How many of your cows hit the calving interval target, and which tag technology are you backing? It has been a week of winners and losers, of rushed rules for some and never-ending bureaucracy for others.

The new beef calf scheme set the rules before farmers knew what was happening. Meanwhile, we've been waiting over 20 years, and we still don't have the tag legislation to bring the cattle sector into the 21st century.

Meanwhile we now have an Agricultural Bill passed into law, but it is painted with such broad strokes that we can barely understand what the Scottish Government is trying to achieve. We'll have to wait for the finer details to understand who the winners and losers will be under the reform.

READ MORE | High frequency tags could have their uses

Regarding the new SRUC figures for calving intervals, some farmers will see their payments grow as more of their cows hit the target, while others will see their payments dip, often through no fault of their own. While the value of the payments is relatively modest at £100 to £150, they soon mount up for larger farmers. At the other end of the scale, the cash can go a long way to offsetting the wintering costs for a crofter with some Highlands on the hill.

In other news, it is brilliant that the Moredun Institute has been awarded significant funding to investigate drug resistance in scab. The Scottish Farmer has been campaigning on this wicked disease, which is insidiously creeping across our flocks. Testing shows that the disease is more prevalent than many think, and everyone needs to take swift action when suspected cases appear on their farm or croft.

The Union has been out doing their shopping in the supermarket this week and discovered that Aldi is 'top of the shops' with the most domestic product on the shelf. These savvy German retailers know a good thing when it comes to marketing, and it is wise to marry their brand with Scottish farmers. Compared to spending millions on a celebrity chef or pop star to flog their goods, the best brand ambassador is the people in the fields doing the work.

Both Lidl and Aldi's ability to break away from the assumption that every product must be available 365 days a year is both refreshing and practical. Eating seasonally and locally means we can't have everything all the time, and doing so will help our planet and our waistline.

Finally, the tag debacle has been rumbling on for nearly a generation, so farmers have every right to feel exasperated. There are most certainly vested interests at play in the debate between UHF and LF, and the long-term ambition for the better UHF technology is near unanimous. But despite all these decades, we still don’t seem to have the legislation in place for a simple rollout embraced by tag manufacturers.

On a lighter note, perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised, as I know plenty farmers who look for any excuse to delay buying something fancy for their female’s ears!