Friday January 17, 2014

Day 39..

Today we started off with a PKA meeting with the farm manager Vic. During our two year agriculture course we have been assigned a project that requires us to follow, record, and track an autumn sown field and a spring sown field as part of the 200 hectare estates farming program. To enhance our theory based learning, this project will allow us to experience the progress of a crop from field cultivation, planting, growth, disease damage and prevention techniques to harvest and final yield. The first field my group is working on is Sheepwalks West - an 8.09 hectare field that has been sown with winter wheat and we will now track the growth of the crop and create a portfolio of information.

In our grassland lesson today we discussed the importance of grassland. Of the UK's total landmass 70% is farmed and of the farmed land 50% is grassland. This grassland is then divided between grazing and conservation. Grazing is predominantly for sheep, beef and dairy cattle and conserving grass incorporates the cutting of grass as silage (fermented, high-moisture stored forage) and hay (grass that has been mown and dried) to be fed to the animals during the winter months when grass is scarce and offers much less nutritional value. The main nutrients required by grass are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potash (K) and Sulphur (S). Therefore it is essential to maintain these properties, not only to benefit the animals that graze the land, but also for the harvested grass to provide good quality fodder with a high nutrient value.  

For our machinery operations theory lesson, we watched a health and safety video and were asked to take notes during the film as we would be asked questions afterwards! It is easy to forget the importance of health and safety on and around a farm but on average, between 40 and 50 workers including employers, employees and self employed farmers are killed on British farms each year! Almost one person per week - and compared to other industries such as construction and manufacturing - farming has the highest death rate. So one must not become complacent. Furthermore there are 120,000 injuries every year caused by farming or farm related accidents that in most cases could have been prevented! And of those injuries 1 in 6 are caused by animals. Always carry out machinery operations with care and always carry out animal husbandry with attention - a farm accident can happen to anyone - never think it will not happen to you.