After the winter barley harvest, I was aware that I was meant to cultivate the stubbles within 14 days.

To be honest, I was never quite clear on the reason for this new rule but the capacity of the authorities to reduce my single farm payment following an unfavourable inspection acts as a powerful incentive to obedience.

Anyway we grubbed and disced the stubble at considerable cost in time, fuel and machinery wear and tear, only to be told at the end of last week that if it was intended to plant a crop before 31 October, there was no need to touch the stubble!

As we intend to follow the winter barley with oilseed rape, the work was effectively for nothing.

However, having looked at the job we have done, we have come to the conclusion that we will use the opportunity to see if we can successfully direct drill the oilseed rape into the tilled stubble.

Weather permitting, the aim is to give the field a final discing with crumbler bars before sowing and a light rolling afterwards. We plan to get it done around 20 August.

We still however have to get this year’s oilseed rape harvested. We had made good progress last week ahead of the rain, but the continuous rain on Saturday meant we couldn’t attempt to go near the field. The forecast for later this week is good so we will live in hope.

The weather has also meant that we have had to delay the harvesting of the winter oats which is now looking fully ripe. So far it is standing well but the sooner it leaves the farm the better.

Second cut

The rain has worked wonders for the grass. We still have to take our second cut silage. Again I hope we can get it done this week in the promised fine spell.

We have continued to buy in dairy beef yearling bullocks as we sell each load of finished beef.

While we are well past the time of the year for maximum performance at grass, I would still hope to get cheap liveweight gain between now and housing.

When we had continental bull weanlings, I always found autumn performance at grass very disappointing.

We will weigh their dairy bred replacements on a regular basis to get a handle on how weight gain varies as the back end progresses.