July

The start of the month is a good time to clean out the grain store, service the combine harvester and get the dryer out.

Harvesting starts around the 10th-12th July, and the first crop is the winter barley.  The combine takes the grain off the stalk and spits the stems back out onto the ground. The baler picks up the straw and makes it into a bale. The bales are used for winter bedding for the animals.

The oats are harvested at the end of July and 25 acres of wheat are “crimped” and kept for feed, which works out around 100 tonnes. Crimping is when the wheat is cut when it’s still slightly green, and put through the crusher. Microbiotics are added to ferment the mixture and stop it going mouldy. The final result is feed for the bullocks.