Page 38 - The Farming Years proof

InTRoDUCTIon To BARLEY
The factory 15 acre eld was divided into two by a hedge, ditch and trees. The lower part was subject to bad drainage so it seemed sensible to take advantage of the generous subsidies that were being given for eld drainage. We were a registered agricultur- al holding so we quali ed and I was paying a rent to the factory to avoid any accusation of advantages by the tax authorities for whom we had to submit annual accounts with Sylvia as the farmer.
Roger Vicary who subcontracted to Waltons for the drainage gave us a separate contract to take the hedge and trees down and lled in the ditch at the same time. Roger’s contract was under the same grant conditions so the drainage was completed by the end of March 1979. Roger later became the local JCB agent for sales and service based at Kibworth, near Market Harborough. He was well-quali ed for this appointment.
We ended up with 28 acres of spring barley by the end of April. This produced 48 tons which we sold to Heygates for £83 a ton; this, after keeping back 2 tons for animal feed.
By now we had had our learning curve with barley being a corn you can grow without crop rotation. This ability is very acceptable to a manufacturing personality as you learn the system for one product and grow it year after year. Specialisation is the best ap- proach for hobby farmers.
We needed help with pest and potential disease controls but we had Bernard Holden who worked for H.L. Chemicals. He came round twice a year and prescribed the sprays we needed for the standing crops. By now, we had our own spraying equipment. Thinking back, we had no need for any quali cation to spray, as now, and before using the Ford 7000 tractor with its cab, we used the cab-less tractor without a thought.
36