Waking up on Easter Sunday to a winter scene was not what I expected, and I didn’t know whether to envy those who had drilled sugar beet or not.

Clearly this year is already throwing out some testing weather challenges. Still the wheat price remains at levels not contemplated less than a year ago.

By the time the futures trades have all been hedged by options and then speculated on again by spread bets, who knows where it will end up.

All these extra millions are betting on change in one direction or another, but could just as quickly find another horse to bet on. Whether that is good or bad I don’t know, but at least it represents one of the few places where sellers and buyers trade in a true market place.

I have just finished removing the old asbestos roof from my now disused cowshed. It was not a cheap job.

By the time a contractor had taken off the roof and carted it to the nearest official site, it cost considerably more than putting the replacement roof on.

Apparently, I have to keep the paperwork attached to this exercise for 40 years, which is a bit of a laugh for someone who has just lost his second pair of glasses in as many months.

Even my wife, who can find most things that I have spent all day looking for in 30 seconds, reckons this will pose a challenge.

The weather forecasts suggest that making a good job of planting potatoes may tough.

The land is very wet as we enter April, so the deep ridgers will pull up awkward soil. The Marfona intended for storage and the Piper seed (destination unknown) may well sit in cold store quite a bit longer than normal.