Let’s face it – we’ve had our share of pleasant harvests over the past five years. With the exception of 2020, they’ve all been pretty good in terms of yields and weather.

And last harvest was the stuff of dreams when we had the elusive holy trinity of great yields, great prices and great weather. We may never see that again.

I made it one to remember by going on a bit of a machinery buying bender.

Enjoyable spending

And boy, I’ve enjoyed spending the rewards in an attempt to hold onto as much as possible from the greedy taxman. (I’d rather die in debt than have RTÉ squander taxpayer’s money on flip-flops and Ryan Tubridy).

There were particularly lean years 12 and more years ago when I’d suffer buyer’s remorse for splashing out on a wheelbarrow.

The spending began last summer as commodity prices soared with Putin’s war. Top of the list was a new Farmet tine cultivator and direct-drilling Borgault openers for the Horsch Sprinter.

Then, as it happened, Bruno’s mini digger was due an oil change and so had to go. I snapped it up and Bruno was spared the awfulness of a possible oil splash on the squeaky-clean workshop floor.

Then we needed a low-loader to move the Kubota and a heap of attachments ranging from a grab to a nose-picker. They’re handy things, mini-diggers.

The 2018 Bogballe spreader was changed for small money, thanks to a TAMS grant. Some grain drying equipment was updated. The 2012 JCB TM 310 was scheduled for replacement and this was now possible.

I placed an order for a new TM 320 last March, for September delivery. JCB can’t build them quickly enough, as it appears half the world is like me and on a machinery bender.

We don’t need a new combine or tractors, they’re all good. Yes, a Bateman sprayer upgrade would be nice or a new McConnel Agribuggy, but I’d need a call from Lotto’s Nuala Carey to make this possible.

With that aside, we are now in the best place we have ever been machinery-wise due to strategic reinvestment over the past five or so years of plenty.

But the loot isn’t all gone on machinery, it’s also gone on farm maintenance. It’s been good, but this may well be over.

Harvest

Harvest 2022 is history and 2023 is not looking nearly so promising. It may even be awful. We’ve had destructive, windy and wet weather for the past month and lodging is becoming a major bloody problem.

The jet stream is stuck in low range and prices are very marginal.

Yes, the combine was out on 7 July, making the earliest ever start to harvest. We hadn’t a lot of winter barley and so it’s all harvested, but the yield isn’t exciting at an average of 3.4t/ac.

Let’s call a spade a spade; this sort of a yield at today’s prices and today’s costs is no good. It’s milk at 30c/ltr – and from a low-yielding cow.

The rape was sprayed off a few days later and despite looking good all year, it doesn’t look good now. It’s unevenly ripe, probably due to disease. If you ask me to call it now, I’d say 1.7t/ac will be it, which will disappoint.

Something to add to the reading list: Till

But enough of the gloom. I’ve compiled the most popular pieces from this column over the past 20 years into a book, titled Till. Royalties go to charity – that finishes any McConnel Agribuggy notions.

Check out Till on Amazon, antoniasbookstore.com (046 94 37532) or your local independent bookshop. They’ll get it for you.