James Herrick: Farming is tough, so recognise your successes

We’re all guilty of it… bumbling from day to day without taking time to think about what’s gone well and where we can improve. But as the year closes, I like to take stock.

It’s not an exact science – there are many variables and hindsight is, of course, a marvellous commodity – but I would like to share a bit of my thinking with you.

This year, we set ourselves up to rotationally graze our cattle on every field possible.

I will be honest and say that I may have uttered the words “I’m not moving fences every day”, as I couldn’t see where the improvement would come from.

But I will also admit that I was wrong. It’s now one of my favourite things to do.

We have seen an unbelievable improvement in grass yield, and for someone who ironically enjoys mowing lawns as much as me, growing grass has become a new obsession.

See also: James Herrrick – don’t be embarrassed to take time off 

On the flip side, though, we still haven’t purchased any fertiliser.

We have been actively trying to reduce artificial inputs across the farm for a while, but that doesn’t mean we are in a position to go cold turkey.

We aren’t fortunate enough to have storage available throughout the winter months and, therefore, don’t usually buy until early spring.

Farming can be tough and we always think of the things we got wrong, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time to pat yourself on the back for things that you have got right

This has served us well in the past, but time will tell whether we’ll come unstuck this season.

In a bid to further improve our soils, we have begun to move away from ryegrass leys, opting to put more versatile herbal leys in their place.

This has given us more grazing options, as well as a higher-quality winter forage.

We have also introduced cover crops where we previously left overwinter stubbles.

This, again, is bringing a multitude of benefits: improving our soils, reducing erosion, and also allowing us to integrate livestock within the arable system and drive down winter feed costs.

I could go on, but I’m sure you get my point.

Farming can be tough and we always think of the things we got wrong, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time to pat yourself on the back for things that you have got right.