Íæż½ã½ã

As we are now well into the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, there’s one word which gladdens the heart of your average milk vending machine owner: porridge.

Winter housing is rapidly approaching and, despite the lack of any decent frosts yet, each morning is becoming more autumnal, mists hang in the bottom of the valley and gateways are getting a bit ‘clartier’ with every day.

Mid-October and Cheshire is looking reasonably on top of the job. Maize is all but finished, although some crops have been disappointing in terms of yield.

It is our favourite time of year. There has been a farmstead here since the 12th century, with the addition of a cider house in 1696 for payment of cider to farm labourers. We are continuing this tradition.

Well, harvest 2022 is officially over and it was our biggest harvest to date, with 300 hectares (740 acres) of combinables under our belts.

It has been a long, dry summer here in the Scottish Borders and we still have a couple of fields of grass to mow for second cut silage.

Every time I come to write my article, there seems to be more and more upheaval in the world.

Breedr, the livestock software company that I work for, launched in America earlier this year.

I must start with the poignant news of the passing of The Queen. Even if you are not a royalist you can not help but admire her passion and commitment to all things rural.

I have been trying to decrease my commitments with the many organisations I am involved with.