Rural Community Gateway

Looking back at my earlier articles I can get the one bit of good news out of the way very quickly, I did not need to use my tow chain. But only because the new flotation tyres were superb.

Harvest weather was dreadful with crops having to be taken as and when conditions allowed. The potatoes we grew may have to be abandoned. Yields were well down on normal but the increase in price for grain means we will just about remain level on the arable side compared to last year.

We now come to the disaster of a foot and mouth outbreak, due to a mix of laziness and incompetence at a supposedly world class lab that cannot even fix a drain. If my drains block I get a shovel and dig until I fix it.

This debacle has crippled the livestock sector and cost us many many thousands of pounds. Add in the DEFRA treatment of our farmers delegation and their subsequent abuse by MPs in the lobby of the BBC (see BBC news story for more details) and words begin to fail me at the level of sheer disgust I feel toward the London government. Our industry has been crippled by people who know nothing about us and who could not care less about our fate.

I hope the Scottish government will continue to offer the help and support that they have already shown in setting up the welfare cull.

The lines above may seem harsh to some but they reflect the level of despair and outrage felt by those of us who have been affected by this outbreak. We now have to face the next threat to our survival as livestock producers, Bluetongue, it is now spreading across England.

I come to the end of this short article and find I was wrong that I had only one piece of good news. The other is the arrival of our fifth child, a daughter, she has been home now for four weeks and is a delight, children in rural areas are sadly very rare and she is being spoiled rotten by all who visit.

Notes from the farm archive

• Privacy
• Help
• Contact Us
• Disclaimer