It has been a really messy spring. We have kept the slurry under control but only just and with the cattle all in longer than normal, there is constant pressure to use it productively.

We are putting it out on paddocks that have been grazed but some of the paddocks on more vulnerable ground have too much grass on them, so we will probably take a light zero grazing and then close these up for silage. At last, we have ploughed for the beans – after the heavy snow which we had it has ploughed up stickier than I would like but given any kind of normal weather it should dry out very quickly at this time of the year.

While I am determined not to muck the beans in, I am painfully aware that the year is moving on. Over the last fortnight or so, I have spoken to a number of growers and they all seem to have 8 April as the cut-off point. Given the conditions and lateness of the year, I will increase the seeding rate. Over the dry days at the end of last week, we finally got the first fertiliser out on the oilseed rape and the winter barley but the rest of the crops are queuing up for attention in the immediate future.

Meanwhile, we got a notice from the Department that we have to organise our annual herd test over the next few weeks and Bord Bia has told us that our quality assurance inspection is also due. This inspection used to be an optional extra but not any longer. Membership of the scheme is an essential condition of my bulls being accepted by the factory supplying the Italian market and, of course, the quality assurance payment is critical for the enterprise.