February is a quiet month on the farm.  Cows, snug in winter housing, are milked as usual but young stock and beef cattle my still be at pasture if the ground is dry enough.  Spring work on arable farms has barely started as growth of winter sown crops is limited by short days and cool soils.  Many farms run shoots as a diversification enterprise but the shooting season ends on 1^st February.

            Overall it has been a warm dry winter in this part of the country.  February will be remembered for the three named storms that came sweeping in from the Atlantic in a week, but that was the exception.  Although February rainfall was above average, January was exceptionally dry so soils are wet on the surface but very dry further down the profile.

            On our predominantly light chalk soils, the drilling of spring crops can start in February or even late January if soil conditions allow, but there is a trend for most farmer to prefer to wait until March.  There were opportunities in late February but most planting has taken place recently or is still to be completed.  Such is the uncertainty caused by the legacy of the Covid pandemic and now the war in Ukraine that arable farmers have some very difficult choices to make this spring.