Although there has been plenty of warm sunshine between periods of cloud cover, there has been a chilly breeze from a northerly direction.To end the week, a promising start to the day gave way to an afternoon of thundery storms. The storms were torrential where they landed.

My partner Ian and I happened to be travelling from Wootton Bassett to Cirencester, when we drove through a torrential downpour which temporarily flooded the road. On Manor Farm there was a short, sharp shower , depositing no measurable rainfall, however at the beginning of the week at Manor farm we had 2.5mm of rain over Sunday night. Here on the farm near Wootton Bassett we did measure 5.5mm and making first cut of silage is the next job waiting to be done. We are just hoping that it now remains dry as the fields here get particularly wet and take a while to dry.

First cut silage on Manor Farm was undertaken at the beginning of the week, with a local contractor employed to do the forage harvesting. A forage harvester picks up the cut grass and chops it, before delivering it into trailers,which will take it back to the silage clamp. Here the chopped grass is built into a wedge - shaped heap, rolled to expel as much air as possible before being covered with a plastic sheet to keep the crop airtight. The fermentation that occurs must take place in anaerobic conditions. If the crop is too wet, not consolidated enough or not sealed properly the wrong bacteria present in the grass will cause acids to be produced, which will ruin the crop.

When making the silage on Manor Farm Ian used a bacterial additive containing lactobacilli . This is applied whilst the forage harvester is chopping the grass and helps boost numbers of these bacteria already present to help make sure the right fermentation process is started. These bacteria break down the sugars into lactic acid until a pH of 4.2 or below is achieved. This will stabilise the silage, effectively the grass will be pickled . If the silage clamp is kept well sealed the ensiled grass will remain highly nutritious,which is what highly productive cattle require to keep them fit and healthy.When making our silage Kevin, brother in law Ian and one of our neighbours were hauling trailers to the clamp.

Kevin and his father Francis recently attended the South West National Sheep Association event, which was held on a farm near Honiton. This sector specific event will next take place in 2025. A variety of trade stands, handling systems , nutritionists, meat processors and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (into which farmers pay a compulsory levy for information, research and marketing) were on site. Also there were the sheep breed societies and the Wool Board, which is responsible for the collection and marketing of all British Wool.

Kevin and Francis attended the event, not only to see what was on offer, but to see if there was an automatic footbathing system being demonstrated. Normally footbaths are low troughs filled with a solution to help keep sheep's feet in better condition to try and prevent lameness. The automatic footbath has a flushing system,which helps keep the footbath solution clean, keeping organic matter out. Organic matter reacts with the solution, diluting it so making it less effective over time. Unfortunately there was not one there, so they will have to look elsewhere.

During the week I have noticed how lovely the trees and hedgerows are looking, decked with leaves and blossom. It is now the turn of hawthorn blossom to replace that of blackthorn. Hawthorn, another prickly shrub, unlike blackthorn, opens its leaves before flowering, after which bunches of little red berries will develop. Whilst in the greenhouse I was visited by a very large hornet , which soon found its way out and later I came across three very large toads!