A year in the life of an East Anglian farm.
Genre:
Agriculture; Educational
Aerial views of Elmsett Hall farm and the surrounding village and countryside. On an Autumn day a Fordson tractor and a reversible plough works the field. Mr. Robert Fison, the farmer, checks the soil. Dalgety fertiliser and wheat seed arrive by lorry and are unloaded in a barn.
In Spring, sugar beet seed is sown by a drill. A corn drill sows wheat and applies fertiliser. The seed bed is rolled with a Cambridge roller. Young cattle are let out into a field. Aerial views show the farm and the growing crops. Mr. Eric Fison checks the barley and the peas. Top dressing fertiliser is spread on a pea field. The field is harrowed and sprayed with weed killer.
In May, the cow yard is cleaned out. The waste is taken away by tractor. At the Suffolk Show at the Suffolk Showground near Ipswich, there are scenes of show jumping. Cow man Ivan Soames washes down their prize bull, Firework, before it is exhibited before the judges. There are scenes of the judging and of 'Firework' with the rosette. The bull is paraded in the judging area and then in the grand ring as Robert Fison watches.
In July, there are aerial views of the farm as Eric Fison inspects the wheat, barley and peas. Harvesting begins in August and a New Holland combine is used. Grain is emptied into a trailer and taken back to the farm where it is cleaned by machine and then stored. Straw is baled, carted and stacked. A buyer from the Corn merchant inspects the wheat prior to purchase. Manure is spread and ploughed in. Cows are brought from a field and milked. In the milking parlour a tanker collects the milk and another collects the wheat. Finally sugar beet is harvested by a beet harvester and ploughing begins for next year.
Featured People:
Eric Fison; farmer; Robert Fison, farmer; Ivan Soames, cowman