Here we are in May. It is by far my favourite month. Grass should be growing but the weather has gone cold again after a nice warm April. We have had a few frosty mornings which have ruined the early strawberry flowers. We have decided not to plant any more early strawberries-we only succeed in getting a crop one year in three. The rest of the fruit is looking good at the moment, diligence is needed in looking out for gooseberry sawfly, blackcurrant blister aphid etc.

Calving has nearly finished and has passed with very few losses, several pairs of twins and all looking fit and healthy and ready to face summer outdoors. As I write they are still indoors but we hope to turn some out in the next few days. The main job at the moment is to get the lambs injected with their 7-in-1 against clostridial (intestinal) diseases and the sheep wormed and clipping their back ends to deter fly strike.

All the slurry spreading has been done as well a fertiliser on the meadows for this year’s silage crop- we are always planning weeks and even months ahead.

We have sold a batch of cows and calves to a farm in Devon. That sounds fairly simple, which it was in the past. Now, because of the rampant TB problem, no animals are allowed to come onto the farm for six days and we have to test all the animals we are selling for TB. and keep our fingers crossed as it is creeping ever nearer. Maybe some of this red tape could be reduced-the six-day rule has been with us for 15 years and is due for an overhaul to something simpler. The TB testing I agree with as this is a health issue.

The recent election has caused a few red faces amongst the pollsters, who got it so wrong. Let’s hope that the Conservatives can deliver all that was promised. The issue I took up with the local candidate was that farming and food security was never mentioned!

Gordon Capstick