There is not much more that we can do to set up the farm for the rest of the year. The last week of dry weather has let us finish the beans in good conditions – we were able to roll them and applied a pre-emergent herbicide for weed control. We have used a much higher seeding rate this year in a further attempt to smother out any competitive weeds, but remembering the trauma of last year, we will keep a close eye on the crop to prevent it being submerged under bindweed.

Last year, the crop also suffered from the severe drought in the April/May period, which had an effect on reducing the competitive ability of a cool moisture-loving crop like beans, especially when it was more open than ideal in a difficult year.

We have also got the bulk of the top dressing out on the oilseed rape and winter barley, while the bulk of the ground intended for first-cut silage is safely closed up. The poorly structured reclaimed land that we grazed too late into the autumn has recovered well in the dry weather, but it needs some kind of restorative work. I would like to avoid having to put in a full drainage system, so we will probably try some soil shattering in the July/August period when the soil is at its driest.

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Meanwhile, we continue to sell our dairy beef steers as they become fit, but with each batch that goes, the impact of conformation on the final return is driven home. The price and bonus structure means that an O= carcase has to be achieved to avoid losses, so the quality at buying in is critical. The ground treated with slurry early on in the year has now got an excellent cover of grass, so we will have cattle out day and night within a few days. This will be the first year with this system that I will be aiming to finish cattle off grass in the June/July period. We will keep careful records.