Birds over barley

As summer ebbs into autumn, Andy Crow is out protecting the winter drillings from the pigeons that have been attracted by a proliferation of barley stubbles

- ANDY CROW

The impact of last winter’s wet weather is still being seen across the countryside, especially in the types of crop that have been selected. “A lot of farmers were not able to get on the land in the autumn to drill so had to sow late crops such as spring barley,” explains Andy. “Obviously, this allowed them to get on the land and drill later than normal, but we have seen that causing some quite late harvests now. Barley can ripen up unevenly as well, and this wasn’t helped by the lack of moisture at times during the growing season.

“As a consequence, some areas ended up coming in to ear much earlier than others. These plants then bend over into the standing crop and come harvest time either break off or get cut by the harvester and end up on the ground, rather than going through the machinery properly.”

Unlike some grains, barley doesn’t easily germinate once on the ground. While a shower of rain can cause rapeseed to germinate almost overnight, barley might sit for weeks in the fields. That can mean it is an attractant for pigeons, as well as ducks and geese, into the colder months.