Shropshire Farming Talk: Thankful for the lighter evenings and early starts

However, as I write I’m wearing a woollen jumper and looking out at the rain falling, again!

Anyway, I remember being in Australia for a year, when the rain was a welcome novelty that caused the cattle yards to become quagmires instead of dust bowls, so I don’t take our varied British weather for granted.

I am thankful for the lighter evenings and early starts.

It's been a fascinating month. For the first time we had our own heifer butchered.

Grading at a pleasing R4L, it was rewarding to consider how many families the meat could feed – about 18 – with a range of cuts including shin which I hadn’t cooked before.

It’s been a great learning curve in many ways and interesting comparing my heifer to others, noticing differences in intramuscular fat, fat colour and covering, overall size, as well as how different breeds perform in these areas, somewhat dependant on their diet.

It's also been a brilliant month at work. At Jane Craigie Marketing, we are fortunate to work with an array of clients in agricultural and rural sectors, there has been so much going on lately in the lead up to summer shows and with ABP and their carbon efficiency monitoring and improvement programme, ‘PRISM 2030’.

Jane and I also attended Groundswell which over two days brings together more than 5000 people interested in regenerative agriculture, hosts dungbeetle, bat, and moth safaris, serves British beverages at the Earthworm Arms pub, and presents talks from some of the best agricultural speakers in the world. It was a fascinating few days!

Helen Cork, Farmer and Writer