January is usually a time to catch up with the maintenance jobs that have been put off from the previous season, as well as updating staff training.

This year has been no exception, with the Simba Cultipress receiving a new set of DD rings and the Pronto drill having a set of cultivation discs fitted so far.

The staff have also attended a sprayer operator training course, which is a great way to top up their NRoSO points and keep up to date with the latest developments and legislation.

Not to mention the opportunity of networking with other spray operators.

See also: What your arable weeds are telling you about soil health

About the author

David Fuller

David Fuller manages 3,500ha of medium sandy clays for McGregor Farms based at Coldstream, on both sides of the border. Cropping includes wheat, spring barley, winter barley and oilseed rape, spring beans and vining peas. Potatoes are farmed in collaboration with Greenvale AP.

Read more articles by David Fuller

A period of hard frost mid-month also allowed us to make a start with variable-rate triple super phosphate applications.

It’s always good to be on the front foot and snatch a few days spreading over the winter, as it relieves a bit of the pressure later in the season.

Although we got a good chunk of winter ploughing done in the early autumn, frosty, snowy and wet weather prohibited us from completing any more over the winter.

Hopefully, conditions will improve and we can get the ploughing completed in a timely fashion.

As a consequence of winning the AgriScot Scottish Arable Farm of the Year award back in November last year, our management team – Colin, Tom and I – were asked to speak at the AHDB/SRUC agronomy roadshows.

This is a series of three events hosted in the Borders, Perthshire and Aberdeenshire where farmers and stakeholders can discuss all aspects of crop production.

We decided that rather than burden one of us with the responsibility to talk at all three events, we would tackle one each.

Tom was the guinea pig and stayed closest to home, speaking at the first event in the Borders. Colin then headed to Perthshire, which meant I went to Aberdeenshire, thus keeping the “team” ethos alive and kicking.

The events were well attended with 90-100 delegates at each, and our presentations seemed to be well received.

My focus was how McGregor Farms uses technology and implement precision farming techniques within our business.