What an unseasonable start to the winter period there has been. We would have gladly taken this past month’s mild temperatures and pleasant sunshine back in June. I certainly don’t have much use for it in November!

Having said that, a late burst of grass has got the ewes going into winter in fine fettle and with temperatures plummeting at the end of last week, it seems winter is finally here.

Having been floored with a bad flu over the last few days I’ve only been able to complete the essential tasks of feeding and livestock checks but thankfully the routine can be completed in under a few hours.

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Being almost housebound this last couple of days has given me some time to digest the fallout from the Budget and what it means for us as a business. Changes to APR/BPR and the crazy proposal to put an import tax on fertiliser (a product that is responsible for producing half of the nation’s food) has infuriated the industry. As the argument continues about the correct numbers of potential businesses affected by the APR change, one thing is for certain ­– it will be the farming families who have taken the risks and scaled their businesses up in a drive for efficiency. The ones who have expanded land area, built sheds and parlours, updated machinery, and improved breeding livestock. This is where the axe will unfortunately fall.

If nothing else, the revelations of the past few weeks will hopefully focus the minds of those who have not yet engaged in any form of succession planning. Doing nothing definitely no longer works.

Although tempted, I decided that attending the rally in London was a bit too far a distance to travel but it was great to see the huge turnout and the fantastic organisational skills of the farming social media stars among others who managed to pull it all together.

I did, however, host my local MP, Jamie Stone of the LibDems, on the farm at the end of last week as part of his fact-finding mission on the consequences of the Chancellor’s Budget. I must say that he was very well versed on the IHT subject, having spoken to both the NFU and farmers at the rally at Westminster. However, he was unaware and shocked at the proposals for the fertiliser tax and I think this shows how important it is for us all to engage with those who represent us in the corridors of power.

Back to matters closer to home and calves are having their backs clipped and being administered with their second pneumonia vaccine, having had the first one before housing. Vaccination has always been part of our armoury against the pneumonia fight but the double shot six weeks apart is a new routine for us.

There are years that we get no trouble with the disease and then others that can pose a challenge. The effects of pneumonia can often be underplayed but when you look at the cost of antibiotics, underperformance and, of course, losses, the costs can be substantial. Ventilation is always something I’m looking at but annoyingly our shed with the best ventilation seems to pose just as much risk! I’ve read mixed reports on the effectiveness of fans and tunnels but I think they may help out in one or two of our situations so it’s something I’m keen to try.

On the sheep front, ewes are getting their fluke and wormer and we will have the tups turned out at the end of the month. Recent lamb growth has been exceptional due to the kind weather of the past six weeks which has made up for their slow start over the summer months. For some reason, we have been finding carcase weights to be a bit lighter than expected due to lambs killing out a few per cent less than usual which meant we had to start picking larger liveweights than normal to counteract this. With the last of the lambs now turned onto forage rape 10 days ago, hopefully these killing out percentages will improve.

At the start of the month, Margaret returned to her work as a vet in the Thurso practice after a 12-month stint on maternity leave. She is enjoying getting back into the routine although I did manage to present her with one or two veterinary jobs over the past year to help her keep her hand in. It’s certainly a useful trade to have around!