Over the last few days, we installed solar panels on a south-facing galvanised lean-to. We are not linked up yet, as the installers have to bring the output of the panels to the meter in the house.

We dithered as to whether the wire should be buried beneath the yard or brought around overhead by being attached to the existing outhouses.

Attaching to the outhouses was the option chosen, as we were terrified of breaking up old sewage and drainage pipes which are working fine if we had opted to attempt the underground route.

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As the panels were being fixed to the roof, I was glad to see the sun, when it did come out, falling directly onto the panels despite it being so low in the sky at this time of the year.

As we qualified for the TAMS grant, we had to abide by the condition to install a battery to store the generated electricity until it is needed or is exported to the grid.

At this stage, I am still not sure what to expect by way of electricity output and reduction in my electricity bills.

If all goes according to plan, my idea would be to swap my diesel car and buy an electric and be able to charge it from electricity generated from our own roof, but we will get the feel for the new system first.

Out on the land, it has been intensely frustrating trying to get crops sprayed.

We haven’t had that much rain over the last few days, but the constant drizzle has meant we made very little progress.

The heavy rain over the weekend has further put things back. On the part of the barley we did get to spray, I was glad to see how little damage was done to the growing plants by the wide wheels of the tractor, so presumably we will get a chance to finish the job in the immediate future.

One of the astonishing developments over the last while has been the ability to know the genetic merit of the individual cattle we buy in by looking up electronically their commercial beef value (CBV) on the ICBF website.

There is a small charge for the service, but the level of precision on each animal covered by the system and the speed with which it can recovered from the central database is, to somebody of my generation, extraordinary.

We have now gone through all the cattle on the place and while there is a large variation depending on the merit of the sire, mostly Angus in our case and the dam predominantly Holstein, the general commercial beef value seems to be improving, presumably as their dairy farmer producers become more conscious of the value of having a measurably superior animal to sell.

That said, there is still a proportion of animals where the sire is given as unknown, and so no CBV is available.

I presume these are mainly in herds where stock bulls are kept to mop up the cows not in-calf, but it would be worthwhile if these bulls were genotyped and the details fed into the system. It would be worthwhile if these farmers could be encouraged to join the system.