The dry weather has really given us a chance to get spring work done in good time.

As I write, we are sowing the beans. I was interested to see that our delivery came from Denmark. You would have thought with our record acreage last year we could have produced our own seed domestically.

In any event, I was relieved to get them in good time. With a good burn-off of the stubble, there was still a mat of grass and weeds left over from last year’s downpours so we decided to plough instead of direct-drill which we did last year.

We gave the ploughed area a discing to level out the ground and also following the dry weather to consolidate the seed bed.

Our 1,000 grain weight was quite low at 495 grammes which would translate according to the advice into 175 kg/ha.

Looking at and handling the seed, this looked about right so we went ahead on that basis.

We are spreading the P and K on the sown crop so that the tracks from our GPS fertiliser spreader will be there for our standard sprayer.

When we replace the sprayer, we will certainly get GPS fitted as it saves time marking out ground and increases accuracy.

All the winter crops, except the oats, have now got their first dressing and we should get around to that this week. We are holding off on the more cold-sensitive herbicides until the weather gets milder.

Meanwhile, I was slightly concerned that we hadn’t received our area aid maps and other details, but on ringing the Department of Agriculture, I was told they would be on the way soon and not to worry.

Given the forward prices and turmoil in the cereals market, this year’s payment is going to be critical to profitability on the crop side.

We have received the full official breakdown of payments received for the year 2024 which will have to be produced and taken into account when the tax liability for 2024 is being calculated in October.

On the cattle side, the beef price continues to climb. Grass growth has taken a knock in the cold weather so nothing is out day and night and looking at the paddocks after grazing, it’s as well that we have had so much hay to supplement the silage.

We continue to replace with light stock as we sell to the factory.

We sell everything to the factory so with every load of finished beef that leaves the yard, I am wondering am I getting the full market price.

That said, I never thought the present price would be reached nor of course did I think that we would be paying as much for stores coming in.

On a different note, I must compliment our insurance company FBD on their speedy settlement of my storm damage claim. While I supplied all the requested details, I was still impressed at the speed of settlement.

For those with forestry and polytunnels destroyed, one would expect that official delays could be minimised and future losses reduced if a similar proactive attitude was taken.