OVER the last week the chilly breezes have still been evident ,but the sun has shone for most of the time, giving us plenty of warm days.

This has brought a noticeable change to the landscape. Many of the trees are looking green as their burst into life more spring flowers are brightening the hedgerows, and fields. I saw the first bluebells of the year on Stowell Farm at the end of the week.

True to form the swallows that nest in our stables arrived here on April 13 and are now feeding to build up their strength after their long flight. While walking around Manor farm on a particularly warm day I noticed a group of buzzards enjoying the thermals and a pair of ravens being mobbed by some rooks and skylarks singing as they hover above the fields. A host of insects are also enjoying the sunshine, including bumble bees and hover flies.

Recently I have been to several meetings at the Bath and West of England Showground in preparation for the main show, which runs this year from the May 27 to 30.

One of the visits was with Melissa, Annabel, Natasha and their two Shetland ponies to a press conference. This year they will be providing a display over hurdles in the main ring called The Gold Cup. The Somerset Levels RDA Carriage Driving Group also attended the press day, with Ann Turner from Wiltshire driving one carriage.

Lord and Lady Fellows, this year's joint presidents of the Royal Bath and West Society were taken on a carriage ride around the arena.

It was a successful day with photographs taken in glorious sunshine. The show has attracted large livestock entries and is hosting the National South Devon Cattle Show. This year there is also a large entry of heavy horses, always a magnificent sight.

There will be a circus theme on the Village Green,a milk theme in Farming for the Family, a new art gallery, sports village and revived horticultural area with nine nurseries, pop-up gardens and an interactive planting area.

Here on Manor Farm we have moved the in-calf heifers to a fresh field of grass and the young heifers born last autumn have been given a slow release wormer to protect them against internal parasites when they are turned out for the first time.

Ian has finished spraying all the crops needing a fungicide. Richard and Ryan power-harrowed all the ground to be planted with maize, after which the contractor arrived to plant the seeds.

The planting was done using a precision drill which has a number of individual seed hoppers on the back , feeding the seeds down tubes onto rotating discs which pick them up , then release individual seeds at pre-set distances into the ground.

The drill planting our crop planted eight rows at a time. The tractor was steered by GPS, so it was steered round the edge of the field on the first circuit to map it, then it steered itself.

I was told however, that it would not be aware there was a small pond in the field, so the driver must not go to sleep.

This year we are growing an early maturing, hybrid variety of fodder maize called Kreel. This maize has high digestibility and a high sugar content supplied mainly by early maturing cobs.

Plant breeders are now putting emphasis on improving digestibility of the rest of of the plant , especially the stem, making up the bulk of the remainder. Tall varieties of maize need stronger stems which contains more lignin, a woody fibre like straw and relatively unpalatable. It is better at filling the gut than performance. However crop height and bulk are often perceived as important when choosing a fodder maize variety, but digestibility should be the target.

While the drill was being set up ready for use two classes of school children from our village school were out on their weekly walk along the bridle road to and from Stanton Wood. I was able to tell them what was happening and they found it very exciting to be near such a large tractor and drill.