After a stormy start to the week the days were filled with plenty of glorious sunshine . For the first 3 days the wind blew most of the remaining bramley apples off my tree and with the accompanying 26 mm rainfall left our fields rather soggy once again. Fortunately the following sunny days did reduce the size of the large puddles and brightened the days as we prepared ourselves for a second lockdown ! . The temperature however did fall to give a few early morning frosts and mists, but the days felt pleasantly warm , so I spent a great deal of time walking and gardening.

Unfortunately the mild weather has been good for the pesky aphids , so after consultations with both Kevin's and our agronomist the advice was to apply a pesticide to our cereal crops before too much damage could be done. At the moment our winter cereals are looking well , so hopefully this will continue , but the weather from now till then will play a very large part in the yield of grain next harvest. Due to the mild weather the grass continues to grow , but when livestock are grazing this time of year we have to be aware that the nutritional value is not very high . Kevin has told me that at the moment the remaining lambs for sale are finishing solely off a grass diet and another group was graded as ready to go . There are now only about 100 of this year's lambs left to be finished.

Ian decided that it was time to bring our older Angus beef cattle into their winter accommodation ,so the steers ( castrated males ) were brought into the barn . These older , larger animals were needing some extra food and they were beginning to poach patches of the field they were in . " Poaching " in this context is when damage is done to grass and underlying soil by livestock for prolonged periods in wet conditions. Now all our cattle are housed , where they will remain until next spring.

Like Kevin we are selling our older Angus cattle when they grade as finished . Fortunately the price per kilo has been quite good over recent months , but Keevin has told me that although the price has just dropped a little , it is still better than at the same time last year.

Sheep work over the week has consisted of a great deal of fencing and moving groups of sheep to fresh pasture .The 500 ewes due to lamb at the end of March next year have recently been grouped into their families and an unrelated ram with high genetic potential has been put with each group .These ewes will give birth to future breeding stock . The 38 early lambing ewes , found to be barren when they were scanned recently have been given a second chance to become pregnant and have also been put into a field with a ram.

The small flocks of ewes and rams are scattered in fields on our farms , with some on tack . When sheep go on tack it means they are grazing pasture for other farmers . This is beneficial , as it can enhance both grass quality and growth , leaving the pasture in good condition for spring growth the following year. Kevin has also started to prepare barns where the ewes, due to give birth in early January , will be housed before Christmas.

One day last week Kevin had a Combinable Crops and Sugar Beet Scheme assurance inspection , which is a part of the "Red Tractor Assurance Scheme " . The Red Tractor Scheme ensures food safety, animal welfare , hygiene and environmental protection through every part of the food chain. At the moment the inspection is done using a virtual method, so all the relevant paperwork has to be loaded onto the Red Tractor portal.This includes a crop management plan , a site and soil plan , full traceability, vermin control , environmental protection and contamination controls and records of maintenance and servicing of spraying equipment , to name just a few of many. Then the inspector was taken on a video linked tour of Chiverlins Farm , asking to see various locations. These included the pesticide store, diesel tanks, grain store and asked about disposal of fertiliser and chemical containers. Pleased to say that Kevin passed the inspection.