51AVÊÓƵ

What a great time to be a new entrant.

It must seem like In Your Field writers are obsessed by the weather as we always start off with a remark about it. Well, I’m afraid this month I’m following the same pattern.

You could be forgiven for thinking it was March. Cooler temperatures have somewhat hampered grass growth of late.

We have had our first Covid-19 vaccination, so there is light at the end of the tunnel and the Easter sunshine helped.

March was a very productive month all round on the farm.

As with most farms in spring, life has been pretty hectic in our part of Dorset.

It is great to be writing my first column this week, with it just being International Women’s Day and the global theme of Women in Leadership.

With the hotel, hospitality and tourist industries still in lockdown, you would think their purchasing power would be missed in the market with the knock-on effect being sharply felt at the farm gate with depressed prices.

We welcomed our son Arthur into the world on February 23. Isobel was an absolute hero and after a long labour and a bit of a scare he arrived surrounded by the midwives and doctors. We were home the next day and cannot thank the NHS enough.

A couple of weeks ago we lambed our Leicesters and were in a busy period of calving, the sun was shining and it really felt like spring. Lambs were starting to fill the fields further down the valley.