SUMMER, in all it's glory, still seems to be hiding. The last week has again seen a mixture of sunshine, storms and plenty of clouds, with one particularly wet evening here on Manor farm with 11.5 mm of rainfall.

The weather has not helped hay-making on Roves Farm, as a day before the crop of cut grass was dry enough to bale the rain fell. Most of the grass was then made into large round bales of haylage, which were wrapped in plastic to prevent spoilage. It is hoped that the remaining cut grass will be ready to make into small bales of hay, which can be easily used to feed small pens of animals, but only time will tell.

Also on Roves Farm, a recent tuberculin test of all the Sussex and Highland suckler cattle has thrown up two inconclusive results, so these two animals will have to be re-tested. If they go clear at the next test all will be fine, but if the tests are positive the two affected animals will have to be slaughtered and the rest of the herd tested again.

Early last week on Stowell Farm, the sacks of fleeces from the recently sheared ewes were collected by The British Wool Marketing Board (BWMB). The BWMB held its first sale of the 2016/ 17 season at Wool House on July 5, with 1.19 million kg of wool being offered for sale. The new season's wool was well sought after, resulting in the sale of 1.13 million kg (95 per cent), but in a tough global market the cheques are expected to be down compared to those of the 2015/16 season. The average price being paid for the wool was 131p/kg, with Llyen wool fetching 102p/kg.

During the week Kevin has put sheep fencing around some of the fields to be grazed, before the wethers (castrated ram lambs) were sorted into groups and moved onto fresh grass. They have also been treated with a pour-on insecticide to protect them against flystrike, as damp warm weather provides ideal conditions for an increase in blowflies.

Here on Manor Farm, slurry spreading has continued, but it is our cereal crops that have been the the focus. The bad weather has twisted some patches in the barley, which has allowed the rooks, crows, jackdaws and pigeons easy access. This has resulted in some large flattened areas.

Unfortunately the rooks are now working their way into the wheat from the edges of the crop, so we have had install a bird scarer. This is the first time we have had to use one for several years.

Rex, our agronomist, has walked our maize fields, which revealed that weed control, following spraying with a herbicide, had been very effective, but this year the growth of the crop was a little uneven. We have also been discussing the 2017 cropping plan, planning what seed to order and where and when it will be planted in the rotation.

Recently Wiltshire NFU held its annual Countryside Day. This is an event held on a Wiltshire Farm to which representatives from a variety of organisations are invited. These included Wiltshire Council, Animal Health and Welfare, the Police and Crime Commissioner, the Rural Crime Team, Wiltshire Fire and Rescue, the National Trust, the Ramblers and representatives from the banks, to name just a few. The event was held on Cowage Farm, situated in North Wiltshire, where we were given an introduction by the NFU County chairman, Max Sealy.

Then Tom Collins told us about the farm, which has been in the family for five generations. It consists of about 800 acres split across three farms and is a mixed farm with a large arable enterprise, growing wheat, barley, oilseed rape, oats and grass. Some stubble turnips are also grown for winter sheep keep and a beef enterprise rearing Aberdeen Angus cattle for Tesco, Holstein/Friesian bulls for McDonald's and Sainsbury and Herefords for restaurants. All the cattle records are produced electronically using electronic identification ear tags. The farm also runs a number of diversified businesses, including a small solar enterprise with the electricity sold to business unit tenants and a blacksmith's forge. Following the introduction Tom took us all on a farm walk, which all those who attended the event found most interesting.