With the 2024 harvest now virtually complete, I write today to update you on the situation and what it will mean for bakers. Before we get into that, however, let me share something altogether more magical, a few images of Fosters Mill bathed in the Aurora Borealis display we experienced last week. It was a night I will never forget, something I have wanted to experience all my life!

Wheat & Grain Update 2024

The situation is best described as “challenging”!

Milling Wheat

The organic wheat harvest, and indeed, the conventional wheat harvest has been diabolical, both in terms of quantity and quality. Whilst there is some variation in different regions, overall, yields (the tonnage of wheat per acre) are some of the lowest for many years. This is further compounded by the fact that a much smaller acerage of land was sown in autumn / winter 2023 and spring 2024 due to the extreme wet weather which meant land in many parts of the country was unworkable. The growing conditions during 2024 for both winter-sown and spring-sown wheats were also unfavorable. All this has resulted in a situation where very few parcels of wheat (both organic and conventional) have made milling grade.

For bread making, we need protein levels >12%, ideally, over 13% (your current flour is 13.5%). We need bushel weights (a volumetric weight which indicates how filled the grains are with starch) of over 75kg. So far, I have seen not a single sample of UK grown 2024 harvest organic wheat over 12% protein (with most between 9 and 11%) and bushel weights are in the low 70s.

The net result of this is that we are most likely to try and source both UK grown and imported high protein wheat and create a blend to give you the baking qualities / properties and flavour you have come to expect from the Priors Flour. That will be the only likely way we can offer a quality product for you from the 2024 harvest. As of today, we are still milling the 2023 harvest grain and expect to transition to the 2024 harvest during December. Order your flour here!

Rye

I am pleased to say, the situation as regards rye is more promising! We have now taken delivery of an excellent parcel of rye grain grown near Boston in Lincolnshire. The berries are plump, the taste is excellent and the flour soft! We have worked to keep our prices down, so please crack-on and order – it is in production and you can order it here!

Spelt

Spelt has also been affected in a similar way to milling wheat. We are currently sourcing new crop, so I will update you once we have secured our supply for the coming 12 months. We do not anticipate a challenge getting suitable spelt grain, but again, yields are down and supply is limited – this is likely to impact price.

Heritage Wheat – Millers Choice

Again, the harvest was extremely poor and much of the crop grown by our key supplier was not suitable for milling. We do, however, expect to get enough grain to keep our Millers Choice customers baking over the coming 12 months!

I will keep you updated as we finalise our wheats and grains for 2024 – 2025.

Jon Cook.

We are very sorry to announce that Jane Bulleid (wife of the late Michael Bulleid), our predecesors here at Fosters Mill, passed away on the 13th July 2024. Jane met Michael after the death of his first wife, Gay Bulleid and with Michael (and Michael’s children Deborah and Oliver) continued the project to restore Fosters Mill, culminating in the mill grinding flour again in 1992. Without their hard word, incredible dedication and financial resources, the future of Fosters Mill would have been in doubt.

Jane was particularly active in promoting the mill and selling flour between 1992 and 1996, when Michael had to stop milling due to ill health. She continued to live in the area after Michael’s death in 1998 and was active in a number of societies and groups.

Our deepest sympathy goes to Jane’s sister, Deborah, Oliver and families and friends.

With our holidays behind us, the mill is hard at work keeping up with a steady stream of orders! We have also found time to offer a “Guest Flour” milled from Squareheads Master grain.

This grain has a wonderful story which I share below!

The grain is grown by Jonathan Wheeler whose family own Bardwell Windmill in Suffolk. Jonathan is a steam traction engine specialist and owns his own engine plus a set of threshing tackle. He is also passionate about both traditional crafts and our agricultural heritage. Each year, Jonathan grows a number of acres of Squareheads Master grain which he cuts and then dries in the field using the traditional method of sheaves and stooks.

Once the grain has dried, he threshes it using his steam threshing tackle as the video below demonstrates. Jonathan has kindly offered us some grain this year which we offer to you! From a baking perspective, it is a lowish protein flour with large soft flakes of bran. A lovely flavour which is used best by blending it with some higher protein wheats such as the Priors White Flour .

Everything is used, the grain, the straw which is sold to Thatchers and the chaff which is used for animal feed. As you can see from the video, the work requires a dedicated team of hard working people and reminds us of the way our forebears worked together in our rural communities. The sacks of grain are the old half hundred weight sacks – you certainly know when you’ve moved a few of those in a day!

It’s been a busy few weeks at Priors Flour HQ, so we email today to bring you up to date with some pictures of the fantastic repair work which we’ve completed and to provide early warning of a suspension of the mail order service during June due to planned staff absence. This work has cost in excess of £4,000.00 – so you can see what your flour purchases enable!

Mail Order – offline between 3rd June and 23rd June

To give you a heads-up, we will not be taking mail orders between the above dates, so please get your orders in ahead of the break. The mill shop and mill itself will be open as usual, so if you are able to come to Swaffham Prior, you can pick up your flour as usual on Thursday mornings between 9am and 1pm and on the 9th June from 2pm to 5pm (2nd Sunday of the Month opening).

Maintenance Update

Following an earlier post where we showed you the damage done by the winter rain and cold, we’ve been hard at work completing a series of important maintenance tasks! Our lime mortar specialist James Ingram worked for two solid weeks to repair the damaged brickwork using lime mortar and local reclaimed bricks:

After leaving the brickwork to dry for a number of weeks, we have then re-surfaced the top of the cap with a new coat of fibreglass flowcoat, repainted the fantail and finally, re-tarred the mill tower! A huge amount of work as the video below shows! Our thanks to millwright Cameron Southcote for all his work – it’s been a huge team effort! The repair bill for this work alone is over £4,000.00 so, please keep supporting our work!