What a dismal week of weather! It was so dark this morning that I checked my bedside clock three times before I realised it was not lying and it was actually time to rise and shine.

The fields continue to become wetter, which is not too much of a problem as all the cattle are now housed and there are only two small flocks of lambs grazing the pasture.

Ian has at last managed to do some much-needed hedge-cutting, after several repairs were undertaken on the hedge-cutter.

When the decision was made to begin trimming, every time the hedge-cutter was put into work something would go wrong, but at last it seems to be behaving.

On Stowell Farm Kevin and Mark have also been doing some ‘field maintenance’ of a different kind. They have been clearing debris from ditches with the help of a mini-digger.

There are often broken branches from overhanging trees, or the hedge shrubs may have invaded the ditches or there may be a build-up of silt.

The opened-up and free-running channels will then facilitate better drainage of adjacent fields. Ditch clearing is an extremely beneficial job but, with so many other important jobs to do on farms, it can be neglected.

Mid-week I went to Chuggaton Farm in North Devon to give Adele and Steve some help. They are still busy with calving cows but fortunately there has been a lull over the last week or so.

They are bracing themselves for another hectic period, as they are expecting another 25 births in the lead-up to Christmas.

Adele is weaning about 10 calves, which are eating enough solid food to allow their milk ration to be reduced before it is stopped altogether.

Later in the week 10 beef cross calves were old enough to be sold to a rearing unit, leaving Adele with about another 10 calves on two feeds of milk a day.

Steve has wormed some of the older cattle and run the milking cows through a foot bath after an afternoon milking later in the week. Another job completed with the help of a friend was to dehorn a group of weaned calves.

These calves are now occupying a straw-bedded yard in a large barn. The yearling heifers on Chuggaton Farm are still outside grazing some pasture adjacent to the farm buildings, although Steve was saying that they would have to come in at the end of the week before they start to poach (make a muddy mess) the field.

I almost forgot that the freeze-brander came on Monday to brand the older heifers with their identification numbers. Freeze-branding is done using very cold irons, which are numbered and applied to the skin, where they are held for a short time.

This action will kill the pigment, producing cells in the hair follicles, resulting in new hair growth to be white. The white number is permanent and makes identification easy from a distance.

Apart from my trip to Devon I have attended several meetings during the week.

The first was a bovine TB science meeting held at NFU HQ in Stoneleigh. It was an interesting meeting with a variety of speakers including topics on cattle controls and diagnostics, vaccination as a tool and detection in the field, ending with a session that was titled the veterinary and social science perspective: working with the farm and the farmer.

I also attended a meeting on The Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet, to start sorting out entertainment for the Village Green section of the main show running from May 27 to 30, 2015.

We were told that the attractions in the main ring would include international sheep dog trials, the Shetland pony display team and the Red Devils parachute team.

The 2015 show will be the 50th show to be held on the Shepton Mallet Showground and I am looking forward to stewarding the Village Green section once again.