Final harvest preparations are nearly complete with just the grain stores to be fumigated. The first oilseed rape was desiccated nearly a fortnight ago and is ripening well. Itchy feet will no doubt get the better of me and we will have a go next week.

Our Simba Solo is ready to go and I hope that our double press is all back together after waiting nearly four months for new DD rings to be supplied. If the dealer had been informed from the outset that it would have taken this long, then it would have at least helped our planning.

A few months ago I was asked to accommodate a work placement student for a week. I have always been quite reluctant in the past to do this as it is time consuming and the list of activities a 16-year-old is and isn’t allowed to do is quite daunting. A week pushing a brush is hardly a great experience, although necessary when cleaning grain stores. I relented and agreed.

It would have been easy to say no, but here was someone who said he wanted to get into farm management. Agriculture needs young entrants with good practical experience, either in management or as an operator of some of the most technologically advanced equipment of any industry.

I’m not sure how agricultural colleges work nowadays, but when I went to Harper Adams I had to complete a year’s practical experience before I attended, irrelevant of what I had done at weekends and school holidays – and also a sandwich year in the middle of my course. These should be compulsory for those wanting to be involved in practical agriculture. It also provides students with one of life’s essentials – beer tokens. Happy harvest.

Arable farmer focus: Jon Parker