Two weeks ago, I experienced something that, until recently, was a fantasy. I sat in Murrayfield and watched a Scotland team stick 54 points on the board against the potential banana skin of the Fijians.

I’m just a wee tenant farmer so my seat positioning meant I was closer to the International Space Station than the hallowed turf. Even from that far away, I can tell you this much. They are big lads.

Tupping

Decent news at home as well. Since weaning, we’ve been much better to the ewes this year. Many of the ewes are a full condition score stronger going to the tup than in previous years. It remains to be seen if there is a marked difference in scanning percentage but it should make the ewes more able to cope with the dark, wet months ahead. Last year, we used mineral boluses on the ewes but not this year. We found them expensive and time-consuming with little or no noticeable affect in production. This year, I’ve reverted to bags of minerals. Time will tell if they work or not.

The rams

Tupping hasn’t been without issue. We planned to cover 400 stock ewes with six rams. The Cheviot is putting his feet up with only 48 while the big Texel tup is chasing 79 around. This means that there’s always an injury worry.

The Texel staved a back leg after 48 hours with the ewes (thankfully sound again after a couple of days) and our proven two-year-old investment Beltex went down with pneumonia the day before tupping commenced. For the positive side, three homebred tup lambs are out in place of him, which will allow us to see how they perform.

Recently, there has been much negative press around livestock production. As a primary producer, it is easy to slip into the mental doldrums with this constant onslaught. Perhaps, though, it’s actually a needed driver for change within our industry. Visiting AHDB last week, figures presented for farm productivity growth in the UK were terrible; the industry has been stagnant for years. The ability to do more with less is lacking from much of our practice. By seizing the initiative, can we mould ideas from around the world and make them work in our unique circumstances?

Mental health talks

Mental doldrums are something that I was lucky enough to get an insight into through a fabulous speech made by Graham Morgan MBE at the recent NFUS autumn conference. He spoke touchingly and at a personal level about his own struggle with poor mental health and how it affects everything he does.

The two things that struck me hardest from the whole speech was firstly how lonely a battle within our own head can be and how difficult it can be to let some of that struggle out and allow others to help with the fight. The second, more important point, was to always find the positives, however small. As a life-long Scotland rugby fan, I know exactly what that feels like.