DURING the first half of the week there was plenty of warm sunshine, but after this prolonged spell of sunny weather the temperature plummeted about 10 degrees. A predominance of cloud cover and a cold northerly wind were responsible for this change. Here on Manor Farm and echoed across the county farmers were hoping that the forecasted rain would help all our growing crops. However the only rain we had on this farm were spots, which barely made it to the ground before drying up! In fact May was a dry month, apart from the odd immeasurable few spots.

The ground is so dry, cracked and extremely hard, so how any of our crops are managing to survive I am not sure. As I have said previously the winter barley and wheat are well in ear, with the ears also showing well on our fields of spring barley. If the dry conditions persist the yield and quality of grain at harvest could be badly affected. At the moment the maize seems to have benefitted from the spell of warm weather, looking a little greener than before and seems to be holding its own. The permanent pasture, around which our cattle rotate, is not growing at all well, so Ian has been doing more fencing to enable them to be moved to fields that were going to be cut a second time for silage.

Kevin has also been moving some groups of sheep to fresh pasture. These fields of grass belong to people who need them grazed and sheep have a reputation as good grazers, usually leaving a lawn -like finish to the fields, unlike cattle and horses.

The clover rich sward that was cut for hay the week before last has been baled and stored ready for use in the winter, or maybe earlier if this dry weather continues. To make good hay the crop must be very dry. It is recommended that for small bales the moisture content should be between 18% and 22%; for large bales it must be drier, between 14% and 18%. If the moisture is higher than this the bales will heat, with moulds developing. The metabolic activity of micro-organisms can generate enough heat to raise the temperature to a point that it may catch fire. This is why hay (an unwrapped crop) is usually made in mid-summer, when the sun is hottest and day length longest. That's if it's not raining!

Kevin and family continue to regularly weigh the older lambs, usually finding 30 + that are ready for sale each week. At the moment the trade for the older cull sheep has dropped badly, so as Kevin can still find people who need their fields grazed he can keep them a little longer, as there is no additional expense.

On my walks around the farm I am still finding lots of interesting wildlife. I regularly see roe deer, managing to get quite close to one the other day before I was spotted. A green woodpecker appears around the farm buildings, making itself obvious by its call. We have also had a pair of mallard hatch a brood of seven ducklings in the receiving pit which feeds into our large slurry store. You may ask how this is possible? The surface of the receiving pit is quite "crusty" with exposed patches of dirty water showing through in places. So the ducks can swim, feed on the abundance of insects and hide in the delivery pipe if threatened by predators. All very clever! The same pair raised a brood there last year.

An interesting find was a cocoon of black spikey caterpillars, with small white spots. The cocoon was fixed to some stinging nettles, the favourite food of these caterpillars, which will eventually become beautiful peacock butterflies. In winter peacock butterflies hibernate in hollow trees, sheds and attics, folding their wings to show the brown under colour, so well camouflaged. It can live for a year, emerging in the spring to lay its eggs.