With the dry spell we have really been able to get through the spring field work. All the crops except the oats have got their first dressing of fertiliser, an NPK compound with sulphur.

We have been advised to wait until after St Patrick’s Day before going out on the oats. We have also begun ploughing for the beans – the seed has safely arrived and we are getting slurry out on each paddock as it’s grazed, though with the cold easterly wind and frosty nights, grass growth is minimal – not unusual for early March. But it’s not only the actual farming that has sprung into life.

The time of year also seems to have stimulated organisations with an agricultural connection to dust off the winter cobwebs. I mentioned last week that we had received the Department of Agriculture application form for the 2021 Basic Farm Payment (BPS). This year, we have to review some of the details around the entitlements themselves. It’s important we get this right so we are liaising with both legal and accountancy expertise, as well as the Department itself, well ahead of the mid May closing date. But as well as the seasonal BPS work, we have received the notice to carry out our annual herd test.

There is nothing particularly out of the ordinary with this though I don’t remember receiving such detailed instructions regarding the need for suitable crush and facilities, as well as proper help having to be available on the two days that the test takes and the 35 – yes 35 – legal requirements involved.

We have also received notice of a Bord Bia Quality Assurance inspection. This happens once every 18 months or so. I must admit as I read through the list of requirements and instructions, I felt overwhelmed, in much the same way as the letter from Maganey farmer, Ken Ashmore in last week’s Irish Farmers Journal spelled out.

Theoretically, I am all in favour of a full Quality Assurance scheme – the problem is that the gap between Irish and British prices seems to have widened on a permanent basis to record levels and we seem to be locked out of high-value continental markets, so I am left wondering where is the producer benefit from all the work and carefully worked out protocols.

As for spraying the crops, there are 12 basic boxes of legal requirements to fill in.