You know the drill

As COVID-19 wreaks havoc, Tom Payne heads out to protect a field of barley but a curious species puts a spanner in the works

- Tom Payne

There was steady business as the flapper worked as Tom intended

Who would have thought that after such a period of wet weather we would be drilling this soon? We usually drill at the end of March to early April, so it was almost bang on time.

I remember speaking to George Ponsonby, a farmer and friend of mine, and he said: “All we need is an easterly wind and that will sort the ground out.” Turns out he was right.

The wet weather meant there was a backlog of work as farmers just couldn’t get into the fields to finish the drilling. So, as you can imagine, there is a lot of drilling still to be done all over the country.

Lockdown

There is one slight problem, however. Coronavirus has come to our shores and due to the severity of this terrible virus the country is in lockdown. But for some reason, the computer wielding, TV-watching escapees of towns and cities now seem to be going wherever they want in rural Britain. Farmers, keepers and landowners are pulling their hair out.

“In my eyes, crop protection from pigeon comes under the important banner of food production”

As a professional pigeon shooter, my service at this time of the year is of huge importance but doubly so given the lockdown in which we now find ourselves. Crop protection from pigeon comes under the important banner of food production.

This doesn’t mean everyone can continue to go pigeon shooting as a way of getting out of the house. I’m not trying to be a killjoy but I am looking at this from a professional point of view and not simply wanting to get out for a shot.