51AVÊÓƵ

The rollercoaster that is 2020 has changed again very quickly.

Kids are back at school, the nights are really drawing in and, thankfully, we’ve finished harvest.

Despite the Met Office’s ninja showers, we have now completed our harvest.

Finally, the grass is recovering. It is at least an improvement to see our fields at home green again, having just spent a week in the Highlands of Scotland and north of England and seen grass galore up there.

A thread on Twitter about British wool recently, got me thinking. There has been lots in the farming press and social media about the very low price of wool most years, but particularly this year.

Writing this as we enter the last week of August I am reminded of how our industry is at the mercy of the weather.

I would like to start with a heartfelt apology to the people of Scotland. Last month I mentioned that an Englishman, an Irishman and a Welshman travelled to Scotland and achieved their 400-a-day shearing goals.

Just a few days ago ‘Desert Dorset’ was a dust bowl. The milking herd has been on a full silage diet as there was just no grass and no growth as it has hardly rained for more than a month.

During my early-teen growth spurt I had skinny, matchstick legs and gigantic size-12 feet which I could barely control. This made me hopeless at football – this was in the1980s and Peter Crouch had not surfaced yet.

With the Roundup now applied to some of the spring barley crops, we are on the short countdown to harvest.