Many rely on maize to save the day, but it has tasseled early

In 30 days the grass should have grown two and a half leaves, but the dry conditions are holding things back. There are many things one can do to greatly encourage grass growth, and there are even more that can be done to destroy it!

It is therefore no surprise to see who has some grass in these conditions and who ran out many weeks ago; also the amount of grass silage made is hugely variable, and those who traditionally run out are in real trouble this year.

Many rely on the maize to save the day, but this year it has tasseled early, and whilst cobs could fill out nicely if we get more rain this month, ensuring a good cob to stem ratio.

Quality will be very much at the expense of quantity, and the old adage always is, you can't worry about quality until you have enough. We rely very heavily on maize to feed both the cows and the bio-digester, and with last year being such a bumper year, this year is bound to be a disappointment.

The maize crop does protect every drop of rain under the forest of leaves, and will have benefited a great deal from last week's rain. There is a little more rain promised mid week, and I hope it arrives.

This has been the driest start to any year since 1929 according to the Met Office from the beginning of January to June, with only an average of 356.8mm, making it the second driest period for 100 years. Hey, what was it doing 100 years ago? No one had thought of global warming then? How is it that as we break records, the further back we have to go? It is getting wetter and colder in Victoria, Australia by the way, as they approach the worst of their kind winter, and I notice how it is not as light at 4.30am these days.

I visited the Kent County Show last Friday, and I was delighted to see the work being done by the school farms. Kent has more school farms than any county (and whilst we are at it Kent also has the most grade one land in a county too), and to see these young children who have no farming background at all, handle the animals (sheep, pigs and cattle) with such confidence, was exciting.

I asked them what their parents thought. 'They think we're a bit weird' was the reply. How big was the gap between their parents approach and theirs, towards these animals? A massive gulf I am afraid, and we are sadly talking about a lost generation in many ways, whose everyday attitudes and decisions, are incomplete due to them losing touch with their roots.

These children however, are certainly enjoying the animals, and the experience of camping at the show and spending all hours washing, clipping and brushing their charges. Each school has a few animals kept on a few acres, and they are cared for by these children, and the teachers were very keen to tell me how some of the children who for a variety of reasons lack confidence and self-esteem, 'switch-on' after being involved with, and caring for, the animals.

I had the children from Plaistow school visit the farm again last week; this time the older one's, who are on their last year before moving on next September. They had come to look at the anaerobic digester, and their understanding of the principles involved was impressive.

They know about bacterial activity, and could make the connection between the process of breaking down the various materials by bacterial action, and the running of a big engine on the gas given off by that process very easily.

They always find the farm a bit smelly, something they get over quite quickly, and of course we had to be very careful to balance the 'experience' and their health and safety, carefully.

I have now written to the chairlady of the Health and Safety Executive, asking her to arrange for a team to visit our farm and write us a report, telling us what the requirements are, and the things we need to do, vis a vis the bio-digester. I don't know precisely what the requirements are, and the Germans certainly do not! It was another visit from the Germans, and the cavalier attitude they took when attempting to fix out gas sensors, which prompted me to act.

These days, there is a nasty habit in this country of finding someone to throw in jail when accidents occur. Accidents do not happen, they are caused, and I have no desire to have Nick Herbert as my landlord due to a mishap which I have no control over!

It will be very interesting to see what we need to put in place, and also ask the Health and Safety Executive to give me either the power to insist the Germans take proper precautions, or exonerate me from any blame if I am not in a position to do so. Any cost associated with this exercise will be deducted from the final payment to the German company, and I will not be signing for the plant until I am happy. We have after all had one death in this young industry already, and someone needs to sort the job out.

Sparrows are now nesting everywhere around the bio-digester, and the chicks shout loudly as soon as they hear anyone near the nest; demanding food. The children were fascinated by this, and I unfastened the rain-cover to show them how warm and snug the chicks were. I understand from the RSPB that sparrow numbers are falling in this country, and whilst I am proud to be doing my bit, I don't really want thousands of sparrows around the farm!

Our garden has a few sharp cherry trees, which this year are laden with fruit. I am eating as many as I can, but can anyone tell me why the birds have not cleared them all?

I don't understand this at all. The wasps are having a whale of a time eating the fallen cherries, and one has to tread carefully, especially if barefooted in the garden!