In your field

At last, the countryside around us in Aberdeenshire is starting to turn green, with the odd splash of yellow but still lots of brown.

By way of an update from last month, calf jackets are now off but almost went back on again when May seemed to get mixed up with March. The main herd is also out, but only just.

Complaining about the weather is standard practice for most of us and although I’ve tried to avoid the subject when writing these articles, the recent cold conditions are making it difficult to look past.

The barley is in and although we had some initial crow issues as it emerged, the trusty crow bangers have done the job and the recent rain is welcome.

April has been a dry month here in south Lincolnshire with just 4mm of rain falling, topped off with multiple frosty mornings.

It is very difficult to avoid the obvious topic that is the lack of rain which is now at the forefront of most farmers’ minds. No matter where you are in the country at the moment, we all seem to be in the same boat.

With lambing almost finished, we are down to just eight to lamb and it is time to reflect on how it all went.

What a great time to be a new entrant.

It must seem like In Your Field writers are obsessed by the weather as we always start off with a remark about it. Well, I’m afraid this month I’m following the same pattern.