Wealth of nature in our farm hayfields

Read Anton’s column every week in the Western Morning News

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WE'VE made another dent in getting the hay harvested, albeit this latest go has needed some bale wrap round it. To say it was a frustrating business hardly touches the sides, as once more the Met Office were about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

Due to their hopelessly inaccurate forecasts, I ended using a lot more plastic than I'd like, backpedalling to preserve some quality. I so wish they could be held accountable, as they're costing the taxpayer a very significant fortune, but can’t reliably predict the weather 24 hours in advance. At the very least, there should be a penalty for such poor performance. Certainly, if I performed my tasks as poorly, I would simply be out of business.

On the upside, we have managed to get a few hundred more round bales saved, and the quality averaged pretty good. And I get to spend a few days enjoying the sumptuous views as I turned crops which included 12 to 15 species of wildflowers, and chased rows, watching the wildlife around me. The swallows - I guess the first hatchlings - swirled low around me on the mown fields, hoovering up insects hopping and buzzing.