Magnificent effort as young farmers get on their bikes
They have done it!
Twenty eight members of Alberbury YFC cycled 600 miles around Wales in very testing warm weather - 20 of them did it all, with the rest dipping in and out.
In the process they have raised somewhere between £15,000 and £20,000 for Breast Cancer Now and the Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
To have been involved with them throughout this challenge has been a privilege - not only to have been there, but also to have seen their teamwork and spirit as they worked together in some extreme weather and up some blooming big hills!
If any of you would like to donate, please tap into www.justgiving.com/alberburyyfctourdewales2018. It is a magnificent achievement and is a perfect example of all the very good work that the Young Farmers movement does for charity nationwide throughout the year.
Now onto more mundane things. In my last column I was anticipating the start of the early Nitrogen campaign. This did happen eventually, and the prices were quite a lot higher than we had anticipated, but the uptake has been huge.
The cynic in me suspects that the higher price is related to the higher price of new crop wheat rather than the production cost of N, but it has sold well.
The manufacturers seem determined to push the price up, so the early buyers have had a good deal so far, but it does make me wonder how much higher the market can go before it is too pricey.
Grain prices have significantly firmed with the hot weather. This has not only been here but also in Russia and other parts of Europe.
Combines are already rolling in Shropshire. Reports on quality and yield are a little sketchy but from the samples we have seen so far, the barley is looking thin and farmers are telling us that the yield is down below three tonnes per acre, but we have a long way to go yet and the early crops aren’t always a good indicator.
After such a wet and miserable April and May who would have believed that we would be combining so early!
So let us welcome an early harvest and hopefully the weather will permit an easy one. Whatever happens I wish you all a productive and straightforward grain harvest.
David Roberts, G.O. Davies (Westbury) Ltd
