OVER the past few weeks atmospheric pressure has been following a path on our barograph that can only be described as mid-way between rain and fair weather, but when we woke up Wednesday morning the line was dropping rapidly.

Richard decided that ground conditions were about perfect for him to use the new cultivator on the killed out sward of a short-term ley. Added to this he decided that as the sun was shining I could walk up to the field with a picnic, which I agreed would be a good idea. The walk was lovely, with an abundance of hedgerow fruits on display.

There seems to be a bumper crop of rose hips, haw berries, sloes, elderberries, blackberries, crab apples and hazel nuts, just to name some of the fruits I saw here on Manor Farm.The hawthorn is beginning to look very colourful as the leaves are turning from green to a variety of autumn shades. I passed a field of forage maize, now towering above me, which will be cut and ensiled when ripe.

Some crows were mobbing a raven near to an adjacent wood and whilst sitting in the tractor eating our picnic we were surrounded by about 20 pied wagtails, darting about looking for any tasty morsels of food that may have been exposed following disturbance of the soil around us.

The picnic finished, I left Richard to do some more cultivating, but as I started to walk home the sky darkened. I took a slightly different route home, passing through some pasture where our yearling heifers were grazing.

They found my appearance was an excuse to mob me and as I kept them at bay decided it would be great fun to run around me, kicking their heels in the air. Although a little intimidating, the sight of me walking across their field in the early afternoon was for them unusual and their behaviour was brought about by curiosity.

During the rest of the walk home I felt a few spots of rain, but fortunately the 15mm of rain that fell waited until I was under cover. Since then air pressure has been steadily rising, so hopefully we will see some more sunshine.

Next morning the ground was too wet for field work, so Richard decided to change the oil in one of the tractors and the gearbox oil in the power harrow, after which he replaced the worn tines with new ones. Once the ground had dried enough the power harrow was put to work, whilst Ryan and Ian spread more slurry and manure onto ground that will be ploughed.

On Stowell Farm Kevin is looking for an opportunity to complete this year's harvest, with about 60 acres of spring barley still waiting to be gathered. Showers of rain during the week, chilly nights and misty mornings have not aided the drying process.

Sheep work has been possible, bringing the six-month-old ewe and ram lambs born as a result of artificial insemination back to one of the barns where they were weighed and scanned at the third vertebra , where the transverse process, eye muscle and fat layers can be seen and assessed.

Recently EBLEX, a division of AHDB (The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board) hosted a sheep event on Stowell Farm. This event was designed to give lamb producers more knowledge about the lamb market and how lambs can be matched to specific market needs. The presentation was excellent.

First of all we were shown videos to help us understand the classifications. Then there was a demonstration of how to classify live lambs for conformation and fatness. Some lamb joints were brought in and used to show differences in fat layers. A butcher then showed us how the joints could be boned and some of the fat removed to make pieces of lamb that were quick and easy to cook. It was emphasised that getting sheep too fat was wasteful and costly.