Farm activity since New Year has concentrated on daffodil flower picking. It has been fairly steady for us through January until about the middle of February when we came out of a cold spell and growth sped up.

This was just as well, as our picking labour has taken a long while to arrive, gradually trickling in to accommodation which has been ready in anticipation for a few weeks.

The primary reason for this has been the precautions around Covid, but Brexit has not helped. I can’t say that we have all the labour we need, so it is a case of managing as effectively as we can with what we have.

See also: Yellow rust battle in wheat crops set to get tougher

We are a long way from mechanising in-field flower harvesting so I suspect that we will be playing the labour game for a good few years yet.

In between times, we have been busy lambing the first bunch of ewes, while rotating the later April lambing flock around forage crops grown on some of the arable land.

Last autumn, we drilled slightly less than usual due to rotational constraints which has created a few challenges now we are in the February “hungry period”. However, it does mean that I won’t be chasing sheep off in order to get spring barley drilled.

I am reviewing future stewardship options on some of the land we farm. Given that the value of livestock within the rotation can be considerable in the right place, it is only right that I take this into account.

Are there suitable options I can use to my benefit? Located in Cornwall, I struggle to achieve the combinable crop yields achieved in the east of the country in a continual arable rotation, as well as having a higher unit cost of production. We can grow grass and some crops well.

To help remain viable in future, I suspect I may need to reconsider the balance of “corn and horn” but, most importantly, how to make all aspects pay.

I’m aware of a number of good examples. All our businesses are unique and going forward, more likely to be so. The million dollar question is finding what works best in my specific set of circumstances.