It certainly was a relief to have it done at this time of year when animals are indoors and in my case in a smaller number of locations. I joined the program as a long term project and hopefully it will be of benefit.

All pedigree stock are descended from a heifer purchased in 1999; not the most spectacular of animals but she left a huge mark on the herd. After 13 calvings she was culled in 2012 with an average calving interval of 365 days. My objective has been to improve animal performance and confirmation while maintaining fertility and milk levels.

It takes time but I enjoy the challenge of breeding and when I get a chance I’ll go through the herd pedigrees to see how many animals have descended from her in the herd. A rough estimate would be 80% plus.

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There are a number of unpredictable elements to farming. The weather is an obvious one, animals health and behaviour another and a third I had an encounter with recently, my health. While feeding the cattle I found myself feeling dizzy and as I went to sit down I ended up fainting and my nose felt the full impact of the feed passage.

I put it down to a freak accident and was going to leave it at that. However on the insistence of my friends I booked an appointment with my doctor. A number of weeks after I had blood samples taken from cows, I ended up having blood samples taken from myself. Thankfully the results came back OK and it was put down to low blood pressure and a freak occurrence. The episode was unwelcome and highlighted that no matter how many safety features you have on your farm you can’t account for every possibility.