash flow of many businesses. It will also make purchasing land subject to borrowing more appealing which is good news, as Bletsoes have just brought approximately 39.21 acres of arable and permanent pasture land to the market off Walgrave Road, Old. With the following properties currently on the market:

• 64 acres (0.26 hectares) of Paddock Land, located off Walgrave Road, Old, Northamptonshire
• 05 acres (8.52 hectares) of grassland available as a whole or in two lots located off Nags Head Lane, Hargrave, Northamptonshire.
• 90 acres (2.39 hectares) of permanent pasture land, located off Welford Road, Spratton, Northamptonshire.
• With other instructions on the way.

Wishing farmers a successful harvest and dry weather for hay making.

George Pullin

Graduate Rural Surveyor