THE past week has been mainly dry with just a few damp spells, a touch of frost and chilly breezes for much of the time.

Then there was the lunar eclipse, which for us passed beneath a hazy cloud cover. The line drawn on our barograph has been following a steady fairly high reading so hopefully the weather is going to remain favourable.

The drier conditions have enabled us to turn out our in-calf heifers. The grass is not growing fast at the moment, probably due to the cold winds, but we have a new grass ley which needed grazing. The heifers were first of all let out into a paddock adjacent to their barn, so that they could kick their heels before they were moved to the new ley.

Jenny, Ian, Ryan and Richard moved them to the field quite easily considering spring is in the air. They are however wandering around the pasture more than usual, probably due to the chilly breezes and lack of warm sunshine.

Calving is now over until the autumn as our last dry cow gave birth to an Angus x heifer calf during the week. Calving has also finished on Chuggaton Farm, Devon, and Adele told us she would not be sorry she would not have to give milk to calves until later in the year.

We are still spreading manure and Ian has been taking advantage of the dry conditions to take some tanker loads of slurry from the store to spread onto suitable fields. Inspecting field boundaries to repair or replace fences has been another task done during the week, with Richard making a journey to purchase some new fence posts. A warning light on the loader tractor indicated that we needed an engineer to repair a problem with the fuel.

Stowell Farm invited the Chippenham Young Farmers' Club to see the lambing. The had an enjoyable evening looking at all the new lambs, watching several ewes give birth, learning all about the Electronic ID tags, and holding some of the orphan lambs.

The young farmers were also told about bio-security,which on this occasion meant they had to disinfect their footwear on arrival and before leaving the farm, as well as thorough hand-washing.

Lambing on Stowell Farm is starting to slow down a little with at least half the ewes out in the parks with their new-born lambs.

The first ewes and lambs have been taken to Corsham Park but the later ones are now going to Bowood. I just hope that the fine weather holds so that the new lambs can get a good start in life. There is nothing animals hate more than persistent cold, wet weather. Some of the ewes, scanned earlier in their pregnancy, have given birth to more lambs than expected. I know that quite a few sets of triplets and several sets of quads have been born.

During the week I have been to several meetings, one of which was the NFU Regional Livestock Board, held in Taunton. One of the subjects on the agenda was the Red Tractor Assurance Scheme. The debate on this subject was about ways the brand could be strengthened and I believe it is in every farmer's interest to make sure this assurance scheme is as robust as possible to enable consumers to trust the quality and safety of our great British produce.

Another meeting was the Spring Celebration of the Marlborough Downs Nature Improvement Area. This was one of the most uplifting meetings I have ever attended. The MDNIA is unique, in that it has been designed and delivered by local farmers.

It covers an area of just over 1,000 hectares (25,000 acres ) with the aim of delivering wildlife management in the wider landscape. Part of this has been to restore and create ponds, chalk grassland,wildlife sites and increase farmland birds by creating the right habitats.

Along with this has been the recognition of how valuable green space is for our health and well-being by promoting walks, cycle routes and bridleways within the MDNIA.

Well done to all those involved in its creation. The evening included a dinner, followed by an inspiring talk from Adam Henson.