Cold slippery conditions mean we need to stay safe and reduce risks of trips and falls, which can be so severely incapacitating.

We can’t look after our stock properly if we don’t look after ourselves.

Maybe it is time for that overdue medical check-up and tetanus booster shot.

During winter most people are feeding stock, especially as the dry autumn did not bring pasture or crop growth.

Those who did not have fodder reserves on hand are finding it difficult to source locally, and we need to be vigilant about risk of weeds coming in with hay.

Many farmers have taken advantage of good stock prices to sell whilst stock are holding condition before the worst of winter sets in.

Advice is readily available from LLS, your local vet, stock agents and others to keep your remaining stock healthy during winter and into the distant spring.

Winter can also be a good time to catch up on those maintenance jobs that get left for a ‘rainy day’.

Machinery maintenance and other workshop chores completed now will have you armed and ready when seasonal conditions turn for the better.

Now is also the time to think about tax and take advantage of small business write-offs for expenditure if appropriate to your situation.