Suddenly we have caught up with ourselves. The silage is all made with practically no damage to the ground. The heap is much bigger than I expected and I do not intend to take a second cut. We are going straight out with slurry which will give us plenty of potash.

But I will also go out with some straight phosphate as my recent soil test shows very clearly how little progress we are making on both the tillage and grass areas in getting phosphate levels up. We still have mostly index 2 readings and some index 1. These readings would infer low fertility but I would rather regard it as an indication that our annual application rates are keeping pace with what we are removing in grass, grain and straw.

A few years ago, I suffered a deduction from my Single Farm Payment because of excess phosphate use despite my low readings, so I tread carefully. I find the phosphate calculations complex especially where there is home-produced slurry going out on the land.

The fine weather has also let us put the last spray out on the wheat while the early indications of take-all that were present in the second wheat after maize seems to have disappeared with the recent heavy rain.

The longer the wheats in general can stay green and even the better, but the winter barley is already beginning to turn. I have one field with two distinct soil types with the crop on heavier soil clearly greener and less advanced than that on the lighter ground. They were both planted on the same day and they will have to be harvested on the same day, so I will try to monitor if there is a difference in the moisture content in the grain from the different parts of the field.

The only crop waiting for a final spray is the beans. The crop is in full flower with intense bee activity from the hives on the headland.

We will spray as late in the day as we can to minimise any damage to creatures that are so beneficial to humanity.