Winter work

While every farm is different, most farmers are the same in that they usually put off a range of jobs until the winter months, especially when it comes to machinery maintenance.

Many of these jobs are now being done in the thousands of workshops on tillage farms across the country.

There’s not much I can say here that you don’t already know. Tillage farmers are incredibly creative and inventive when it comes to machinery, and tend to be handy at fabrication.

The name of the game is to make a machine or job more efficient and safer.

The ideas for modifications to machines, or entirely new pieces of equipment, generally stem from experiences during the past season. However, in this golden age of social media, I find myself drawing more inspiration from online platforms.

Indeed, just last week I stumbled across a video of an ingenious phone and notepad holder for the tractor cab made with an old coffee mug. Trivial? Most certainly, but I’ll likely have a go at it over the Christmas break anyway.

Enjoy workshop season, and please share any cunning innovations you come up with. But of course, stay safe. Be mindful of fumes, gas, welding arcs and sparks.

PPE is there for a reason, and no matter how quick a job is, even if it’s just to nip, trim or dab a weld, put your gloves, mask or goggles on. After all, no one wants to spend Christmas nursing an injury, least of all one sustained from turning a coffee mug into a phone holder.

Field work

We have been blessed with cold, dry and bright weather this week. Soils are saturated in some parts of the country, but in other parts, growers have been out in fields with oilseed rape herbicides.

When you read this, the cold snap might have passed; however, if it hasn’t and you’ve been using your sprayer, don’t forget the antifreeze.

Slurry

It’s that time of year again when some livestock farmers rush to secure acres to comply with nitrate regulations.

While we have all helped a farmer out of a tight spot before, if you sign for slurry, make sure you actually get it. Slurry is valuable to a tillage farm, and there are set to be big changes coming around the movement of slurry from next year in a bid to clamp down on paper movements.

US farm scholarship

The application process is now open for the Irish Tillage and Land Use Society Rosenbohm US Farm Scholarship. The scholarship, which is run in conjunction with the Ulster Arable Society and supported by Irish Farmers Journal, offers students the opportunity to apply for a three-month placement on the 5,000ac Rosenbohm family farm in Missouri, US.

Running from 1 September 2025 to 1 December 2025, the application form is available on the ITLUS and UAS websites. The form must be completed and returned to the ITLUS secretary by 31 January 2025.