Even after one dry day, at this time of the year we have been able to relieve the worst of the slurry pressure that has been building up.

The stubble field we have earmarked for the beans has been able to take a four wheel drive tractor with wide tyres, as well as the slurry tanker with similarly wide tyres.

I had thought about trying to hire in an umbilical system, but our experience with them has shown that they need quite a dilute slurry and if it’s from a shed where the cattle are on a finishing diet, the high dry matter slurry needs a lot of added water, so we went ahead with the standard set-up.

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In the event, I was pleasantly surprised at the tracks being just visible in the stubble ground and thanks, I presume, to the additive we put into the tank a good two months ago, there was almost none of that typical sharp ammonia smell.

We will try and get an even 1,500 – 2,000 gallons per acre spread and then plough for the beans, weather permitting.

As I mentioned, I have an open mind as to when we sow the beans.

Certainly I have no qualms in waiting until mid-April for the right conditions and perhaps later.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday afternoon, the announcement of the national aid package for cereal growers was much as expected. I note the window for application closes on 9th March and it has to be done online rather than coming automatically as it did last year.

We still have no fertiliser out on the crops, with some of the winter barley beginning to show signs that a first split of nitrogen should go out as soon as possible.

The grassland is hugely variable. It all looks a vibrant green, and much of it needs to be grazed as soon as possible with a lush cover of high quality material.

Normally at this time of the year we would have the store cattle out by day and in for silage and a kilogram or two of concentrates at night, but this year the vast bulk of the ground would simply be too badly poached by having cattle out on it.

As a result, we are getting through the silage more quickly than normal and also feeding more barley than we had budgeted on, but with only a month to the first of April we should be ok for silage.

The greater concern is the sluggish market for finished beef. We will continue to sell as they become fit, but given the resilience of light store prices the margin after replacing is razor thin.