Nowadays, any prolonged period of frost feels like a bit of a novelty.

The recent cold snap we’ve had has been most welcome, although some of the braver daffodils that were starting to jump the gun are now looking worse for wear.

If nothing else, it has been a pleasant respite from constantly squelching round in the mud.

On a more practical note, harder ground conditions have allowed us to get some muck out to the field heaps without creating two-foot-deep ruts everywhere.

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Billy Lewis

Billy Lewis farms 140ha in North Herefordshire in partnership with his parents. They keep Hereford cattle, sheep and grow combinable crops. He also contract farms an additional 110ha. Cropping includes wheat, oats and spring beans.

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As a result, our covered muck store now shouldn’t be at risk of being overwhelmed.

This gives us a bit of extra capacity for when the wet weather does inevitably return – probably around mid-February, just as everyone starts thinking about doing a bit of field work.

It’s too early to tell, but I’m hoping the week of sub-zero temperatures has been enough to knock the companion crops growing in our area of direct-drilled wheat on the head.

It was beginning to look less like a cereal crop and more like an overwinter cover crop of linseed and phacelia.

If the frost has had the desired effect, I might consider trying another area of herbicide-free wheat if the weed pressure doesn’t look too fierce in the spring, as last year’s effort wasn’t too shabby at all.

The cold snap might also mean we’re less likely to face a spring fungal disaster in some of the more forward crops, though I hasten to add we haven’t got too many of those this year.

Time is ticking by, and soon we’ll be gearing up for lambing and calving. But for now, I’ve got two stag do’s and a wedding to fit in before that set of chaos begins.

The sheep were pregnancy scanned last week, and we were delighted with the results, especially given how quickly our grass disappeared in the autumn.

To add to the fun, we’ve got spring beans to get in the ground at about the same time as all of that.

Let’s hope the weather is kinder to us this year, so the beans don’t have to stay in the bag for yet another season.