The easterly winds and heavy rains on Saturday night and Sunday meant throwing out best grazing practice and adapting. Cows and calves were given access to ditches that would shelter them from whatever sides the changeable winds came from.

Soft ground conditions saw the heifers who were out come back in on Sunday night. We have never had so many calves indoors at this time of year. This spring is demonstrating that you have to think conservatively, if not a little negatively, when fodder budgeting as weather is outside of your control.

Calving has almost reached single-hand figures and planning is in place for next year. I’d love to tighten up to a six-week calving spread and it is within grasp but given the facilities and fragmented nature of the farm, nine weeks is comfortable. From the actual start of calving this year, 88% were calved within this period. The plan is to start calving heifers at the beginning of February, so the bull will go out with them in the last days of April.

From 10 May onwards, the senior bull will be let out with the mature cows and about two weeks after that a bull will be let out with the first and second calvers. We have been doing similar over a few years and find that you tend to spread the workload and there is less strain on space.

This year, things are being charged up a little with the two younger bulls going to the out farm. At least if something goes wrong with one, the other will be at hand to cover. That ground doesn’t lend itself to easy AI if the need arises.

The new bull was purchased last November and turned 12 months in March. Every farmer has their own preference for the type of bull they like to buy and a weanling is ours. This way, he’s not long weaned and is not fed for the show and sale market.

Over the years, we’ve spent more time looking for a bull and spent more money than we need to.

Experience has shown us that the sale of a cull bull generally goes a long way to covering the price of a new one so, with that in mind, we’ve generally paid a little above what we’d expect the animal would earn on the kill line. The bulls were looked at visually and then assessed on their figures before confirming the purchase.

Fragmentation means a bit more time planning in an effort to reduce the work load. It’s what I refer to as kitchen table work. I haven’t advanced to having an office yet but, all in all, in its own good time.

I’m someone who works with visuals, so I write out all the numbers of the cows and maiden heifers on a sheet of paper and write ‘‘cull’’ after the obvious contenders. This helps as you can view all the breeding animals’ numbers and it leaves no room for a problem cow to slip through the net. Temperament and leg problems will be the primary reasons for culling.