As if baling, straw clearing, harvesting potatoes, ploughing and spreading chicken muck wasn't enough to keep him busy, James Wray at Dungiven, Co Londonderry has also been moving house. As a result he has also been without an internet connection for two weeks.
"You don't realise how much you rely on it," he said.
Ironically, after his first modem failed, its replacement became a victim of the postal strike.
On the plus side he has already lifted half his 97ha (240 acres) of potatoes, 80% grown on rented land.
"We started on 18 Sept, about a week earlier than usual, but it's been a bit on/off because of wet weather. But yields and quality are good."
A first stab at growing Maris Piper has been particularly encouraging.
Northern Ireland imports about 30,000t/yr of the variety which is rarely grown there because conditions are unsuitable and there is little irrigation to help control scab, he explained.
"The tubers end up like hedgehogs."
But this season's wet summer seems to have favoured his 12ha (30 acre) trial aimed at import-saving.
"We're getting over 20t/acre and there's no scab or blight. I did manage to keep to the seven-day spray intervals and added a blight spray to the desiccant.
"After we planted in April we were thinking that we might have to buy a second-hand irrigator but it just wasn't needed."
His own wheat sowing began only this week, but into ideal conditions.
"We like to drill in blocks so we are waiting to get a few more spud fields lifted. We do the rented ground first to keep our landlords happy."
With more land coming out of set-aside cereal seed supplies from England and Scotland are tight, he noted.
Alchemy and Einstein are being joined by newcomer Oakley. "I've got 5t ordered but prices are very high."
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