THE line being drawn on the barograph indicates that air pressure has been fairly stable over the last two weeks. The wind is still coming predominately from a northerly direction most of the time, as the motorway has only been audible now and again.

Richard and I returned from a holiday in Guernsey, almost a week ago. It was our first visit to the island, where we spent the week walking and eating good food. Particularly enjoyed were the fish dishes. Even Richard, who would normally shun most seafood menus, was eating smoked haddock for breakfast!

The weather was perfect for walking, no rain and comfortably warm, and we covered a distance of about 50 miles over the five days.

We did not manage to find any Guernsey cows during the first few days, but a walk across the island to a large reservoir encircled by an on- foot nature trail, led us past some sizeable herds.

The Guernsey cow is orange/red and white, being renowned for the rich flavour of its milk. It is also hardy and docile, originating on the small island of Guernsey, which is situated in the English Channel close to the French coast.

Types of cattle from Normandy and Brittany may have been ancestral relatives of the Guernsey cow, which was first recorded as a separate breed around 1700, with imports of foreign cattle banned in 1789, to maintain the purity of the breed.

Guernsey milk, a rich yellow colour, was marketed under the 'Golden Guernsey' trade mark, but homogenisation and various changes to the way milk was priced, brought the trade mark to an end. The yellow colour of the milk is due to a high content of beta-carotene, a source of vitamin A . The milk has a butterfat of five per cent, which is higher than that of our Friesian /Holsteins, as is the 3.7 per cent protein. Channel Island milk is sold at 5.5 per cent butterfat, whilst milk from other cows is sold at 3.5 per cent butterfat, semi-skimmed 1.5 per cent to 1.8 per cent and skimmed contains less than 0.3 per cent.

The weather over the last week has given us two very hot days, returning to a cooler feel to the air following a few spots of rain and one loud clap of thunder overnight.

Here on Manor Farm we have started to dry off the first few cows prior to calving in two months' time. Drying the cows off is what we do once the cows have completed about 305 days milking since giving birth to their last calves, with their milk naturally decreasing over the latter part of the lactation until the time they cease to be milked, when they have their two-month holiday before giving birth again.

David, our nutritionist, called during the week to check the feed ration being given to the milking cows. The dry conditions have stopped any new growth of grass, so it was decided that we should start to include our first-cut grass silage as part of the supplementary ration of maize silage and balancer. Recently a sample of our first-cut silage was sent for analysis and was found to be of good quality. The protein, metabolisable energy, pH and dry matter were all above standard levels.

Here and on Stowell Farm Ryan and Kevin have been doing some topping. Some of the pasture was looking rather untidy with patches of tall unpalatable grasses, also tall weeds such as docks, nettles and thistles. Ryan has cultivated a field which we have left fallow as part of our Ecological Focus Area (EFA ). A rotavator was used to try and kill the weeds, including a number of thistles.

We are now nearing harvest time for some of our cereal crops. The winter barley is turning yellow and the pods on the oilseed rape are ripening well. Our forage maize crop has enjoyed the recent warmer spells of sunshine, with the plants at about waist height.