It has been a dull and wet January, we had 90mm of rain, with just a covering of snow one morning. I have only recorded three wetter Januarys in the last 55 years. We’ve only had more than 100mm (4ins) of rain four times in January in the last 200 years, according to the drainage board records. Temperatures were about average for January, 3.6°C.

Another wet winter: six out of the last seven winters have been wetter than average, only winter 2021-22 was drier than average. The wet weather has not affected us much, as we had a good autumn and had nearly all the work done by the end of October, but the wet weather has shown on one field where we have a pan, the field is drained and we have water standing on it. A pan in a field, commonly known as a plough pan or hardpan, is a dense, compacted layer of soil, often found 15–30 cm below the surface, that restricts water drainage, air circulation, and root penetration. We have two more fields, bought about five years ago, that have water standing on them, which will also need draining.

Potatoes are a problem; we have about 30% of our crop not on contract. It would have been closer to 20%, but we grew a larger crop this year due to the good summer. Even fields that weren’t irrigated yielded well. Potatoes not on contract can sell for less than half the contract price, and if they are a small sample, the only avenue for them is to sell as stockfeed. I don’t think we’ve grown more potatoes overall because of the dry summer; I think instead that our consumption is down. When I speak to a transport firm whose main business is delivering potatoes, they say they’re not as busy as usual.

Whatever the reason, there is a surplus and it only takes a 10% surplus for the price to drop 50%. If the market needs 10 loads every day and eleven arrive there are going to be some left over. If eleven loads arrive the next day, the sellers will have to drop the price to move them on. If the market is still needing 10 loads a day and only nine arrive, some buyers will have to go without and if the same happens the next day, buyers start scrambling for them and the price goes right up.

Why don’t we have them all on contract? If we tried to do that and we fell a bit short on tonnage and potatoes were in short supply, the pre-packer would tell us to buy some in to cover the contract. This year we are expecting that the pre-packers will say we are not going to be able to use all your contract, you will have to sell them on the open market. A bit one sided, isn’t it?

Wheat and barley prices are much the same as they were 20 years ago, but the price of organic barley is £290/tonne and as we have grown it for seed there is a £25/tonne premium on it. We need that premium as we had to walk through the crops twice to make sure there were no wild oats in it. Any wild oats found are carried to the end of the field and taken away.

Tree sparrow

Spring will soon be here, we have a Song Thrush that started singing on 19th January, only quietly at the start, but after a week it was singing really well.

All the hawthorn berries have gone from the hedges around here. It was the NE winds over Christmas that brought more Fieldfares, Redwings and Blackbirds in, and for a week I had about 700 Fieldfares on one hedge by the North Drove drain. Some of that hedge had never been trimmed since it was planted 45 years ago. It was planted by the local Drainage Board to make faggots. Faggots are bunches of hawthorn branches tied together to put in the bottom of dykes after the bank has slipped in to stop it slipping in again. It is not the best of jobs making these bundles and now with the high cost of labour it is cheaper to buy in stone to repair the slips, so the hedge remains, doing its bit for wildlife.

I expect many of you saw Winter Watch in January where one of the presenters said he was taking his feeders down because of disease he had seen at his site. There is no doubt that they are very knowledgeable, but it is such a simple fact that by not feeding the birds, this will hasten their decline. I have studied Corn buntings, Yellow Wagtails, Reed warblers, Barn owls and Tree sparrows over the past 35 years and they are all in decline because they are experiencing food shortages, most often in the summer. On our farm, I feed Tree sparrows all year round, in habitat that I copied 30 years ago from Worth’s farm, here in the village. For comparison, about eight years ago, I put some nest boxes up on Worth’s farm and there were two pairs nesting, but they only had one brood. They nested the next year, but haven’t nested there since. The only difference being that I don’t feed at this site.

On our farm where we have nest boxes, I feed red millet all the year round and the 35 pairs of Tree sparrows generally have two or three broods each year. Without feeding there wouldn’t be any Tree sparrows on Vine House Farm. Feeding them seeds keeps them in good condition, allowing them to spend more time looking for insects to feed their nestlings.

Barn owls’ main food are field and bank voles. When there’s plenty of food about, they have two broods, but if there is a shortage of voles, Barn owls will sit in their nest site during the spring and summer until there are enough voles for them to start laying eggs.

The Magpie population has steadily increased over the last 40 years. When I was a lad, I seldom saw a Magpie, but we now serve them breakfast every morning on our roads. If you are going anywhere in your car at daybreak, the first bird you will probably see would be a Magpie looking for its breakfast; they, along with the rest of the crow family and foxes, can live on what we discard.

From just these three examples, food is the driver of bird and animal populations. Those birds that live on seeds and insects are having a tough time and will do better if we provide them with food, BUT we must keep those feeders clean, to prevent disease.