Despite the millions invested in farm machinery technology, when the going gets tough it is normally the oldest and simplest cultivator you turn to.

As I have not got much in the way of excess machinery, I turned to my neighbour Mark who has what can only be described as a plethora of cultivators dating from the 1960s to the 1980s. There is always something there to suit the job at hand. The bolts and adjustment screws may be seized up and the tines and wearing parts no longer in production, but they keep going and do the job.

It is with Mark’s two-row pig tail tine drag that I am pulling the ploughing down with, and with every bone jarring hollow and bump, I vow to myself this really is the last time I plough anything. Fortunately, the recent arctic winds coupled with some penetrating frosts have done some good at breaking down the soil, but I fear the inherent soil structure might be something of a distant memory.

Despite my love of all things old in the agricultural world at the moment, I have been persuaded to change my email address and embrace social media. I was told setting up an email address on a remote server would take 30 mins. Well two days later and with a lot of help from my wife Vicky, I had a new email account; which would send, but not receive. Then it would receive and not send. It almost got to the stage where I wanted to grab a feather from one of the swans grazing my oilseed rape and resort to quill and ink.

With spring just round the corner (surely it has to be), all thoughts are on spray programmes and fertiliser strategies. I must just remember to set aside a week to try and master Twitter. So now you can email me at william@thropefarming.co.uk or follow me on Twitter @thorpefarming

Will Howe farms 384ha of medium to heavy land at Ewerby Thorpe Farm, near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, growing wheat, oilseed rape and winter beans

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