Following its split with John Deere, Lincolnshire-based machinery dealer, Sharmans Agriculture is the latest addition to the Case IH dealership network.

Well, this is a funny one. We live in very strange times and now we are nearing the end of lambing time there is time to reflect.

My goodness, even my relentless cheerfulness is struggling as wave after wave of bad news on Covid-19 is broadcast each hour.

We have now almost completed the spring work, with spring barley coming through the ground fairly evenly and its top dressing of fertiliser being applied at the end of last week.

Technology which can alert farmers and stockpeople when cows are about to experience calving difficulties has been developed by scientists at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).

In conjunction with Bayer we will be keeping track of winter wheat crop development this season as emergence is likely to be variable following the challenging conditions.

Flo Giles, 27, is a pig farmer’s daughter from Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, and works for livestock trading company Meadow Quality. She recently represented Warwickshire Young Farmers Club (YFC) at this year’s NFU conference.

Miles and Halen Partridge established their Rowbrook herd of Galloways in the 1990s, but despite the history of the herd they have eyes firmly on the future.

NFU crops board chair, Matt Culley is a fourth generation farmer from Hampshire working in partnership with his parents and brother. The 720-hectare enterprise produces wheat, barley, oilseed rape, forage maize and rye for AD across varying soil types, from chalk and chalk loam to clay cap.

OSR growers at the latest Syngenta iOSR group meeting highlighted their commitment to their most profitable break crop, but reinforced the need for a better understanding of establishment to achieve more consistent results.