Despite the weather doing its best to disrupt progress, cereal harvest was completed here on 15 September. There is, however, a lot still to cut in Scotland, let alone the vicinity. Rain and gales don’t do much for the nerves when there is so much to do, but it is incredible how, when a window of opportunity opens, acres can be cleared very quickly nowadays.

Our wheat yields are less than last year, but with a larger proportion of second wheat, this wasn’t surprising. But yields are still above average so we cannot grumble. Spring barley yields have been much more satisfactory and having last month lauded Tipple as the variety of the future for Caverton Mill, Concerto did not disappoint either. I’m sure that the key to this success was the decision to dramatically increase the seed rate.

We all know that managing seed rates is important, but when my good friend Murray told me he had sown a field of wheat at 50kg/ha, I was amazed at his bravery. But he then told me that the operator of his new drill had accidentally hit a confusing lbs/ha button rather than the metric one. Nobody’s fault, but the design of the machine, I guess. Doesn’t it hack you off when technology lets you down?

We have spent a lot of hard-earned money on auto-steer and the licence for the improved signal for our combine. It seems, though, that every afternoon the signal goes to auto-hell, causing the system not to work. So John Deere, give me my subscription money back.

Likewise, Vodafone should cough up to all its subscribers in this area. There has been no signal for weeks now and farming without a mobile phone is not only difficult, it’s also dangerous.