Farmers still need to lift stones

Sodden land has held up many farmers with spring crops to sow, particularly in the West of Scotland, and everyone is anxiously watching weather reports in the hope for a badly-needed dry spell. Still, it's amazing how quickly the land can dry out at this time of year.

One of the dark clouds that may remain on the horizon when the land becomes dry enough to carry tractors is the prospect of lifting stones from it. That's not such a problem on good arable land where stones are few and far between.

Having said that, some arable farmers who grow potatoes and other vegetables like onions, carrots, leeks and beetroot, de-stone the seedbed before planting their crops. It's a process involving a machine that riddles the soil to separate out the stones and then deposits them beneath about 35cm (14 inches) of "sieved" soil.

De-stoning minimises tuber damage at harvesting and is driven by supermarkets' desire for perfectly shaped potatoes, but is probably one of the most damaging things you can do to soil, as it causes it to lose its structure. It also increases the risk of run-off and erosion, and in the longer term encourages the loss of organic matter.

Such finer points about the value of small stones will be completely lost on those in livestock rearing areas whose land is best described as "ploughable" rather than arable. Because such marginal land invariably reveals another large crop of stones every time it is ploughed, most only do that every seven or eight years to reseed their silage ground. Some have even abandoned ploughing such land and simply spray off the old pasture before preparing a shallow seedbed using minimal cultivation techniques with heavy discs and harrows.

Stones are a strange phenomenon. Generations of farmers have ploughed their fields, cultivated them and gathered up all the stones. Despite that, every time you plough there's always a fresh crop of stones to be harvested. It's almost as if they're breeding underground.

Stones tenaciously hold onto the land for generations until a plough finally catches them and pulls them out, or dislodges them so that they protrude. Like icebergs, the tip that you see is often only a fraction of it.

It's not uncommon to find stones, scored with countless grooves made by ploughshares scraping them over the years, until finally they were caught at a strategic point and exposed. Spying such stones peeking out of the soil often made me wish they had kept their head down and remained hidden beneath the surface.

Gathering stones is one of those tasks that has to be done and can't be put off. Bigger stones that can't be pressed back into the soil by the roller must be removed, or they'll damage equipment like mowers or the cutter-bar on expensive combine harvesters.

In the days of my youth, really big stones had heavy chains fitted so they could be dragged off by tractor. Others were levered out of the ground and broken up with 14lb hammers. Now that hydraulic diggers are more common on farms, really big stones aren't such a problem because they can be mechanically lifted by working levers from inside a snug cab.

It's those intermediate-sized stones, ranging in size from slightly smaller than a rugby ball, that are the problem. You have to trudge backwards and forwards over loose soil to carry them back to the trailer.

That tedious task can be very sweaty and dusty on a hot, dry day. It can certainly leave your legs aching, and it's amazing how your enthusiasm wanes as the day wears on and you begin to long for a hot bath and bed.

Few stones are missed first thing in the morning. Gradually, as the day progresses. more and more stones are left behind as you wearily turn a blind eye, or convince yourself that they are small enough to be pressed out of sight by the heavy roller. Sadly, such stones invariably have to be lifted later when you are rolling the field and it becomes obvious that the roller can't deal with them.