In your field

In what has been an all or nothing sort of year when it comes to grass growing weather, August is defying expectations and turning out to be bang on, with plenty of rain and warmth to boot.

As the year continues on apace, we entered the whirl of second cut. I’m sure I’m not the only wife/mother who goes through these times in an anxious state.

Mid-August and the often-talked-about ’mid-summer dip’ arrived.

Son Sam arrived home after shearing 10,000 sheep in the Scottish Highlands, and it is great to have him back.

Or to be more accurate, it wasn’t the shearing that was the biggest job – it was gathering them all first.

This month I have for you the story of how a ginger kid is starring in a supermarket advert.

From torrential rain to a heatwave within a matter of days. July threw the proverbial kitchen sink at us in terms of weather conditions.

All our sheep were finally shorn by the first week of July and the conversation soon moved onto the well-documented price we will receive for the wool.

What a blessing a warm July has been for us, allowing us to crack on with harvesting, cropping, drilling, cultivating, packing and whatever else needs doing to keep us in business.

I did not think it was possible to be more busy than we were before. July has been the most incredible month with second cut silage, our first ever hay crop and new calves arriving to be reared.