Block cropping streamlines farm activities

摘要

Having the courage to restructure farming operations such as by adopting block cropping has paid dividends for our new Eastern barometer farmer, as James Andrews discovers. Running a large arable operation that's at opposite ends of a major city and plagued with resistant blackgrass presents more than its fair share of challenges. But our new eastern barometer farmer is taking it in his stride. Edd Banks farms 1200ha in a family partnership from Manor Farm, south west of Cambridge, Three-quarters ofthe farmed area surrounds the village, but the rest sits north east of the city at Swaffham Bulbeck. "We have to drive all the tractors and the combine through the middle of town." Both areas are run as one operation and, although there is a satellite farm yard at Swaffham, there is no grain storage, he says. "All grain is tipped Camgrain takes it away - we've got 1250t of storage with them."