While the weather remains in its becalmed state, the work preparing the fields for planting continues.

Hopefully this year we will be able to sow all our crops before the weather changes, which will make life a great deal easier as we head into winter.

Unfortunately the price we are paid for our milk is on the downward slide because, we are told, of the fact that after a few years in deficit milk is now in surplus. Dairy commodity prices are also depressed, with the Russian ban on imports from EU member states and uncertainty in the Chinese economy affecting prices as well. However, the EU Commission has said that it will provide Private Storage Aid for butter, skimmed milk powder and some cheeses to help the situation, before they are released in a controlled way. We export £5.7 million worth of cheese to Russia, just to give an example of just one dairy commodity affected by the ban.

Grain prices have also taken a tumble this year, falling by about a third of the amount we were paid last year. Nevertheless, cultivating the ground ready for planting is the priority.

Markets are so volatile that planning with any degree of accuracy is extremely difficult, but this is something we are all going to have to live with for some time.

We have now finished all the ploughing we can do until the maize has been ensiled. It looks as if the maize harvest could be early this year and the crop on most farms looks good. Cereal crops have now been harvested on Stowell Farm – our last field of spring barley gathered in at the end of the week. We have plenty of baled straw so it was decided the straw would be chopped and spread by the combine, then ploughed into the ground. This will add valuable organic matter to the soil, which will break down and improve soil structure. Kevin has baled his last fields of wheat straw,with Richard taking our baler over to make some small bales, always useful to have around.

One of our grass leys had grown well enough, after two previous cuts and being grazed, to take a fourth crop. The grass was cut, left to wilt, when almost dry, a contractor was called to bale and immediately wrap the bales in plastic. This will keep the air out and prevent spoilage, preserving the grass as a nutritious feed for the winter, known as haylage. It is difficult to make hay at this time of year with shorter days, heavy dews and cooler days.

During the week one field has been planted with grass seed, after which it was rolled with our lighter ring rolls, to produce a good seedbed. Cultivating other ploughed ground has continued, using our power harrow to help break down the soil. Ian and Ryan have also been preparing the maize clamp and hedge-cutting has been started here and on Stowell Farm, although it has come to a halt here while a new control box is fitted to our hedge-cutter.

Midweek, the ewe and ram lambs born to the small flock of sheep using artificial insemination were graded. This was done by an independent grader who scanned an area between the spine and last lumbar vertebra of each lamb.

The scan revealed the skin, fat and muscle depth, from which an average of three fat depths and the deepest muscle depth were recorded for further analysis.

The sighting of a humming-bird hawk moth, one particularly sunny day, was the highlight of my week.