Simon Wadlow - Farmers Weekly


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13 FEBRUARY 1998 ------------------------- SIMON WADLOW SIMON WADLOW FARMS 200HA (500 ACRES) AT THE CROFT, NEAR BRIDGNORTH, SHROPSHIRE. KEY CROPS ARE WINTER WHEAT AND SUGAR BEET, PLUS WINTER


OATS, BARLEY, OILSEED RAPE AND BEANS. FORAGE MAIZE, SET-ASIDE AND PASTURE MAKE UP THE BALANCE L AST month I finished by saying I felt very indecisive about grain marketing. After convincing


myself that we are unlikely to see much, if any, improvement on current prices for the remainder of this marketing year, I took the bull by the horns and sold 50t of feed barley for January


delivery and 100t of Consort winter wheat for February movement. Prices have since slipped £2/t or so, but at these levels that gives me no satisfaction. Just as I was waiting for Sir David


Naish to address the NFU at the mass rally in London in January, my wife rang on the mobile phone. A load of barley had been rejected because of insects – should we have it back or have it


cleaned and redirected as near to Liverpool as possible? I agreed to the latter. Never before had I had trouble with insects in store and I was cursing my complacency for not monitoring the


store more carefully. I resigned myself to a claim from the merchant. However, I was not prepared for the claim that did arrive – £15.25/t. This was made up of £4.50 for cleaning (not cheap


but acceptable) and £10.75 for transport. So far, I have not discovered how far it was moved. But I intend to. Is it right that merchants can submit large claims without more explanation? Or


are we being taken for a ride as well as our grain? Sugar beet deliveries were completed on schedule and with sugar content holding up remarkably well. Our quota has been exceeded by more


than predicted, so it is good to see British Sugar has blocked more C quota sugar, giving us £2/t more for C quota beet. I now have the fertiliser recommendations for the coming season from


our agronomist. By the time I make my next contribution I hope a start will have been made. &#42 _Furious with Europe and furious with merchants too. A £15.25/t deduction for


insect-contaminated grain angered Simon Wadlow. Finding out how the costs built up is proving far too difficult, he says._