Out & About Summer 2021

Berkshire Farm Girl T he summer has arrived. The clocks have gone forward, the lambs are out, summer is under- ELEANOR GILBERT is on a mission – she wants to educate people about farming in the 21st century. A year ago, Eleanor, also known as Berkshire Farm Girl, started writing a seasonal article for Out & About. She was just beginning her studies at Harper Adams Agricultural University in Shropshire and juggling university life with farming, as well as coping with all the restrictions that the Covid pandemic imposed.

way. With harvest just around the corner, farmers are patiently monitoring crops for weed control, fertilizer needs and other pest management practices. In preparation for the busiest time of year – harvest – we have set to cleaning out our grain stores. The last of 2020’s wheat was moved off the farm (to the millers ready to be made into flour) leaving our sheds clear. We then proceeded to dust everything down, check for vermin and lay sticky traps to inspect the grain for insects. If a high insect threshold is detect- ed then the entire grain store will be sprayed using insecticide, in order to prevent any infestation in the grain. Furthermore moisture meters are cal- ibrated to laboratory test standards to ensure continuity of stored grain and/ or drying. Since being away at university, harvest preparation has begun with all tractors, trailers and equipment having a pre-har- vest check to make sure all are in safe working condition, ready for harvest 2021 to commence. It is vital that all equipment is checked and running at peak performance, be- cause we can’t afford the stopping time during the harvest to fix faults. There are more than 300 tyres on the entire harvest fleet that all need pres-

As she concludes her first year and looks at the summer season, she is optimistic about the year ahead and hopeful for a good harvest.

Eleanor Gilbert

sure, tread and damage inspection pre-harvest, which will also continue as part of our daily safety examination before we leave the yard in the morning. While completing my first year studying Agriculture and Crop Management at Harper Adams University, I have been finalising my last few pieces

well as a restricted social life. We have had a dry cold spring with a record number of frosts followed by one of the wettest Mays seen for a number of years. Many farmers breathed a sigh of relief to see the rain, as the ongoing dry spell was beginning to have an effect on the crop growth. There is an old saying: rain in May will fill the sheds with corn and hay. This we hope will be true for the year. Look out for me in my new John Deere 6155r all-black special edition, extremely rare and unusual tractor this harvest. I hope you all have a lovely summer, look out and give me a wave if you see the black tractor. My next article will be written from the cab.

of course work, finishing lectures and completing open book ex- ams, known as TOBAS (Times Open Book Assessments). Due to Covid-19, we sit TOBAS which are to replace exams, allowing us to com- plete them in our own space in a given time frame. It sure has been an unusual year for both students and lecturers with half teaching online and half in person, as

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