Like most farmers I expect, we order our fertiliser through the year as we need it. Sometimes we will agree a price in autumn for the nitrogen, but the main compound for the cereals is ordered and delivered in spring.

The bill normally arrives in the late June period – this year more than any other I was taken aback at the amount owed.

I was aware that prices had risen significantly, but when the total is added up, the increase is real, while the forward price of cereals is static.

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There is talk of some kind of help, but I have seen no hard details, except that the CBAM levy on imports will remain to protect the European fertiliser industry – but clearly the farmer is last in the queue.

With a forecast for a dry week, we cut the hay over the weekend. The grass was not grazed since before Christmas, so the heavy crop will take a while to get to the stage where it is fit to bale. We will keep it turned and hope to row and bale it around midweek. One of the small fields is infested with docks so the intention is to Round-up it in mid-August or so and reseed in late August/early September.

Despite it being over limestone, the soil test has clearly told us that it needs lime, so we will put out about two tonnes to the acre before reseeding. Looking at the amount of first-cut silage, we will take just a bit over half the area for a second cut.

Meanwhile, the beef price has strengthened again. Of course I regret that we sold such a high proportion of our beef earlier on in the spring, but we have always sold as they become fit. As a result we have very few left and we can only make the best of those. On the crop side, we had our first inspection from the Department of Agriculture of the wheat intended for seed.

I could not see one wild oat plant and we will strim the headlands as usual to get rid of the brome grass.

There is none further out in the fields which is one of the points in favour of the plough and one pass system. We are also seriously now preparing for the harvest.

The first job will be to give a pre-harvest herbicide to the oilseed rape to leave the ground clean for the following crop.

Once that is applied, we normally count on about three weeks or a bit more depending on conditions.

By that stage I imagine that we should have pretty well finished the winter barley – all going well.