Farmer Focus: Looking forward to spring in lockdown three

Now that February is here and January is out of the way, we can all begin to look forward to spring.

January is not a particular favourite month of mine, but under normal circumstances, when a lot of people who work in the industry get together and socialise, it would move up the list.

Out of the three lockdowns, this one has probably had the biggest effect on me as, during the others, we were too busy on the farm to realise.

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Despite this, my spare time throughout January has been spent on home improvements, which has certainly pleased my wife. “Happy wife, happy life” as the saying goes. I am slowly getting better DIY, and have found it quite rewarding when it goes well.

With 93mm of rain in January, the ground has become very wet, especially after quite a wet autumn.

There has been no opportunities to finish any leftover spray recommendations from last year. However, it has been nice to see a significant amount of cold weather during the past month.

Overall, our winter crops look well, apart from the odd wet patch. Our winter barley and winter wheat after oats would really benefit from some early nitrogen, but we will have to wait until travelling conditions are suitable.

Since Christmas, we have been preparing and setting up for lambing. This year, the addition of more individual pens has allowed space for 10% of the flock, which will be a real help.

The electric fences are up on the cover crops, so ewes and lambs can be turned out as soon as conditions allow.

A farm building renovation project is now entering its final phase, with just the finishing touches to add. I am really pleased with how it looks, and the improvements will make the building far more useful.

Another building project is entering its final phase of planning and, as soon as lambing has finished, we can make a start, which will be exciting.