What goes where, and when, for the whole year.
The rotation is set in the first week of October and barely moves after that. This is it: every field, every crop, every drilling window and every harvest window, published before anybody takes a patch in it.
When everything goes in and comes off.
Twelve operations, one farm, and a set of windows that the weather routinely ignores.
| What | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oilseed rapeDrilled Aug, cut late July | Available in January | Available in February | Available in March | Available in April | Available in May | Available in June | At its best in | At its best in | Available in September | Available in October | Available in November | Available in December |
| Winter barleyDrilled Sept, cut mid-July | Available in January | Available in February | Available in March | Available in April | Available in May | Available in June | At its best in | Not in August | At its best in | Available in October | Available in November | Available in December |
| Winter wheatDrilled Oct, cut late Aug | Available in January | Available in February | Available in March | Available in April | Available in May | Available in June | Available in July | At its best in | Not in September | At its best in | Available in November | Available in December |
| Winter oatsDrilled Oct, cut early Aug | Available in January | Available in February | Available in March | Available in April | Available in May | Available in June | Available in July | At its best in | Not in September | At its best in | Available in November | Available in December |
| Spring barleyDrilled March, cut late July | Not in January | Not in February | At its best in | Available in April | Available in May | Available in June | Available in July | At its best in | Not in September | Not in October | Not in November | Not in December |
| Spring oatsDrilled March, cut Sept | Not in January | Not in February | At its best in | Available in April | Available in May | Available in June | Available in July | Available in August | At its best in | Not in October | Not in November | Not in December |
| Durum wheatDrilled late March, cut late Aug | Not in January | Not in February | At its best in | Available in April | Available in May | Available in June | Available in July | At its best in | Not in September | Not in October | Not in November | Not in December |
| PotatoesPlanted April, lifted Sept–Oct | Not in January | Not in February | Not in March | At its best in | Available in May | Available in June | Available in July | Available in August | Available in September | At its best in | Not in November | Not in December |
| EchiumDrilled April, cut Aug | Not in January | Not in February | Not in March | At its best in | Available in May | Available in June | Available in July | At its best in | Not in September | Not in October | Not in November | Not in December |
| Market gardenSuccession, picked May–Oct | Not in January | Not in February | Available in March | Available in April | Available in May | At its best in | At its best in | At its best in | Available in September | Available in October | Not in November | Not in December |
| Hedgerow layingDec to Feb, never in nesting season | At its best in | Available in February | Not in March | Not in April | Not in May | Not in June | Not in July | Not in August | Not in September | Not in October | Not in November | Available in December |
| Wildflower sowingApril, once every five years | Not in January | Not in February | Not in March | At its best in | Available in May | Not in June | Not in July | Not in August | Not in September | Not in October | Not in November | Not in December |
At its best Available This month, August
Why the plan is published before the patches sell.
Because a drilling plan published afterwards is a description of what happened, and a drilling plan published beforehand is a commitment.
It also removes the most obvious temptation in this whole model, which is to sell patches in whatever crop is selling and then decide where to put it. The rotation decides. Blackgrass Corner gets spring crops because it has resistant blackgrass in it, not because spring crops are popular.
If the plan changes after publication — and it does, roughly one year in three, because of weather at drilling — everybody holding a patch in the affected field is told within the week, with the reason, and offered the substitution or a refund.
The plan for 2026–27, as set on 3 October.
| Field | Crop | Drilling window | Harvest window | Patches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Barley Block, north | Winter barley | 18–28 September | 10–22 July | A5, A6 |
| The Barley Block, main | Spring barley | 5–20 March | 25 July – 8 August | A1–A4, A7 |
| Curdle Hill | Winter wheat | 5–20 October | 18 August – 2 September | B1, B2, B3, B7 |
| Curdle Hill, south | Durum wheat | 20–31 March | 20 August – 5 September | B4, B5 |
| Curdle Hill, north end | Winter oats | 1–12 October | 1–14 August | B6 |
| The Bottoms | Potatoes | 8–24 April | 20 September – 15 October | C1, C2 |
| The Bottoms, drained | Winter wheat / spring barley | October / March | August | C6, C7 |
| Blackgrass Corner | Oilseed rape | 10–22 August | 20–31 July | C3, C4 |
| Blackgrass Corner, east | Spring oats | 20 March – 5 April | 1–15 September | C5 |
| The Hedged Margins | Laying, not drilling | 1 December – 28 February | Blackberries, late August | D1–D3 |
| The Wildflower Ground | Nothing, deliberately | Sown April 2024, next 2029 | None | D4, D5 |
| The Market Garden Plot | Succession vegetables | March onwards | May to October | D6 |
| The Brash Tops | Echium, and the voted crop | April | August | D7 |
The one decision everything else hangs off.
Drill date. It is the single most consequential decision in an arable year and it is made under total uncertainty, in October, about weather in the following June.
Drill early and you get establishment, tillering and yield potential, plus a full crop of blackgrass that will cost you more than the yield was worth. Drill late and you get a clean crop, a lower ceiling, and the real possibility of not getting it in at all if October turns wet.
This farm drills late on the blackgrass ground and conventionally everywhere else, which is a hedge rather than a strategy. It is also the argument that comes up in the yard about four times every autumn.
- £155/ha
- blackgrass cost where infested
- ~2 weeks
- the delay on Curdle Hill
- 1 in 3
- years the plan moves
The plan, questioned.
Three questions about a plan that is published before it sells.
Everybody holding a patch in the affected field is told within the week, with the reason, and offered the substitution or a full refund. It happens roughly one year in three.
Because there is no such thing. The combine goes when the grain is under fifteen per cent moisture and the forecast holds for two days, and neither of those consults a calendar.
No. The rotation decides what goes where, and letting the checkout override the agronomist is how a farm ends up with three consecutive wheat crops and a blackgrass problem it cannot spray its way out of.
Take a patch in the plan.
Twenty-eight of them, and the plan they sit inside.
