Page 46 - The Farming Years proof

JUST BARLEY
practice is long nished but it did put potash back into the soil and made very easy visible ploughing.
1985
This year was memorable by the terrible wet weather at harvest time. We had no alternative but to combine at 16 – 18% moisture content. The only likely grain buyer was Boughton Estates who would, no doubt, dry the grain. The best price they would give us was £86 a ton and we had 112 tons, made a bit heavier with the extra moisture content. But part of the deal was that we had to deliver it to their drying plant about 5 miles away by tractor and trailer which was easily received by the drying plant being more manouverable than a truck. Yes, it was a Jim job but it had to be done. In later years some grain merchants would accept 16% moisture content
1986–1992 – The Conclusion
The next 6 years were a repetitive annual activity and during this period we achieved an average harvest of 120 tons of barley. By 1992 the grain price had increased by 5% and we averaged £5000 net pro t for the 6 years 1986-1992. Bear in mind £5000 went a lot further 28 years ago in 1990 so we weren’t unhappy. Also, bear in mind, we didn’t need barley for the horses after 1988 when Jo became a hairdresser so this increased our sales.
But Sylvia the farmer found she had extra tax to pay after she started Padders and had two incomes. In 1992 I had a cardiac arrest which was caused by vascular disease. This was treated by Angioplasty to help clear the arteries. I needed to have a less active life and, as a consequence, gave up my personal farming. I sold the 25 acres of arable land in Harrington Road in 1992 at about the same price as I bought it but in much better heart than when I bought it.
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