What a difference two months can make – everything is so different now from when I wrote my last article back at the start of March.

Back then, the fields were still pretty soggy and field work had barely started, and now the ground is baked like concrete – at least it was.

The warmth and sunshine have been transformative on the winter wheat fields that were looking a bit sorry for themselves after the wet winter. There are still patches where water lay most of the winter and the crop rotted out, but by and large, it is now looking lush and green.

Silage fields got a boost from the slurry in early March are looking like they are almost ready for cutting. Hopefully after a brief spell of more changeable weather in the coming days to dampen down the stoor we’ll be able to look at making a move in that direction.

We’ve had to cut back quite a bit on the silage acreage this year as there is quite a bit of overhang from last year’s bumper crop.

We have got through most of the poorer quality silage though which is just as well as most of the youngstock with the exception of the bulling heifers and the longest in-calf heifers are now out grazing.

With all this positivity out in the fields, it is in some ways hard to get a grip on the crisis that has enveloped the ‘real world’ in these same two months. Things might have briefly been a bit sticky as the milk supply chain tried to adjust to the loss of the service trade and the spot price crashed, with pictures of people having to dump milk, but it seems things have stabilised for now.

And, even if we are looking at the milk price falling a bit in the next few months, the overall financial impact is likely to be less severe than the ‘crash’ in 2016. Of more concern, is the potential toll on the ‘human’ side and the possible downstream impact on animal welfare.

In many respects, we are quite lucky from an isolation point of view, as almost everyone working on the farm lives onsite, hopefully limiting interaction with the wider population.

However, this reassurance is tenuous at best as on the first weekend of lockdown one of our staff fell of his bike and ended up in A and E with broken toes. Really, who goes cycling in slip-on sandals?

The drawback of so much of the workforce living onsite is that most of our staff share accommodation and consequently spend much of their downtime together which means that there would potentially be the risk of multiple cases if/when Covid-19 does eventually get in.

All we can really do is try to make sure that during working hours the potential for spread is limited. We already wear gloves as standard in the parlour but in line with what appears to be best practice intend to move to wearing face-coverings/cotton masks.

With so many unknowns at the moment, all we can do is work on those things that are within our sphere of influence and reflect on the fact that in comparison to so many others forced to lockdown in cities we are very lucky to get out in the fresh air each day, and be able continue doing the job we love.