51AVÊÓƵ

After the dry spring and summer we saw last season it was hard to imagine we would now be paddling around in sodden fields again, but here we are.

We grit our teeth at the water rushing down the many streams on the farm, knowing how desperate we will probably be for it come July, particularly with the heavily irrigation-dependent crops we grow.

On the new farm we are currently looking at options for water storage and abstraction.

As we go into next month, ground preparations will start and it will not be long until the salad drills start rolling.

While field work has been on hold, time has been spent maintaining machinery and equipment, planning for next season and agreeing sales volumes with buyers.

We agree weekly quantities of salad crop to be supplied from April through to the end of October and then plan production against this. As I am sure you can imagine, with the high price of everything at the moment, negotiating prices has not been easy.

The Soil Associations advisory team came out to see us in December to share their thoughts on our best route to organic conversion on the new land we have taken on.

The two-year clover and ryegrass ley we had put in will now be hard grazed, ploughed and put into spring peas, which seems a much more viable option, hopefully getting us some cash in the bank while fixing more nitrogen than the clover would.

I was pleased to see the launch of Defras New Entrant Pilot Scheme and it will be interesting to see what comes of it.

On the face of it, providing tactical support to young businesses, nurturing would-be entrepreneurs to further develop a business idea, and fostering innovation and growth is not really the stumbling block I see for people trying to get that foot in.

New entrants do not lack ideas or advice farmers are always more than willing to mentor someone keen to learn. Quite simply, what new entrants really need is access to land and capital.

Christmas time saw the addition of two Gloucester Old Spot cross sows. Adam is not a livestock person, but when we first met and he was trying to show off his animal handling credentials, he proudly told me he did a course on artificially inseminating pigs at ag college. I suspect he naively thought I would never put this skill to the test.