Farming Friends

Arable Crops Definitions

• Arable Farming - The production of crops.
• Barley - A cereal crop grown mainly for malting and as an animal feed.
• Biodiesel - Fuel that has been produced using crops.
• Blight - A potato disease.
• Buteric Silage - Silage that is too wet and does not ferment properly.
• Canola - The American name for oilseed rape, an arable crop grown for the extraction of oil from the seeds.
• Chlorophyll - The green pigment in leaves.
• Chloroplasts - The leaf cells in plants.
• CO2 - The chemical formula for Carbon Dioxide.
• Dehusked - To remove the outer layer on grain.
• H2O - The chemical formula for Water.
• Hay - A mature grass that has been cut and allowed to dry in the field.
• O2 - The chemical formula for Oxygen.
• Oats - A cereal crop grown for animal feed and for cereal foods for human consumption.
• Oilseed Rape - An arable crop, also known as canola, grown for the extraction of oil from the seeds.
• Photosynthesis - The food making process of a plant which takes place in the leaf.
• Potato Cyst Nematode - A soil borne pest that affects the potato crop.
• Potatoes - An arable crop and root vegetable grown for human consumption.
• Silage - Grass that has been preserved by pickling rather than drying.
• Wheat - A cereal crop grown for animal feed and for the production of flour.

Arable Crops

There are many varieties of potatoes which are grown for different reasons.

Soilman asked, “What varieties do you grow?”

The potato varieties we have grown on the farm over the years are:

• Hermes - these potatoes have been grown for a merchant that sells the potatoes for crisping.
• King Edward - these potatoes have been sold to the public for consumption as mash, chips or roast potatoes.
• Cara - these are table potatoes and have been sold to the public.
• Russet Burbank - these potatoes were grown to make chips.
• Cultra - these potatoes were grown for the table.
• Record - these potatoes have been grown for making crisps.
• Estima - these table potatoes have been sold to the public.
• Desiree - these are potatoes that are grown for the table.

If you are wanting to grow potatoes in your vegetable garden then visit TopVeg for excellent potato growing advice.

Potatoes

The theme for the photo hunt this week is important, so what is important on the farm?

The crops are very important.

WHEAT

BARLEY

POTATOES

OILSEED RAPE / CANOLA

Not only do the crops earn the farmers money, but the crops feed the animals on the farm and in turn make food that feeds the farmer!

If you would like to join Photo Hunters then click on the image below for more information.

 

Arable Crops Barley Canola Oilseed Rape Photo Hunt Potatoes Wheat

The potato harvest has begun for our farm this week and so I am now grading potatoes. This means that once the potatoes are lifted from the field, they are then tipped from the trailer onto a conveyor belt that allows us to grade the potatoes by picking out the following items;

• Stones,
• Mud,
• Weeds,
• Grass,
• Foreign objects,
• Rotten potatoes,
• Green potatoes,
• Mis-shaped potatoes,
• Largest potatoes,
• Smallest potatoes.

Although grading potatoes can be a little bit monotonous for some people, the conversation at our grader is certainly entertaining. I suggested that I tape the conversations and include them on my website as a podcast or should I say “potato-cast”!!!

Potatoes

What is an arable crop?

An arable crop is a plant (cereal, fruit or vegetable) that is cultivated for food or other uses, on ploughed land.

How many arable crops can you name? Can you name 30 or more?

Have a go at naming arable crops in the contact form below and the reader who names the most will win a prize. As contestants enter I will let you know the score to beat. You may enter more than once if you wish! Enter by filling in your name, email address and listing all the arable crops you can name. Good Luck. Score to beat is…….41.

Click on the image below to visit Amazon.co.uk to find out more about this book or visit one of the Farming Friends Bookshops.

 

 

 

Arable Crops Puzzles

 

The wheat has been successfully harvested this year and the grain is safely stored in the new grain store.

It has been reported that the yields are down nationally, but our wheat yields are reasonable this year, although there is a problem with the straw staying green.

Arable Crops Grain Shed Grain store Harvest Wheat

We were able to harvest some more of the oilseed rape on Wednesday but we still haven’t finished as the remaining areas are still too wet for the combine to travel.  The combine repeatedly got stuck but we were able to ‘dig it out’ with a spade and by jolting it backwards and forwards we would get the machine out and have an attempt in another area of the field.  Steady progress continued until 7.30pm when we got stuck once more.  I gave the engine full throttle and tried to reverse out of the mud to the sound of a huge crack and the combine slumped over to the left.  I immediately knew what had happened -the axle/reduction gearbox hub had snapped and the wheel had fallen off and was now trapped under the frame of the combine. (more…)

Arable Crops Canola Combine Harvester Farm Machinery Harvest Oilseed Rape Wheat