2018: What are we going to plant in the year ahead?

Hi Wendy, organic conversion is normally only two years for arable land, it's three years for fruit orchards etc. You'd need to ensure that no non-organic pesticides, fertilisers and fungicides are used too, which is where it starts to get challenging! Individual fields can be certified as organic, so you don't need to convert the entire farm. Obviously though, you need to take reasonable efforts to avoid cross-contamination.

Thanks for confirming that Oliver. This could be an option for us at some point then.

I'd also be in favour of getting livestock on the field. For me, it's a great way of getting some nutrients back into the soil and can be used to reduce weed pressure too. Squashes are very labour intensive to harvest - although they do look amazing in the field - so I'd be inclined to avoid them, as they're more suited to a smaller-scale horticultural environment.

One more point from me: All the most successful farmers I've met have followed the golden rule of making sure they have a market for their crops lined up, before any seeds are ever drilled. Do we have a market already lined up for the squash - or the other crops for that matter? This might prove to be a key factor in our decision making.

We have no new markets for any crop yet Oliver - that's down to the group to find/decide. I think there will always be the option to sell to John's local farmers coop but then our crop will probably just get mixed in with everything else and is likely to go to animal feed. It might be best if we decide to grow an easier to sell crop this year as a result. We're still trying to determine the worth of the spelt from last year but I think we will easily find a buyer when we do, as the ourfield project is a good sales pitch :)

To add that last year I didn't think at all about what happens outside the farm gate - it would have helped us in our decisions but all part of the learning experience. With an Autumn crop we will have much more time to debate, discuss and consider an optimal route to market. If we end up deciding on grazing with an Autumn crop I hope the decision on what to plant can be made over the summer in slower time. If we end up deciding on a Spring crop it will be part of the choice we need to make next week.

Hi Cliff we planted Spelt in the field in 2017 and it is the same field we are using in 2018 - so I am guessing the year before was Wheat as well

Yes Spelt is a form of wheat as far as I know. I think the type of spelt most commonly grown in the UK is actually mixed with a modern wheat... So John may have been referring to the planting of the spelt under the general 'wheat' term. But we do know that it is definitely the same field!

Hello,
On the issue regarding organic conversions the time required to move in to organic, the in-conversion period, is around two years though this would depend on what has happened prior and the time can be extended, or in some cases reduced slightly.

Time isn’t the only aspect to consider, however. Organic is a system approach to food production based on nutrient cycling to promote good soil health.
And the cycling to be, wherever possible, as close to if not on the the land itself.

There are aspects where this proximity isn’t the primary requirement . For instance bringing in manure can be beneficial to soil health. But the manure must be within the requirements which include sourcing organic manure or at least is from extensively reared stock that haven’t been fed GM feed.

And for the nutrient flow to be realised it would require the system to have full rotation. This normally would not be feasible on only one field. Though it might depend on the size of the field, the type of soil, the type of cropping. And so on.

I sense John Cherry is most interested/excited about the autumn crop/grazing option and after reading other input I don't have any reason to disagree with that. With my extremely limited knowledge that's the best I can say! The cyclical/soil health aspect of it appeals and the point that it will give us longer to discuss and decide on the next crop, as Christine said, is appealing too. I think I need to do a lot of reading.