June is a month that hosts a number of farming events, in what is usually a quieter work month ahead of a busy harvest season. It's a good time for farmers to meet socially and attend educational events.
For example, Richard, Merv and our daughter Eleanor attended the Cereals Event which was being held in Hertfordshire this year. 'Cereals' is an annual 2-day event featuring everything to do with growing crops. All the newest machinery is on display, including tractors, combines, sprayers, drills, fertiliser spreaders and grain trailers. Plant breeders attend to showcase new varieties of wheat, barley and oats, and the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) showcase their new varieties of (mainly) wheat.
Of course for Richard, it is a window shopping exercise since I confiscate the business credit card and cheque book before he leaves home - just in case he gets too excited!
The above photo shows Richard and Merv awe-struck by a new Case combine. The kit nowadays is absolutely HUGE and jaw-dropping in its ability to cope with vast tonnages of grain. These combines can produce more in an hour than we used to be able to harvest in a day! But with this large capacity comes an eye- watering price tag, and this lovely shiny combine probably retails for in excess of half a million pounds. You need a very big acreage to pay for that!
Richard and Eleanor also met up with the superstar Kaleb from Clarkson's Farm. As a family, we absolutely love Clarkson's Farm - Jeremy Clarkson and his team have done a fantastic job highlighting the very tough issues faced by farmers at the moment, and Kaleb has inspired many young people to join Young Farmers' Clubs, sparking interest and involvement with farming. He is also tackling the issue of poor mental health, which is common amongst young farmers who spend most of their time on their tractors, putting in long days of social isolation. Of course, Eleanor couldn't let the occasion pass without asking for a selfie!
Also present at the Cereals Event was the very impressive MyName'5 Doddie tractor, which has been liveried in the iconic Doddie tartan. I grew up with Doddie Weir in the Scottish Borders, and we used to attend the same farming parties and agricultural events.
Doddie was a farmer as well as an incredibly talented rugby player who played for Scotland's national team and the British & Irish Lions. He very sadly died of MND (Motor Neurone Disease) in 2022 at the age of only 52. He was a truly inspirational man who, in the 6 years of his life after his diagnosis, raised in excess of £8 million pounds for MND research and to help others living with the terrible condition. The fund now stands at around £11 million.
The Fastrac 4220 iCON tractor was built by Staffordshire digger giant JCB in honour of Doddie and to support the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation. It is making appearances at major agricultural shows and rugby games all over the country to raise awareness and funds. Look out for it this summer!
On Friday 21st June, we had a lovely evening with the Hampshire Farmers' Club at the Annual Farm Walk, which this year took place at Highclere Castle, Newbury by kind invitation of The Earl and Countess of Carnarvon. They gave us (about 250 of us!) a guided tour of the estate, which is situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and consists of 5000 acres. That includes 2000 acres of arable, 1200 acres of parkland (which was designed by Capability Brown), 1800 acres of woodland, and Highclere Stud.
The parkland has many stunning Lebanon cedars, some of which date back to the 18th century! They have a flock of 1400 Lleyn x Romney sheep grazing the parkland. The estate keeps a closed flock for health reasons. Highclere estate also grows a lot of oats, which they market as Highclere Horse Feeds, to feed their own thoroughbred racehorses; they also supply some of the top racing yards and polo yards in the country. Rocket fuel oats!
There are many other diversifications on the estate. A small vineyard was planted in 2019, and they now market Highclere Castle Gin (which was delicious!) and sell it in 28 states in the USA. The Estate's popularity in the USA is mainly due to the castle being used for the period TV drama series Downton Abbey, and I believe there is a new Downton Abbey movie being filmed currently. Downton Abbey has been hugely successful, and there are about 90K visitors to Highclere Castle annually to soak up all things Downton!
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Lastly - you know I am a lover of sunsets, and I managed to capture a lovely one over the farm last week, which is just too beautiful not to share!
As always, thank you for your custom and enjoy your birds!
Kind regards
Lesley
Countryside Stewardship 
