Here in the UK, harvest’s wrapping up across most of the country, though there’s still some coming off further north. Yards are filling, and stock’s coming home for winter. Most of you are already half-thinking about next season even before this one’s fully done. That gap between harvest and full winter admin is usually the only quiet window you get, so here’s what’s worth using it for.
Get your gross margins sorted while it’s fresh
It’s much easier to work out what actually made money this year while the details are still in your head: what went into each field, what came out, what it cost you. Leave it until January and you’re reconstructing it from memory and a pile of receipts. If you’ve been logging jobs and inputs as you’ve gone, pulling a gross margin by field or by crop is mostly just a case of looking at what you’ve already recorded.
Worth a look: SFI applications are open again (England)
If you’re farming in England and haven’t checked in on the Sustainable Farming Incentive for a while, this month’s actually a reasonable time to. The scheme’s second application window for this year opened to all farms in September. It’s also been simplified since you last looked: a shorter, more focused list of actions than before. If the old version felt like too much admin to bother with, it might be worth another five minutes now.
Whatever you decide, having your field boundaries, land use, and job history already mapped out makes any application a lot less painful. You’re pulling from records you’ve already got, not building a case from scratch.
Back in the swing of it
There’s a back-to-it feeling in the air right now: end of harvest for some, start of planting or lambing for others, wherever you are in the world. Good to be back in the swing of it, helping you keep the farm ticking over whatever season’s next for you.
Wishing you a good run into whatever’s coming next.