Never in May have we considered bringing store cattle back into the sheds.

I find it hard to tell how much damage has been done to the grazed paddocks with a dirty, muddy look to them as we move the cattle on.

The hope is that the damage is superficial and that the land will quickly recover – we will have to wait and see. Because we have slightly higher numbers than usual on hand and have some silage over, we have continued to bring the dairy beef bullocks in for a final 25- to 40-day finishing period.

The costs of doing this are high, but we are getting a good finish and we are achieving whatever conformation grade the cattle have the potential to reach.

We could, I suppose, have attempted to finish them off grass in the July to September period and I intend to try it with a few of them but we will feel our way gently and finish the bulk of them as we are doing.

If they were suckled progeny, then I would have no hesitation in relying on grass alone, but the dairy influence inevitably, in my view, means a slower finish.

Meanwhile, we have not cut an acre of silage. The earliest closed ground was not grazed at all this year and even though it’s a new ley of late maturing ryegrass and clover, it needs to be cut as soon as possible if we are to have any kind of reasonable digestibility.

Crops

On the crop side, futures prices and the appearance of the crops means we are looking forward to the harvest but we obviously need the weather to play its part.

Theoretically, the winter barley harvest should begin in six weeks’ time or so, but it still has to get its final spray. Both it and the oats, despite the thunderstorms and persistent rain, are standing well, while the beans are not surprisingly growing well in what are, for them, ideal conditions.

The rain has led to a flush of weeds in one of the bean fields, which we will tackle on the first dry day.