Farm Diary

THE glorious spring weather continues, although we are warned that it will become colder and 'changeable', which is the weatherman's code for haven't a clue or that anything could happen. We are still very busy, with tractors consuming diesel as if it's going out of fashion, as they plough their way across the maize ground.

We have done a little bit of grass re-seeding at Tillington, which is highly risky in the spring, given that the ground dries out so fast, but we had sprayed off the old sward in the autumn, realizing after drilling the first four fields that it was too late, we stopped, leaving just the one; until now.

The fields drilled have struggled through the winter with a tinge of green, but are now growing strongly, and it will be interesting to see which works best.

The cows ask to be let out on Sunday for the first time this year. Monday morning, they had changed their minds! The warmth of the sun was bringing aromas of grazed grass, but as they sensed rain in the air on Monday, and the colder temperatures, they thought better of it, preferring to stay in the warm shed with easy access to plenty of food.

It would be so easy to turn out last week, but I have been there before, and on the clay at Plaistow, a good day's rain and they would be back in, and the milk would have dropped substantially.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette March 25