The weather is always going to be the answer to the question: “What is the greatest challenge for your farming business?”

There are obviously many other challenges that impact farming, but weather conditions during any particular season are very rarely trumped by anything else.

I guess we could argue until the cows come home as to whether what we have experienced in the past two decades is a consequence of “man-made” climate change, or just plain weather.

See also: Why cultivation equipment is making a comeback on Wiltshire farm

About the author

David Fuller

David Fuller manages 3,500ha of medium sandy clays for McGregor Farms based at Coldstream, on both sides of the border. Cropping includes wheat, spring barley, winter barley and oilseed rape, spring beans and vining peas. Potatoes are farmed in collaboration with Greenvale AP.

Read more articles by David Fuller

We do seem to be experiencing drier, colder springs, followed by wetter summers and milder winters.

I believe the UK government’s race to net zero and the burdens it places on UK producers is slightly baffling.

Gold-plating our assurance schemes to be allowed market access with no premiums to offset additional costs is simply unfathomable.

Why should we be expected to do this, especially when the same standards do not have to be met by imports?

British farmers are being asked to produce food to the highest global standards, yet compete with world prices.

If you can’t compete then they will offset all your hard work and import from abroad. How can this possibly be the answer to so-called climate change?

With two storms named by the Met Office in as many weeks so far in October, and with ground conditions on the soggier side of wet, it is with great relief that drilling has progressed very well.

However, we still have not quite completed our planned winter wheat acreage due to three fields of unharvested potatoes blocking progress.

It is hoped that the final 40ha can be sown in the next few weeks.

Drilling into November is always challenging in this part of the world, so fingers crossed the potatoes are harvested in good order.

Our latest weather-related challenge has been slug control.

The slug population remained manageable until the end of September, but October has seen a huge increase in activity, coupled with an increase in rainfall.

It’s made controlling them challenging, to say the least.