AS a result of the mobility scoring carried out at Manor Farm, Ian has been foot trimming the cows. (These were cows scoring a one or two and requiring attention and treatment).

Ian also attended a meeting with the police about crime in the local area. Fly-tipping was the key topic of conversation, with farmers often being the target, with waste dumped in fields and gateways.

It is usually the farmer’s responsibility to clear up the waste which is costly as well as time-consuming.

It can also pose a danger to livestock, with gates being unfastened, damage to fencing and the risk of metal contamination which can be life-threatening if an animal were to eat it or could damage machinery if it were to be driven over.

Field work commenced for spring cropping this week. Ian ploughed a field for spring barley whilst there is still a chance of frost.

The idea is for water to get into the soil, freeze, expand and shatter, creating larger gaps in the soil and so subsequent operations will be reduced. For example, only needing to power harrow once instead of twice, to prepare the seed bed ready for drilling with the seed. This saves time, fuel and money. But there are other advantages to this.

Reducing the number of times that the tractor goes across the field reduces the amount of pressure put on the soil, which ultimately leads to compaction.

Compaction occurs when soil particles are pressed together, reducing pore space between them. Heavily compacted soils contain few large pores and have a reduced rate of both water infiltration and drainage from the compacted layer. This can lead to run-off, flooding, reduced yields and less productive land in years to come.

Unusually for this time of year, the conditions have been dry enough to enable James and Nathan to spread water from the slurry lagoon. If it is too wet there is a risk of run-off into water courses or getting stuck in the field.

More meetings have also been attended. This was a farm business update meeting. Topics included Brexit, diversification, RPA (Rural Payments Agency) payments and duty to care of road users, related to mud on the roads from tractors carrying out field work.

Ian has also been on a course to ensure that he can legally spray the fields when required.

These are run by the National Register of Sprayer Operators (NROSO). Although the current system is being updated, at the moment, sprayer operators are required to gain 30 points in three years.

These points can be achieved by attending courses and other events put on specially. The topics include safe use of chemicals, chemicals currently undergoing review such as glyphosate, use of slug pellets and bee keeping.

For example, due diligence and communication are required between operator and bee keeper to ensure that the bee keeper is warned when spraying is to commence, as well as spraying at times of the day when bees are least active.

Lastly, following an insurance update, a data tag was installed in one of the tractors. This means that all the tractors now have a data tag which enables them to be tracked and identified if they were to be stolen.

With the weather this week having been very cold with some very frosty mornings at Stowell Farm Kevin decided to drill his last field of winter wheat. He did this at day break when the ground was cold and hard enough that his tractor and drill could travel across the ground without leaving big ruts in the field and without the soil sticking to the wheels.

A group of shearling ewes (two-year-old female sheep) that were put to the ram here at Stowell Farm, were collected this week and transported to their new home in Wales, ready to lamb in March.

Kevin has also started to clean out the sheds with the in lamb ewes in to keep disease down and to try and keep their feet in good conditions as warm beds can create a problem for ewe’s feet.