What a lovely month of January we have had. With the low rainfall – albeit with little drying – the fields were firm enough to allow fieldwork, which is pretty unusual for this time of the year. We have been busy as work always expands to fill the good weather available.

The first out in the fields was Bruno with a digger to do a land drainage job on a stubble field we call McMahon’s.

It is named after the late Johnny McMahon, who I wrote about some time ago. Johnny did reclamation work in this field over 30 years ago and it became known as McMahon’s, as I didn’t know its original field name when we bought the farm.

As I have said before, I have certainly removed my share of hedges and ditches

McMahon’s field was then in three separate fields, but we bulldozed out hedges and piped the drains to make one decent field and, as they say, God be with the days.

As I have said before, I have certainly removed my share of hedges and ditches, when you could, to restructure and amalgamate fields. But it has nearly always been compensated for by new hedgerows or small plots of woodland elsewhere. I have done nothing I regret in this regard.

But back to the drainage. For years we have used the plastic coils of land drainage pipe but this time I decided to try the twin wall 6m lengths of perforated pipe, which I liked and would use again.

Having a smooth interior pipe wall makes sense and I think they are as quick and easy to lay. Though they are more expensive than the coiled pipe, it is incidental in the scheme of things.

We do have a grant-aided dribble bar, but it remained firmly folded up and we had to use the splash plate instead

Besides, uncoiling pipe on a cold January morning is not much fun, as it invariably kinks and is guaranteed to make you thick as it frantically coils around you like a frenzied cobra.

The slats were emptied onto fields which will be cut for silage. We do have a grant-aided dribble bar, but it remained firmly folded up and we had to use the splash plate instead. In fact, the dribble bar has only been used for a couple of loads since I bought it 18 months ago.

Of course, we would use it if we could, but it is the most unsatisfactory machine I have ever bought. It has continually given trouble since the first day it arrived. Now, I have given up and just want rid of the wretched thing.

I cannot bear poor fences and electric fencing, when properly done, is money well spent

However, I could fold it out and shove it into a hedgerow to block a gap which it might even do reasonably well. But electric fencing is a lot more preferable and more pleasant to look at.

To this end, we have been out with the Ford 7600 and post driver carrying out fencing jobs. I cannot bear poor fences and electric fencing, when properly done, is money well spent.

Looking for visitors

They say build it and they will come. Now, whether this is true of owls and owl boxes, I don’t know. In an attempt to encourage owls to grace our fields, I have had three owl boxes built. We fixed one in a haybarn and the other two on carefully chosen trees.

However, the greatest single thing we could probably do to encourage owls is the responsible use of rodenticides.

Secondary poisoning is an issue for owls. Ideally, we should eliminate poison altogether and revert to owls, cats and terriers.

The transition period would be difficult

The process is similar to reducing insecticide usage by encouraging aphid predators and creating beneficial habitats.

The transition period would be difficult and enough to send me running for a bucket of Storm when a fat rat hightails out of the grain store and not an owl, cat or terrier in sight.