HERE is the weekly farming diary written by Jane Merritt.

Harvest has come to my back door, in bags and boxes, of apples, plums, damsons, blackberries, tomatoes and elderberries left by friends and neighbours sharing a glut of fruits gathered from gardens and allotments.

There's a strong sense that good food should not be left to go to waste, heightened by the food shortages many people will face this year because of drought, war and rising prices.

Gathering and safe storage of the harvest is very much a preparation for winter.

On upland farms, this involves the conservation of grass as hay or silage, to be fed to cattle indoors and hill flocks on snow-covered fields, and the removal of animals which cannot be catered for on the farm.

Ewe lambs are sent out 'on tac' to graze lowland pastures and to grow, ready for breeding in their second spring, whilst store lambs and beef cattle are sold to farms with food stocks on which they can be fattened.

At the first of the autumn sales at our local livestock market last week, beef sucklers attracted buyers from as far afield as Gloucestershire and Scotland, although drought and wildfires have left farms in many parts of the country short of 'winter keep', and unable to accept stock from the uplands this autumn.

There is no shelter from climate change for those whose livelihoods are gleaned from the land.