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As we approach the middle of July, our preparations for harvest in the north east of Scotland get into gear, with sheds to muck and wash, combines to be serviced and guttering to clean and repair.

The progress made through the shearing season across the UK has shown us there are a huge number of very capable and talented shearers here on home soil, which is something we ought to be proud of.

Be careful what you wish for. After weeks of dry weather and wishing we could have just a bit of rain after first cut, the weather broke with a vengeance and we seemed to be instantly transported into autumn.

How the fodder stores have changed in three weeks. Throughout the first half of the year there have been significant concerns about tonnages of crops grown from grass all the way through to arable crops, largely as a result of difficult weather conditions.

New writer Kate farms alongside her husband Jim on one of two family farms near Abergavenny, Monmouthshire.

The longest day, summer solstice is behind us. As we move into official summer, it is such a beautiful time of year to be up at silly o’ clock as the sun rises and there is very little noise in the countryside, except the vocal birds singing their dawn chorus. They seem to be even louder this year.

The year 1976 was a notable one. Steve Jobs launched Apple, the first Star Wars came out and I turned one during harvest that August.

With the Covid-19 virus still causing mayhem and hardship throughout the UK, it is at least encouraging to see things move forward and start to open up in England. Our Scottish leader is very popular, although she is taking a very cautious approach to leading Scotland out of lockdown.

I am writing this with a broken heart, having just had to have my young dog Kip put down. She was only two and a promising young bitch with the kindest, sweetest, nature of any dog I have known.

They say every day is a school day and inviting the general public into your farmyard on a daily basis is certainly an education.