THE expected change in the weather has arrived, bringing quite an extreme mixture of conditions. We have had some rain every day, sunshine, cloud cover, frosts, wind and even a sprinkle of snow on Stowell Farm. Rainfall amounted to 28.75 mm (over an inch), morning temperatures from 1.8C to 12.9C, evening temperatures from 3.3C to 12.1C accompanied mid-week by the steepest fall in barometric pressure we have seen for a long time.

On Stowell Farm at the beginning of the week Richard helped Kevin disbud (remove the horn buds) from the Friesian/Holstein bull calves recently purchased from Manor Farm. Most of the calves have been weaned, but a group of five of the youngest ones are still on milk. Melissa and I went to the farm buildings later the same day to give them their evening feed and to check that they were all well.

On Manor Farm we have 32 dairy heifer calves, including three free martins (sterile heifer calves from sets of mixed twins). Eight are still receiving two feeds of milk each day, the others have all been weaned. Since our yearling heifers have been brought into the barn, some have developed foul of the foot, or foot rot, as it is commonly known.

This condition can make the animal quite unwell, running a fever, with swelling of the interdigital space and showing severe lameness.

Foot rot can be caused by a number of organisms, which gain entry via wounds in the soft interdigital area.

Some of these organisms can be found in the faeces, which can make the disease difficult to control, but if treated quickly with a course of antibiotics, the animal will soon recover. Foot rot is highly infectious, so it is essential to keep bedding clean and dry to prevent it spreading.

We need these heifers to be in perfect health as they are now being artificially inseminated and will have their first calves next autumn.

During the week our vet called to mobility score the milking cows. This was done by watching each animal walk as it exited the milking parlour, following afternoon milking.

The cows were each given scores from 0 to three, with 0 being good mobility, to three which is when lameness is easily detectable.

Scoring the cows in this way will find the number of cows in the herd lame at a given time. The benefits of using a scoring system are early detection of lameness, prioritising animals needing treatment, monitoring trends and increasing awareness of foot health.

More slurry liquor has been spread onto some permanent grass, but by the end of the week it was decided that this should be stopped as the recent rain was making the ground too wet to continue.

We have recently replaced our very old tractor, used to scrape up slurry, with a slightly more powerful secondhand tractor, and also taken a tractor to the engineers for repair, as it was losing brake fluid.

A few days ago we were informed that we would be having a Red Tractor Dairy Farm Assurance inspection. The inspection will include checking milk tanks, all milking equipment, chemical data, vermin control, feed, health records, vet review of health and performance, calf rearing, waste management and labour providers to name just a few items under scrutiny.

Recently Richard and I presented a cheque to the value of £2,000 to The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution ( RABI). The money was raised in a raffle at the 2016 Wiltshire Farmers' Ball and the cheque presented to Daphne Glass, the Wiltshire RABI treasurer, who is retiring after many years in the role.

We would like to thank Daphne for her work, also all those supporters of the ball over many years who have kindly bought raffle tickets and agricultural businesses that have donated prizes. The RABI financially supports farmers and farm workers in times of need.