We have pretty well finished buying in cattle for the winter.

So far, they are all out mopping up the remaining grass with excellent conditions underfoot.

We will weigh them all as we bring them in and as I mentioned last week, get an accurate reading of how much weight they have put on at grass.

Some were bought in last February as yearlings and we will probably do the same next February, depending on how many are sold to the factory between this and then.

This is the first time we kept nothing back for our own use, so it will be cash out from the beginning of the housing period

This year, with the prices on offer at harvest, we sold all our grain.

This is the first time we kept nothing back for our own use, so it will be cash out from the beginning of the housing period. The only cereal-based product we have on hand is wet grain from a distillery that is an easy drive away. While they are a good source of protein, only a limited amount can be fed of what is a bulky material.

With the winter barley and oilseed rape out of the way we have now finished the seed wheat which we put in after the beans

Out on the land, it is full steam ahead with the sowing. With the winter barley and oilseed rape out of the way we have now finished the seed wheat which we put in after the beans. The feed wheat is going in after the oats as I write and then we have to make up our minds on when we begin the oats.

Whether it was the cool winter, the new variety or a good spring I am not sure

Traditionally, oats would be the last of the cereals to be sown with a preference for early November but two years ago, we paid dearly for missing the good weather and last year we took what I regarded as a chance by starting to sow the oats on 17 October. Whether it was the cool winter, the new variety or a good spring I am not sure, but the crop yielded well so I hope to get the oats into the ground in mid-October again this year.