A week of mixed weather has given us an inch of rain to add to the already wet ground.

The good thing about this time of year is that the longer days help the ground to dry quite quickly, as long as we do not receive days of continual rainfall.

Here on Manor Farm we have been preparing for silage making. Richard has serviced all the tractors, replacing filters and changing the oil.

The trailers to be used for haulage have also been made ready, assembling the silage sides and fixing them into position. The sides of the silage clamp have been lined with heavy duty plastic sheeting, which will prevent any air getting into the ensiled grass. Now all we have to do is wait for the ground to be dry enough to support all the machinery to be used, accompanied by dry, sunny weather.

Matt has spent some time during the week cutting back rapidly growing vegetation from around the electric fences, to make sure they are working efficiently, keeping the cattle in the fields.

Time is spent each day checking all our young cattle, now grazing fields around the farm, to make sure they are well and ensure they have enough grass.

Unfortunately, at the end of the week one of the older heifers was rather lame on one back leg.

On closer examination it could be seen that the area above her hoof was rather swollen and inflamed and open lesions could be seen. This was a classic case of foul-of-the-foot, which is caused by a bacteria entering the soft tissue between the claws of the hoof.

This is made possible when a stone or other sharp object breaks the surface of the skin, thus allowing free passage for entry of the bacteria. The heifer was loaded into a cattle trailer and taken back to the buildings,where she will be kept in a loose box and given a course of an antibiotic.

Earlier in the week it was decided that the milking cows would have to be housed for a while, as they were not very happy and were making a muddy mess in the wet field. This was reminiscent of conditions in 2012!

Mid-week, Richard, Ian and I walked the crops with our agronomist. Generally our wheat and barley look well,with only a few patches of weeds that need spraying with a herbicide.

The weeds we saw included groundsel, chickweed, speedwell and the more problematic cleavers and docks.

There were also some signs of the fungal infections rhincosporium in the barley and septoria in the wheat. In the maturing barley it is important to keep the awns free of disease, as this part of the plant is responsible for up to 30 per cent of the yield of grain. Ian has just given our barley its final application of fungicide, as the ears are just beginning to appear. In wheat it is the final leaf (the flag leaf) that is responsible for a large percentage of the yield at harvest, so on advice Ian has sprayed our wheat with a fungicide as well.

Meanwhile on Stowell Farm, Kevin and family have been busy vaccinating all the lambs, to give them immunity to a variety of clostridial diseases, including lamb dysentery, pulpy kidney and tetanus.

The vaccine also protects them against Pasteurella Pneumonia, the most common pneumonia in sheep. It is caused by a bacteria, with most outbreaks occurring in May, June and July. The lambs have also been wormed and the ewes treated with a fly repellent to prevent fly-strike. This is when blow-flies lay their eggs in mucky patches of wool or between the claws of their hooves.

The hatching maggots will then burrow into the animals’ flesh, eating it as they go, which is very distressing for the sheep.

During this time the sheep dogs have been busy helping to round up all the ewes and lambs, so are looking forward to a well-earned rest.