From dust to mud
Robin Hall
While it is easy to romanticise the farming life, working with nature can be a painful and frustrating task. While we are always hoping for optimal conditions for farm work, often it’s a compromise where the risks and benefits of action have been carefully considered and discussed by the team. This usually means that when the land finally dries up after a rainy period, there is an intense burst of activity. Cultivating, sowing, mowing, carting muck and many other tasks need to be done in reasonably dry conditions. The current growing season is substantially different from last year and we have abundant grass. However, we now cannot cut anymore of this grass until the dry conditions return. Meanwhile, the milking cows have an abundance of this tasty grass, clover and herbs and are producing large quantities of milk. The cows have to walk through thick mud to get to their fields, but they are not bothered by a rainy summer. A question I ponder on is this: was the weather ever really predictable? Or is it just hindsight and nostalgia that suggests that it was?
What are your thoughts on the matter? If you’d like to discuss this with me, I’d encourage you to get in touch.
