Fen Peas

The first of the viners has arrived home after some TLC at PMC Fakenham. Not much required I'm told but that is hardly surprising given the poor yields we experienced this year. The autumn is proving as challenging as the summer with some quite wet conditions for all land work taking place. Having done some "analysis" of the 2012 crop the one outstanding feature is lack of sunlight. In 2011 April to August inclusive we had 921 hours of sunlight and in the same period this year it was just over 600 hours. That is probably the biggest factor which led to the poor yields.

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We had a visit from The Good Taste Magazine during the season. See the article and the pictures below.

To read the full article please click here to download.

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After a period of 57 days the 2012 season came to an end today and we will all be pleased to see the back of it. You could list no end of statistics about rainfall, sunlight, yield etc but it would not make us feel any better about a dreadful year of growing peas. At times it has been a battle against the elements, fields looking a real mess and a lot of diesel used. It's now time to clean down and put the machines to bed until 2013.

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Today we had a film crew from Channel 4 visit the field. Jimmy Doherty is making a documentary about how the unusual weather patterns of 2012 have affected the crops grown in the UK. They have looked at potatoes, now peas and are going on to other crops such as fruit. He was well informed about the situation and good at explaining in non agricultural terms just what has happened. He also spent a long spell on a viner and passed the driver training test. If it all goes ahead the programme will be shown in October.

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The last week of the 2012 pea season dawns with a high tide and the mist hanging in the fens. Only 300 acres to go and men and machines are ready for the final push. Well, most of the men. The season has taken its toll on the younger members of The Pod Squad.

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On arriving in the field this morning I was greeted by glum faces and an endless list of issues. No2 Hydraulic Pump down. No1 Track rod ends gone. No3 Beater snapped in half. No4 had grown its shoulders in the night and was carrying the operation. Having said that his top fan had had issues the previous day. So it was all hands on deck and with superb back up and men from PMC all machines were running by mid afternoon. When you run these machines 24hrs a day and you get towards the end of the season, like the men, they are getting tired. A night to forget.

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During the growing season getting the herbicides applied was a nightmare. What with the peas not waxing up and poor travelling conditions it was awful. You can see below just how wet it was in places! The viners are now based in the Holland Fen area for a few hundred acres before the big move north of Boston for the final 600 acres.

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Today is the start of our footrot crops, where the heavy rainfall has left it's mark and the peas have stunted and rotted in the field. There are some peas to be had but it's making the judgement of what to take without spoiling the sample. The Team will manage!

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The machines are doing a lot of miles this week and the "logistics team" are facing challenges every day. The Markardo is all but done as is a bit of Ibis and it will be the Serge we wade in to next.

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Strange weather at the moment. Very warm days and nights followed by quite a chill in the morning. Almost a top coat job. Vining conditions are superb and the damp the morning mist creates helps as well. It is a bit tricky assessing crops at the moment. The peas have been through various growth stages and in some cases have flowered three times. Twice is a regular feature, but three times unheard of. In simple terms there are three grades of pea on each plant! Difficult.

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Having had a week stood down waiting for the peas to mature we're now off bigtime! The Markardo has come on and we are approaching the part of our drilling plan where we just drilled where we could due to the wet weather. I think we will be chasing around the fields of south Lincolnshire for the next few days.

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Whilst the viners rest until the next peas are ready there is no rest for our sampler Abi. Still toiling away testing the peas every morning. In fact peas have taken over her life. Firstly she was dreaming about them and now she is sleeping in them!

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. As we slow down the harvesting operation it gave me a chance to visit the remaining 100 fields (which involved 250 miles on the glorious roads of Lincolnshire!). There is a wide range in crop quality and in a number of cases 14 weeks of rain has done significant damage. Some fields may not be worth harvesting but we will see nearer the time. Below is a very good crop of Oasis, a field showing a trial variety which is not as susceptible to "footrot", a bad case of "footrot" and a cracking crop of Markardo. So a mixed bag.

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Our sweep round South of Boston will soon be complete and we will move into Holbeach Marsh for the rest of the week. At that point 50% of the area will have been harvested. This time last year we had harvested 85%. Quite a difference. The "rain break" we had at drilling will mean we could go a week without harvesting any peas at all, and with cooler weather forecast it may slow things down.

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With the high temperatures it was vital that we keep on top of the crop. Wigtoft, Sutterton and the Frampton area are now complete and we are camped at Fosdyke for 36 hours. Being closer to the factory the lorries get back quicker and it is unusual to have them lined up in Le Mans style. Nature is vital to all we do and at times can be very frustrating, as it has been this year. Then there are times such as the dawning of the day which are wonderful to observe.

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It is sometimes not possible to change shifts in the field as we need to be on the move. This morning it was Leverton layby which seems to be used a lot as a pitstop. May have something to dowith the cafe! Retailer visits are becoming a regular part of the pea harvest. Today we had Tescos in the field. I think they come not sure what to expect and are amazed at how gentle the viners are in getting the peas out of the pod. After a wet night it was a pleasure to see sunshine and a large concrete farm yard.

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The rumbling noise of vining started again tonight in the Friskney area in some Amalfi, which has been a good variety to harvest this year. Conditions were good and we then moved up to Fishtoft where there had been 15mm of rain. In the morning it only needed Steven Spielberg with a horse and we could have made a film.

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With the harvesting operation taking a breather for 36hrs there was a chance to look around all the crops still to harvest. A mixed bag. Below you will see a good crop which looks very considering. Early ploughed and roughly leveled in the winter. Due to the wet spring we did not dare move the land and went straight in with a Vardestaad drill and then rolled behind. The crop looks very well and the rain has been able to drain away. It was a mostly sunny day but I was followed by a big storm!

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As the date suggests we exercised extreme care today. The only incident was poor Abi who had been sampling in the pouring rain and managed to find the ditch. Never mind no harm done. I came across this other picture which nearly reflects our experience on Lincoln Heath this year. We have now caught up after the rain delays of earlier in the week and with the rain falling outside it will be Sunday or Monday before we go again.

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The move off Lincoln Heath down to the Fens brought great change to our daily life harvesting peas. One inch of rain proved to be the straw that broke the camels back and we were soon becoming bogged down on a regular basis. We stopped at lunchtime having given it a good go and got stuck 15 times. Thank you to Blowsy for providing the recovery service. We will leave it 36 hours and see what improvement we get in the weather. One bright note I have managed to find a decent late crop of peas! It is in the minority.

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We started again yesterday with a short hop down the A15. Conditions had improved, but are not what we are used to at this time of year. An article in one of the weekend papers prompted a flurry of media activity to report on the challenges we face harvesting peas and other summer crops this year. Those that did come were surprised just how tricky things were and I think their reports showed that.

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A trying day on one of the wettest days we have ever experienced. We did manage to keep going all day but the pictures can tell the story We have now cleared 12% of our total area. 36 hours off now before we finish Lincoln Heath, sweep up Tattershall and then land in the Fens.

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Significant rain over night meant that the harvesting slowed down. Alongside with this our fuel usage went up by about 20%! It was a difficult night but the sun shone this morning and the next fields of Anubis went well. There was also time for some driver training.

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With Abi, the sampler, at a wedding today it was down to me to do the sampling. It's incredible just how many people are about early even on a Saturday. One happy soul this morning said "with these weather patterns it could be 2007 all over again"! I think it's time to expand the Menorcan operation.

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This morning we welcomed visitors from Defra and the NFU to the field to give them first hand experience of how a pea Producer Organisation works. Looking at the pictures it is hard to believe that this farm, near Grantham, had 42mm of rain the previous day. After driving the machines they were then shown the sampling station and how we assess the maturity of the crop. Over lunch we were able to discuss what the future may hold with regard to the CAP reform, and other matters. The warmth of the last few days and nights means the peas are on the move, so we will start 24 hours from tomorrow evening just as Italy kick off against West Germany!

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Today provided a chance to look at crops further ahead. Mixed bag would be the report. The heavy rains are beginning to take their toll with pockets of footrot showing. Peas do not like wet feet! The last field drilled (below) is still looking good but whilst there, the storm clouds were gathering and by nightfall between 25mm and 42mm of rain had fallen! These crops are suffering at the hands of mother nature.

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Day 1 of our 2012 Pea Harvest. Perfect conditions for harvesting, quite dry under foot for this year, men and machines working in harmony. Just did a 40 acre field to set things up and will go again on Friday when we host a visit. TRs were variable 102 to 116TR. This is probably down to the mixed maturity on the plants due to the cool wet flowering period. Yields were good but need to be there will be some issues later on in the programme.

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Given what we saw yesterday it was time to wheel the new sampler out for 2012. We started sampling this morning and the peas did read higher than I thought, 91TR. They will still be ok to be left until next week given the weather we are expecting.

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Technos success! Now, do these agree with what you imagined?

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For once you are going to have to imagine, once you have read this. Visuals are proving a problem to upload but technos are working on it. Drilling was finally completed last Saturday. A late finish but not the latest. The pods on the early crops are now beginning to hang like grapes with little green marble shapes growing inside them. I'm sure that's not too difficult to picture! Transport has also been busy getting its kit ready for use as well. Now close your eyes and imagine!

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A lot looked at today. First of all the plant on the trowel has only been in the ground six days. So from top to toe it is growing an inch a day. Incredible growth! Nearly three weeks ago we were at a standstill due to the wet, now look at it. There is moisture at two inches to cut into which is better than 2011. Only three fields left to drill, hoping we will beat the rain. Another inspection of the first field again revealed just how fast things are growing. On Monday it was the odd pod now there are heaps of them. A VIC (Very Important Customer) was on hand to see!

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As suspected the first pea fields have enjoyed basking in the sun and high temperatures and the first pods of 2012 are now showing. There has been huge growth in all crops in the last few days. We have many fields now that look as if they have a large white blanket over them. Lots of flowers! The rush is now on to get the final 500 acres in before the forecast storms of Wednesday and Thursday. Fingers crossed! However, as you can see a little drop of rain would help dampen the dust..

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As previously said peas are growing quickly. The peas pictured on the trowel were drilled 6 days ago! Peas are at last emerging rapidly and the other picture shows peas that were only drilled 11 days ago. Yesterday the gang drilling were very observant and spotted an Oystercatcher nesting in the ploughing with a quite angry mother protecting her eggs. They should be off before harvest or would be difficult to spot in the night. I wonder if our temperatures in the mid 20s are comparable with out Menorcan outpost!

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As the temperatures increase so does the pace of drilling. We are now settled in Boston West and drilling Serge which is going in well. Cutting straight into worked land, into moisture and into warm soil. All the good ingredients to get a crop to grow well. As with all arms of agriculture we are always looking to the next generation of people who will come into the industry, so this morning we hosted a visit by a school from Spilsby. Whilst we could not show them crops being harvested at least we were able to show them the basics. At the end of today we shall be 80% through our drilling plan.

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At this time of year we have been finished drilling 10 days, we now have 75% in the ground. With the warmer temperatures the peas are germinating quickly. If it stays like this there will not be much left at the end of next week. Peas are now coming into flower thick and fast so we can begin to see where we may have any clashes at harvest. As you can see peas that have been in the ground a number of weeks are growing slowly. They should now grow quickly with the higher temperatures and increased sunlight.

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It has been a very busy week. With the low temperatures it was a concern that we would push on too much, but you can see the picture below of peas drilled on Sunday afternoon and the growth that has occurred since then. I think there has been general growth this week but anything underground is growing quickly as it is not subject to the low night time air temperatures. Still got various drills going and in one place are drilling into land leveled in the winter. This is a first for us because it is so wet below the surface, that if we disturb the soil too much it will be impossible to do anything with it.

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At last. After 86 days we have peas in flower. The sun and warmth of the weekend has made its mark with the soil temperatures rising despite the cold overnight values. A few local showers have been a pain today but peas continue to be drilled with Geneva, Serge and Ibis going in with all sorts of drills.

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Ole! At last some wheels turning after the longest lay off from drilling I can remember. Whilst it is still a bit "tender" in places it is going well. With the sun out the soil temperature was on the rise yesterday. We still have a long way to go but once we get Monday and Tuesday out of the way the weather patterns look a bit more settled. Since we last drilled there has been little growth, so while we expect a gap at harvest it may not be that significant. Peas drilled over three weeks ago are only just showing.

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Tomorrow will mark 3 weeks of not being able to drill peas due to the unsettled weather we have had. Stark contrast to last year as you will see from the pictures below. Flower and pods in 2011 and not a hint of a flower one year on to the day. It will be a later start to harvesting, compared to recent years!

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The May Fair has arrived in Boston so there seems little chance now of shaking off this wet spell. It is now 14 days since we last drilled. It seems much longer ago than that. It's very frustrating that you get a glorious day followed by a wet one. Only 4mm has fallen from the sky today but it feels like a lot more. The crops are certainly looking a bit sorry for themselves. The new machine, No 4, was delivered today. Given the weather I think we will soon need Thunderbird 4!

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The running total of rain has now reached over 100mm for this month her at Old Leake! We have not turned a wheel for 11 days and although the forecast is good for tomorrow it would appear we still remain in an unsettled pattern. The warmth we look like getting tomorrow will do some good to those peas in the ground. I think it was 1998 that little was done in April, we finished drilling in June and the late peas did ok. We remain optimistic! Here's hoping the weather has been kinder to our Menorcan outpost.

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April showers continue to play havoc with drilling and although we have a plan it is dependent on just where the showers do not fall. Within our area of operation it is much "drier", or I should say, less wet the further south you go. The rain has not stopped the activity of the local criminal fraternity who have broken into one of the Growers sheds and as well as taking the usual managed to soak some pea seed in diesel. More hassle and more form filling in required!

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It's been a case of missing the showers this week. It is still quite variable as to where the rain falls and we have been able to continue drilling with more than one eye on the weather. Holbeach Marsh is now complete and with rain and the lower temperatures we will leave it alone until next week. Those peas drilled last Tuesday have now got strong one inch chits on, so there is some growth. It was out with the new and in with the old this week as PGRO came along to drill a large trial plot. I am told this drill is quite a reliable piece of kit after a major overhaul. As you can see it has been well looked after. At this time of year we usually leave the narrow wheels on the sprayer for pre-em spraying, but as you can see the low ground pressure tyres have come out again.

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The week has been a bit of a messy one. The nature of the showers meant that it was difficult to get into a pattern of drilling. A lot of "stop start". However, over 300 acres were drilled, bringing us up to 47% of the crop in the ground and we have completed the fields of Novella north of Fosdyke Bridge and are well set into drilling Geneva in Holbeach Marsh. A chance to check on the earlies today, which do look in good heart, but could soon do with some sunshine and warmth on their backs.

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Whilst we have had a lot of rain over the last few days it has now turned to showers, and some land that remained in the plough has dried enough for us to start drilling again. Yesterday and today has seen us drill 100 acres in the Fosdyke/Holbeach Marsh area. If we can avoid the overnight showers hopefully more drills will be going tomorrow.

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What a difference 24hrs makes! Drilling in dry conditions yesterday morning and have now had 34mm of rain so far. It made me think of when we last had an enforced rain break in drilling. This happened in mid March 2008! Which goes to show just how dry Spring has been in South Lincolnshire for the last few years. I would imagine it will be a few days before the wheels can turn again, but in all honesty I'm pleased to get some rain.

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Peas are going into perfect conditions but the dust is starting to fly. Now getting well stuck in to the Novella. The end of the week will see about 40% of the peas in the ground by the end of March. As we run in to Easter next week, we will bunch the drillings up to complete the Novella and start of some Geneva. Things are advanced though, OSR coming in to flower, huge amounts of wasps and ladybirds about as well.

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The clocks having gone forward brings with it longer daylight hours. The higher than normal temperatures, mind you what is normal now, and with the sun on their backs the peas are now romping along. Peas are now hitting the ground and growing rapidly. Whilst it is dry one of the Growers commented the other day that we have had much more rain in March 2012 than in March 2011, however it was quite noticeable that there had been quite a bit of moisture lost from the soil over the weekend. Now is the time to be looking at moisture conservation techniques, part of our Climate Change Strategy.

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The first run north of Boston is complete, 29% of the peas are drilled. As we move to south of Boston we gain a harvest day so the drills will have a few days off while those peas put in the ground this week have a chance to grow. So, little activity in the short term but it will all get fired up again later next week. The earlies are looking good and at the moment everything is growing in sequence. Hope that continues!

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The sun finally came out this afternoon as we started drilling Amalfi at Friskney. Conditions are perfect as you can see by the spacing. It looks as though we may get some rain this weekend so the rolls remain in the shed until we see how much we get. We have also started on the Novella as well. It all feels pretty similar to last year at the moment. Good conditions, getting on well and seed only just arriving in time! There was no doubt about it that last year's early start was down to the high number of daylight hours we had in April and May,so as the first fields emerge now is the time to start tracking daylight hours.

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We seem to have missed the early morning rain, but the fog has prevented early starts with the drilling. All the talk is of drought this week. Having been asked the question it's far too early to give any opinion about what effect it will have on the crop this year. There's a long way to go yet, we've only really just got started! It is going well and should be a busy week in the fens and along the A52 towards Boston. The soil is a lot warmer than this time last year so things are getting away well.

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What a difference two warm days make. The photo does not do the crop justice (very foggy morning) but the peas are now 60% emerged. The crops drilled behind this are also moving along nicely and there will be much more emergence over the next few days. It will now be pigeon patrol whilst the crops fill out. Interesting that the peas are already putting a long root down. Moisture is there but not in the abundance that it usually is.

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A bit of a messy week, but we will not complain about the welcome rain. We have now drilled 785 acres so good progress for this time of year. It looks as though the weather will be with us next week as high pressure dominates.We will continue to drill Style and start the Jaguar, Fashion, Amalfi and Novella. Soil temperatures are good and the first field drilled is now starting to emerge. As usual the Pigeons have started to land also!

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As well as a lot of activity above the ground, we are getting good growth below the surface as well. This was taken two days ago and shows that there is enough moisture there and the warmth in the soil to go with it as well. We now wait to see just how much rain the weekend brings!

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We have now been drilling for some 11 days in the Sleaford area. It's going well, but it is dry. The trick is going to be to get them to germinate and then go hunting for moisture. All the Anubis is in and we now are well into Style. At the end of the week there will be some trials to go in, and then next week will see a busy week as we drill across four different soil types with three varieties from Lincoln to the coast. The soil is quite warm and if there was sun overhead things would motor on.

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Looking around you feel that you should be doing something on the land, but it's cold, early and still very dry. One thing that is up for this time of year is the soil temperature,so baring some true winter weather, when we do start next month the peas will get away quickly.

The "Pod Squad" team is not inactive at this time of year. Two are in the southern hemisphere combining away, they just love big machinery! Others are in far flung places around the globe, whilst some just keep putting another log on the fire.

Seed is ordered, some has already arrived, so if conditions are good overhead battle will commence possibly in the middle of next month.

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