Living on Thin Air
Living on Thin Air
The last golden streams of grain are pouring out of the augur into the trailer of the tractor which is keeping pace alongside the combine harvester. The weather has been kind to us this year and all the crops have been collected in early. Now, like any farm, we are beginning to take stock of what has and has not gone well.
Never has agriculture been so challenged and if Winston Churchill were alive today he might once again comment that never does this country owe so much to so few to ensure we have food. So much is taken for granted yet it is good food which leads to good cooking and thus to good health.
With months of dry weather, the harvest started early which was positive. Unfortunately, this was counter-balanced by the fact that there was almost no rain in our part of the country during much of spring. Both Geordie and Simon (our farm manager) were therefore, like many other farmers, anticipating poor yields because we had short straw and the crops looked sparse.
Predictably, results have been rather mixed. The winter barley was good where there was sufficient moisture in the soil but poor in many other areas. Spring peas were one-third the yield of last year and beans were half of last year. Amazingly the oilseed rape was reasonable and luckily, we were not ravaged by cabbage stem beetle.
Oats normally do well on our chalk soils and they are our key value-added crop for the performance horse industry. Like the barley they suffered from a lack of moisture in the spring and, whilst normally a tall strawed crop, this year the harvest was not as good in places and once more quite thin. On the plus side, they were good quality and nice and bright which matters to the horse world.
The quality of the wheat looks good with the protein content likely to qualify for bread making but, like the others, where the moisture was low, the crop is much sparser than usual. The spring barley had some reasonable areas, which was surprising and, being a malting variety, will be sold to the Scottish distilleries.
The haylage was at least a third down on last year. Unfortunately, given the sheep have been struggling for any grass and grateful for any rain showers, we had to move them onto the haylage areas from which we therefore could not take a second crop. However, at least this meant that they had something to eat and farming is often a choice of the lesser of two evils!
Straw from all the arable crops is in demand this year which is offsetting some of the income lost to poor yields and we must use all opportunities where we can find them.
Unfortunately, at the moment, farming is a business beset by poor yields, poor prices and rising costs and, as a result, many farmers just cannot afford to continue as the economics don’t make sense. This is happening, despite the fact that we are dependent on farmers for food, which is the most basic of life’s essential outside of water. From our ability to care for the land and harvest we bought ourselves time to learn other skills, to make extraordinary inventions and create cities.
Yet sadly, knowledge of agriculture and the realisation that everything we eat ultimately comes from farming (or fishing) is rarely at the forefront of education. But we do need to understand that it is farms not factories which ultimately produce food and we cannot live on thin air whilst watching games on iPads.
“We must cherish agriculture as the first of British industries and nourish all other industries thereby” Winston Churchill .
37 Comments
Amen!!
How interesting, thank you. Your jobs do indeed range broadly don't they? I couldn't help but think how I can absolutely see Lady Mary Crawley up on a harvester, as well...checking things out to make sure everything is tiptop 😊. Enjoy your day, whatever it brings!
it is always interesting here! Lady Edith and Lady Mary certainly enjoyed visiting the farm in Downton Abbey
You are incredibly knowledgeable about farming. I can't imagine that the previous Lady Carnarvons were that informed or even allowed to be interested. However, you learned that for the
for your estate to survive you must find ways to use what you have to the best of your ability. Your husband is a lucky man to have you.
:)
Excellent report and educational. Good reminder to us all!
Thank you
My family’s roots, on the paternal side, are in farming all the way from the mid-1800s to the latter part of the 20th century. It was in very fertile portions of central and northern Illinois in the Midwest of the US. With that background and to anyone watching the travails of Jeremy Clarkson and his team, it becomes clear just how cruel, difficult, and challenging an occupation farming is. People outside the industry often don’t understand this. While I don’t have a simple solution (because there probably isn’t one) I hope societies across the world can figure out a workable one. There are a lot fewer farmers to grow food and billions more people living on our planet than ever before. Reading your description of the good times and bad times of farming was very interesting. Best wishes to the Highclere family and crew and to farmers everywhere.
Dairy farmers are now leaving the industry and in this country it is harder to find enough milk - you cannot import it from miles away. By the time politicians realise what they have done it is too late
You are so right here and the weather can make us all worried.
My dear, are you harvesting what is going to be for dinner today. Nothing like FRESH Greens for the table of delight! LOL. JOHN
I have friends who are visiting Highclere this week and although I am in Canada I was in sharing their trip by viewing your site. Your blogs are so insightful and interesting to read and this one truly helps remind us that everything we take for granted for our basic existence comes from the farmers allover the world who work so hard.
Covid gave the world a chance to regroup, which unfortunately it did not take advantage of. Here's hoping basics will get us back on track eventually.
Thank you so much for helping to bring thoughts back to real life in these still stressful times.
I look forward to regularly reading your blogs as the weeks go on.
Thank you
Thank you for such an in - depth commentary on the yields from your farms. So vital to know where our food comes from and never take it for granted.
Lady Carnarvon,
You are so correct in the importance of farming and all agriculture. We are definitely blessed by good crops. Agritourism is such a good way to educate and entertain old and young alike to the necessity of farming in this modern world. Thank you for doing both so well!
Hope the weather is good to you for the rest of the year and into the next growing season - which never ends!
Martha
thank you, you are kind
We just honored our local farmers at our church Sunday. We are so appreciative of their industry and faithfulness. The oldest farmer present was 93 years old!
That sounds wonderful
I completely sympathise. I am from a former farming family and don't believe we value our farmers in the way we should. The weather has been extraordinary this year and I wish you well
Well said and couldn’t agree more. Here in the US it is the same. We must treasure our farmers.
I find this an interesting take on your crops and well timed in a society that wants everything immediately. People forget what it takes to get it to immediate!
Wonderful commentary.
you are kind
Lady Carnarvon
I’m writing today on behalf of
My dear wife The Lady Rachelle
Of Coraopolis. In the year 2026
We will be married 40 years. I
Was contemplating a special
Trip to celebrate this momentous
Occasion. Due to the fact that
The Lady Rachelle is a hugh fan
Of Downton Abbey I’ve decided
That she should come to Highclere
To meet you and tour the grounds.
Please advise as to where we
Shall stay. Thank you Sir John Cosmides
Johncosmides@me.com
Congratulations on your marriage!
Sounds like a challenging farming year this year given lack of spring rain for you all there in England.
Good luck to natural animals that depend on some of your farm solutions and to humans also for food items.
God bless our farmers for their diligence and hard work !!!
God bless
Thank you so much for your beautiful commentary. I too come from a farming family on eastern Long Island namely East Quogue. My Dad swore by John Deere tractors so I enjoyed seeing this beautiful piece of machinery at work on Highclerc. Farming if nothing is a huge gamble with weather and markets always uncertain. Yet it’s so rewarding and humbling to be the stewards of a tiny portion of our beautiful Earth.
Thank you again for your commentaries. I always learn something!
There is something so essential about farming, about walking the fields, letting the grain run through your fingers...
Love seeing that you are using John Deere equipment! Here in the state of Iowa we use a lot of John Deere tractors and other equipment. And some are manufactured in Iowa. John Deere‘s world headquarters is in the neighboring state of Illinois in the United States.! Good luck on your crops.… From an Iowan farmer‘s daughter!
Good equipement!
Farming is so essential and is often is not given enough credit or help .
I live in New England and am so grateful for our local Farmers Markets where we
can get fresh items and get to know the farmers and their practices. We have a lot
of small farms in our area.
Thank you for reminding us all how important farming is!
p.s. That harvester is huge!!!
Thank you
Love that you so well describe the reality of farming. Recently, Australian farmers and truckies have driven thousands of kilometres in convoys bearing donated bales of hay to feed starving sheep and livestock in South Australia. Their generosity in these drought stricken times has given heart to so many and it is a touching site to see them trundling through the parched country and the gratitude that greets them from farmers and animals as they offload their bales.
Love that you so well describe the reality of farming. Recently, Australian farmers and truckies have driven thousands of kilometres in convoys bearing donated bales of hay to feed starving sheep and livestock in South Australia. Their generosity in these drought stricken times has given heart to so many and it is a touching site to see them trundling through the parched country and the gratitude that greets them from farmers and animals as they offload their bales.
Hello Lady Carnarvon.
Well presented and interesting blog of the harvest at Highclere 2025.
Many do not realize that the combine harvesters work flat out for about 18 hours a day, for about 4 weeks. Also needs the labour force to
operate 3 shift system during this period.
Then, when all completed, the combine is serviced. washed, cleaned and securely locked away till the following year.
An idea for a future blog............farming at Highclere during WW1 and beyond, when there was a labour shortage and basic farm machinery.
Just like our Lady Mary Crawley you know all about everything! Loved seeing the photos of the John Deere farm equipment. But wishes on a fruitful autumn harvest.
I know for sure I do not know much but curiousity is there to know
Farming goes way back in my family in Europe, then continuing in the U.S. for almost the last two hundred years. I am now the archivist on an historic farm.
I've come to understand that so many people have no idea what it takes to get food from farm to table and that's a shame. Your commentary today was especially
interesting.
it is a skilled process..
Yes indeed. Our farmers need far less taxes, better prices and more Govt Education is paramount and school gardens could be a staple so children can learn and take an interest It's shocking when children believe their fruit and veg comes from supermarkets! Maybe a somewhat WWII approach could help with encouragement of "grow your own" and more land for allotments being set aside. Our farmers work so hard, yet it's rarely seen snd therefore goes unappreciated.
Highclere is creating a whole weekend around 1945 - to say thank you to our parents and grandparents on 6/7 Sept with a focus on the story of Land Girls too
Lady Carnarvon, thank you for the reminder of farming 's value to our good health and life itself. Here in California, farming is an important industry and major employer, especially of our beloved immigrants, who work hard to being food to the world's table.
We are having similar issues in Australia. Having to buy in hay and grain for the sheep, as the weather just hasn't given enough rain. Yet I have a friend, also in Australia, whose entire town (amongst many others) flooded, destroying her home. 6 weeks later and the area flooded again.
We have also had know in the lower parts of Queensland which is unheard of.
I see Sandi c Brock on youtube having the same issues in Canada.
Farmers are battling every day, and we don't recognise it. Governments don't give the help to farmers they desperately need during these times to be able to keep stock alive.
My late husband and myself had a small farm (72 acres) in Cornwall. I continued to work full time in a secretarial job elsewhere and he ended up helping a local builder. We had to farm some 300 sheep in the margins of this and it was hard work, leastways unpredictable weather and low returns at Liskeard Market. Sad the day we walked away but there was no choice. Many consumers in supermarkets think the food appears by magic on the shelves. They have no idea.
It is farmers' magic.
I have been enlightened, never really having considered that Highclere is also very much a working farm. The glamour and drama of 'Downton Abbey' had led me to think rather one-dimensionally. Thank you so much for informing me!
it is all inter related - as we all are
Thank you for your insight on farming in the UK. Having grown up on a farm in the Midwest (USA), it is interesting to see the differences and similarities. Rain especially is a tricky bugger. Not enough = bad crop. Too much = bad crop PLUS getting into and out of fields is tricky
We farm in the Midwest, USA. Costs of inputs like fuel, fertilizer, equipment, and labor are rising every year. And now tariffs
are affecting things we need from our good neighbors in Canada. Prices for grain are low right now. We can not do much about weather but work around the pitfalls of not enough and too much rain. We find that diversification is the only way to farm on the scale we do. And the other key is to have family members have off farm jobs.
The blog about agriculture in the UK written today sounds almost like my life. I so wish people took more of an interest in where their food comes from.
Best wishes for a successful and profitable end of the season. (We own only John Deere tractors and equipment.).
Every farmer is trying to diversify - but still we all need to eat! Some politicians over here make such odd remarks - suggesting that farmers need to do holiday lets etc . All very well but i think most politicians still would like breakfast lunch and tea!
Lady Carnarvon,
My husband's family is from Pennsylvania, where many farmers who have owned their farms for generations are having to sell. Either they cannot afford to keep running them or, ,more likely, developers offer them huge sums to sell.
What a pity. And shortsighted. And UK farmers are having to deal with the inheritance tax mess.
Lots of farms here in Tx.( Mainly cotton). And some wheat. But dairy farmers are selling up and some ranches as well. Have a good week.
Politics seems to be all about votes today and don't worry about tomorrow as they won't be there to deal with it
Quite a sad read about the state of farming..
Many are also struggling in NZ but for the dairy & beef, there's great overseas prices, there fore the consumer gets hammered with high beef & dairy products!. We no longer buy lamb roasts because of the price. r
So very interesting to read
Thank you
Dear Lady Fiona,
I loved reading this and was very thoughtful about your words...
When the Portuguese navigator PEDRO ÁLVARES CABRAL discovered BRAZIL
on april 22,year 1500,he wrote a letter to the king of Portugal DOM MANUEL,O VENTUROSO,
telling him:" IF YOU PLANT ANYTHING, IT GROWS "
This meant that the discovered lands were extremely productive...and continue to be so today.
Sun, water and good weather, are all essential for right productivity.
"BRAZIL THE WORLD'S BREADBASKET. " Some agricultura engineers say ...so be it...
so there will be no hunger in the world in the future.
VILA ALEMÃ
RIO CLARO-SP
BRAZIL.
.
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Lovely the pictures of living on thin air did you and lord Carnarvon have a wonderful weekend lam fan of Downton Abbey and higcelere castle
you are kind :)