Since my last blog some important things have been gone on so I will use this blog space to give you some documents that I have collected.

 The first bit of news is the death of Beryl Clinch on the 12th April. Beryl is important to us at Kingsclere estates because ot the time and dedication that her and her family have given to the estate. Beryl's life including her time at Kingsclere Estates was brilliantly reflected by her son Paul Clinch at the memorial service.

Family Tribute

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The second document is about My nuffield farming scholarship I have been spending time working on this over the last few months and I'm of to Argentina and then Brazil next month to do some more investigatory work, and my first bit of international travel for my nuffield scholarship. I have complied a study outline which will no doubt change as the study goes on, but for now it gives an idea of what I want to find out from my studies, and how people can help me. I am very to keen to find contacts in Argentina and Brazil who are increasing the value of their farm land through the management of that land. I am also keen to get an understanding of the bigger picture so I would like to find out how government policy can have an affect on land value as well as understanding how the banks approach lending against farmland purchases. I would be very pleased if anyone had any useful contacts for me to look up when I am abroad.

Study outline

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Say it loud and say it proud! I am proud to announce that I have been awarded a Nuffield scholarship which is a really positive thing for me and Kingsclere Estates in general. I have already taken part in some scholarly duties by attending the compulsory Contemporary scholars Conference in New Zealand. I returned from that last Sunday and after a few days recovering from the jet lag I have hit the ground running with all the new ideas that I now have.  I spent a few days in London with my fellow scholars before we went to new Zealand. This was my first real chance to discover more about the program and the journey over the next couple of years. We went around London meeting with some big names in the industry, leaders of the NFU, DEFRA, HSBC and the government  discussing with them the state of the industry. Most of this discussion was centred on the recent Foresight report released by Prof. John Bedington

This report looks at what has been termed the perfect storm of rising populations, rising wealth, and growing demand for bio fuels against the backdrop of climate change, peak oil, and greater demands for land. There was much debate around all of these subjects both individually and as a whole and the effect that these issues will have on global agriculture and more specifically UK agriculture. These themes were continued when we arrived in New Zealand to meet our global counterparts from NZ, Australia, Canada, Ireland and the Netherlands. Subjects including Free trade and GMO's were discussed along with the growing Chinese and Indian markets. we also looked at the competition for land between environmental concerns agriculture, mining, housing, industry etc. which was a really good subject to discuss with our international counterparts. I think one of the most interesting sessions we had was when we had to discuss the communities in which we all lived in and the issues facing them.  The most interesting one was that of my new friend Rob and Australian beef farmer who farms one million acres that is pretty amazing in its self but then you start to think about raising children when the nearest town is 700 km away, 600 km of which is on un sealed roads impassable in wet conditions. I'm not sure that I should be moaning about a few pot holes in the road after contemplating that!

 The children are all schooled over the internet through remote learning centres they meet up every now and again for sports days etc which last a week because they don't get out much. Also much of the work is carried out by helicopter which is what caused Rob to be wheel chair bound after an accident that paralysed him from the shoulder down. That is some kind of serious commitment to agriculture, and it is something that will drive me on into my future in the industry if rob can do it then so can I

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Welcome back from a welcome break! We have been busy over the winter months on the farm and the estate.  On the farm we have been helping out neighbours with our crop sprayer as well as carrying out our own work. We finally parked the machine up  as the freezing weather came in I was pretty happy with this situation as it meant that it was working as much as it could have been and earning money for the business.  In the freezing weather we had less to do on the farm there was a small bit of snow ploughing to be done on contract for the council. We also took the opportunity of being able to travel on the ground without doing much damage to move some soil ready for the soil to warm up and produce a second flush of weeds before  we plant the spring sown crops. We have also built a new trailer for carrying folks around the estate. This was particularly useful for the Golden eagle days allowing the guests to see the countryside as we move from one area of the farm to another. I have great plans of fitting a BBQ on the back to allow us to feed people while we are out and about.  The main problem that we had on the first day of use were that there was no mud guards and I had designed the trailer to be easily cleaned by leaving a gap between the floor boards. This created a bit of a wet experience for the travellers. The solution was simple we fitted a carpet to the floor now the trailer is even more up market!

I have been working away on the whole estate plan. I got a great response from the village survey and have compiled a summary of the survey results. I put this alongside the other responses I received from the other bodies we have been consulting with and created a single master statement which is now published on the website. I have been chatting with the various bodies and the planning department to work out where to go now. As this process is new it is a learning experience for us all so each stage takes a long time to get to and complete. The next stage will be to draw up a plan on a map that encompasses all of our findings this will go out for further consultation and then we can start to implement the work .

I have applied for a Nuffield scholarship  which is aimed at the agricultural and horticultural industry. Individuals are awarded scholarships to travel overseas and study topics of their choice in agriculture, land management, horticulture or the food chain. They provide individuals with the unique opportunity to:

• Stand back from their day-to-day occupation and study a topic of real interest
• Achieve personal development through travel and study
• Access the world's best in food and farming, and deliver long-term benefits to UK farmers and growers

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After harvest the weather cheered up for a while giving us a good opportunity to plant some of next year's crops. We planted the Oil seed rape first - this was done at the end of August. Two of the Eight cropping blocks are planted with oil seed rape each year. Some was drilled directly into the last years stubble while the rest was planted after some deep cultivating. This was done to allow the main root (tap root) to penetrate deeper into the soil and gather more nutrients and moisture. The area's that were drilled directly into the stubble had this treatment the year before when the sewage sludge was incorporated into the soil so it wasn't necessary to carry out the expensive operation. Sludge has a high level of phosphate in it required for root growth and development.

The next crop to be planted was winter wheat.  Four of the Eight cropping blocks are sown with wheat, three of these are first wheat, and one is a second wheat. A second wheat means that it is the second time on a row that the field has grown wheat. I do this in areas where the soils are in good condition and the weed pressure is not too great. I drill second wheat directly into the previous year's stubble. The following crop for this land will be spring barley. I use this spring planted crop as a good opportunity to address and weed problems that have arisen from having two years of wheat. I also leave the stubble long when we harvest the wheat crop to provide cover for the hares and partridge over the winter.

Two of the first wheat blocks will have been oil seed rape.  This is a great opportunity to carry out some re conditioning work to the soils. The main benefit is that the Rape crop is harvested early meaning that there is the biggest gap between harvesting one crop and establishing the next.  If I get my timing right I can get two flushes of weeds before I plant the crop I do this by raking the stubble immediately after the combine has passed by this must be done as soon as possible while there is still moisture in the top layer of the soil. I must then leave the soil alone for about 2 weeks to allow any seeds that I have disturbed to start to grow. If I move the soil too quickly then I have not given the seeds enough chance to grow and they can go dormant again.  After two weeks I cultivate the field applying sewage sludge immediately before cultivating to avoid any unwanted smells. After the cultivating has been done I will roll the ground to preserve moisture and encourage more weed seeds to grow rolling increases the amount of seed to soil contact and also firms up the ground. This firming action helps to keep slugs at bay. Slugs are a big issue following rape crops because there is a great deal of residue left over in the field following harvest and slugs love dying crop material.

The last first wheat crop will follow a linseed crop. Linseeds works well with the system for a number of reasons firstly it is a spring crop a so presents another good opportunity to address problem weeds, weed control is further aided because the nature of the crop is so different from grass making chemical control of grass weeds easier and I need to kill of the crop with a chemical before harvest which also kills any weed plants that have not been killed earlier on in the season. Before planting I allow contractors to inject liquid sewage sludge into the soil giving some good nutrients for free. As well as this there is very little residue after the crop meaning lower slug problems and a greater opportunity to plant the next crop directly into the stubble, which is generally in good condition because of the great rooting structure of the plant. The only problem with the crop is that the yield is very variable and the harvest date can be pretty late.

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Yet again we have been blessed with a wet harvest time. This is a frustrating time for me because every day that it rains means that the quality of our crop is falling. The reason for this is that once the grain reaches maturity and then gets damp the seeds think that they should start to grow into plants. The shoots in the seeds start to form and this changes the make up of the grain. This is a particular problem in malt barley and milling wheat. To make malt they get the grains to germinate and then stop the process at a critical stage. this is a very specific process and if the grains have already gone past the dormant stage by getting wet in the field they have already germinated making the crop useless for the malting process and only fit for animal feed.

The wet weather has kept me in the office sat at my desk, I it is probably the most profitable place for me to be, but I don't really like it too much I'd rather be out getting dirty somewhere! I have been working on a whole estate plan since Christmas and we are now at a consultation stage. We have gone through and carried out an audit of what we have and what we do with the estate, now we are trying to find out what we need to have to go forward over the next 30 - 40 years. We are finding this out by asking people what they think. I have done some work with our directors to get their thoughts. Carter Jonas our agents helped me carry out a feedback session with some of the industry stake holders like natural England, and the AONB board, and we are currently running a survey in the local community. The aim of this survey is to find out what the people who use the rights of way the views on the estate as part of their lives feel about the estate and its management.

Once the consultation period is over we will then be able to make some plans that reflect a greater proportion of the wants and desires of those who use the estate rather than just what a small group of directors think we should have. From the feedback that has been done so far I can see that there is quite a lot of overlap between all the different view points I'm hopeful that we can find the right balance that will allow the estate to go forward in synergy with the of the community so that we can all get what we want from this great and beautiful piece of land. The wonderful thing about synergy is that it is much more than a compromise, and it can be much much more beneficial to the community than that. 

You can view more infomation about the whole estate plan process and take the survey here.  

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It is now the time of year when we can really get a chance to have a look at our crops to see how we have faired. This year I have entered the Hampshire farmers club best, farmed farm competition. I have been entering this competition for about five years now and although I have never been placed I think I will carry on entering for a long time to come. It is a very high calibre competition with some excellent judges asking some really searching questions. Today I have been a steward taking some judges from another class around three farms. Tomorrow is my turn. I am looking forward to showing them my linseed because the gamble has paid off big time and I’m really pleased with it.

The other crops are looking pretty good too, but the same could be said for much of Hampshire really. I have seen some really good crops of wheat today, and it has made me see how much more work I still have to do on the farm. The other thing that I have seen today is a huge array of different enterprises which the farms are doing. This is always a really thought provoking and motivating time for me as I see so many wonderful things going on in our countryside. I really want to keep the ball rolling at home so that I can match what these guys are up to.

So far we have taken out 2000 tonnes of thinking’s from our woodlands I think that we are pretty close to half way if not a little over that. I can already see a massive improvement in the potential of the woodland and I can’t wait to see what is going to happen in the years to come. The new wood that we have planted is also doing well. I am thinking of calling it Toby’s as it was planted the year he was born.

Toby is still doing really well his is now the proud owner of two tiny teeth. He is still yet to master the art of motion but can successfully roll over, and over and over and over until he gets tangled up into something, normally a leg of the coffee table or a sofa. Sharon and I are going to take him to Ireland for our summer holiday which we are all looking forward to. Our first holiday since Toby joined us!

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