What a relief, even my eyes and cheeks feel strange as the stress and tension drains from my face.

In the rat race you don’t realise how bad it is until it stops.

We have completed the sale of our house and yard this week, after 20 weeks since sale agreed.

See also: Larger UK wheat crop forecast as prices remain under pressure

About the author

Richard Orr

Richard Orr farms cereals and potatoes in a reduced cultivation system in County Down, Northern Ireland, with his wife and two children. He is a cereals and oilseeds sector council member and focuses on soil and plant health. He also keeps a small number of cattle, pigs and sheep.

Read more articles by Richard Orr

Not having to wake up and go to bed every day checking your bank account is a huge difference.

Lots of people say money isn’t important in life. I can tell you a level is required for your mental health. Think of the unnecessary strain this government is putting on your wellbeing.

Even though we haven’t purchased a new farmyard yet, it still feels like we’ve finally closed an old chapter in life and are now free to start the journey and adventure of a new one, in our control and away from negativity.

The stress and strain was evident just last night at an Ulster rugby mini coaches training session.

Taking part in the drills and games had my heart rate through the roof and my lungs on fire. My focus is to get into better physical shape.

I have to say a huge thank you to those businesses who had compassion and understood our hardship.

Traditional family businesses care for their customers.

Big corporations torture you every day or have heard lies and rumours so don’t even offer you a service.

It’s an intrinsic problem within farming that farmers feel they can pay the supplier when it suits them or when they get paid for their product.

At the end of the day it’s not some other company’s problem to give you or me credit just because farming isn’t making money.

On a crop front the weather has been cold and dry – excellent for field work.

However, windy days and frosty nights weren’t ideal for winter crops and many sat static for the month of March. It was only the rain last weekend that has awakened crops and greened everything up.

Another day’s rain wouldn’t go amiss to keep crops moving and fertiliser working.

Potato planting is just beginning as the soil is still cold and I don’t want to put sprouted seed into those cold conditions.