There are two good news stories to share this week which makes a nice change. Firstly, the Department of transport has put forward a proposal to raise the tractor speed limit to an eye watering 25MPH!
I can just about hear motorists across the country whooping with delight with the expectation that their journeys along country lanes and A roads will be improved immeasurably by this generous and exciting concession.
At present tractors are limited to 20MPH, although nowadays modern tractors are quite capable of travelling much quicker. We have all experienced the frustration of being stuck behind a line of traffic being held up, particularly during the summer months, as farmers run loads of hay, straw, silage and grain from field to farm yards.
Apparently this increase of 5MPH is a bid to make farmers and rural transport more efficient, and will give a multi-million-pound boost to the economy.
This will also bring Great Britain in line with other EU countries. However, we shall have to wait until a 90 day public consultation regarding the changes has been completed.
It does seem slightly absurd that something as simple as raising the speed limit of tractors travelling on roads by 5MPH requires consultation but it seems that is the norm nowadays.
I despair that no one is either allowed or prepared to make decisions any more. Everything has to be done by committee or public consultation. Where are the people who used to take responsibility and show some back bone.
The second bit of good news is that the USA has re-opened its markets to EU beef imports, having introduced a ban in 1997 at the height of the BSE crises. This window of opportunity into North America will mean EU beef and other bovine products will have a potential market worth around £60 million.
It is doubtful that British beef farmers will benefit much in the short term but the fact that America is accepting European beef will hopefully encourage other nations to follow suit and the roll over should in the long term increase demand.
It is difficult to imagine what would happen in the UK if we were faced by 235mph winds and tidal surges of Tsunami proportions as the poor people of the Philippines faced last week. The scenes of utter devastation are hard to comprehend. Once thriving cities have been reduced to rubble where streets are now unrecognisable and beneath most buildings are the rotting bodies of unfortunate people who have been either crushed, hit by flying debris or drowned by the surge of water.
Just trying to get food, water and shelter to the hundreds of thousands who have lost everything, many of whom are in isolated and inaccessible areas of the country, is a logistic nightmare.
Mother Nature can be cruel and for reasons difficult to comprehend, often targets the most vulnerable. We can only count our blessings and consider ourselves fortunate that so far, we have never had to cope with such unbelievable chaos.
I feel ashamed of my regular carping about the difficulties that we as British farmers face when the weather does not exactly make our job easy. It would be lovely if we had the perfect weather conditions to allow us time to sow, grow and harvest, but life is not like that and nor should it be.
Life can be a challenge when ones livelihood is effected by nature and the elements, and most of the time we embrace it and try and use it to our advantage as farmers before us have done for thousands of years.
We are indeed fortunate and privileged to live and work in a part of the world where we are cushioned both physically and financially from hardship and devastation, something which the poor people of the Philippines and others around the world can only dream about.
Carola Godman Irvine
I can just about hear motorists across the country whooping with delight with the expectation that their journeys along country lanes and A roads will be improved immeasurably by this generous and exciting concession.
At present tractors are limited to 20MPH, although nowadays modern tractors are quite capable of travelling much quicker. We have all experienced the frustration of being stuck behind a line of traffic being held up, particularly during the summer months, as farmers run loads of hay, straw, silage and grain from field to farm yards.
Apparently this increase of 5MPH is a bid to make farmers and rural transport more efficient, and will give a multi-million-pound boost to the economy.
This will also bring Great Britain in line with other EU countries. However, we shall have to wait until a 90 day public consultation regarding the changes has been completed.
It does seem slightly absurd that something as simple as raising the speed limit of tractors travelling on roads by 5MPH requires consultation but it seems that is the norm nowadays.
I despair that no one is either allowed or prepared to make decisions any more. Everything has to be done by committee or public consultation. Where are the people who used to take responsibility and show some back bone.
The second bit of good news is that the USA has re-opened its markets to EU beef imports, having introduced a ban in 1997 at the height of the BSE crises. This window of opportunity into North America will mean EU beef and other bovine products will have a potential market worth around £60 million.
It is doubtful that British beef farmers will benefit much in the short term but the fact that America is accepting European beef will hopefully encourage other nations to follow suit and the roll over should in the long term increase demand.
It is difficult to imagine what would happen in the UK if we were faced by 235mph winds and tidal surges of Tsunami proportions as the poor people of the Philippines faced last week. The scenes of utter devastation are hard to comprehend. Once thriving cities have been reduced to rubble where streets are now unrecognisable and beneath most buildings are the rotting bodies of unfortunate people who have been either crushed, hit by flying debris or drowned by the surge of water.
Just trying to get food, water and shelter to the hundreds of thousands who have lost everything, many of whom are in isolated and inaccessible areas of the country, is a logistic nightmare.
Mother Nature can be cruel and for reasons difficult to comprehend, often targets the most vulnerable. We can only count our blessings and consider ourselves fortunate that so far, we have never had to cope with such unbelievable chaos.
I feel ashamed of my regular carping about the difficulties that we as British farmers face when the weather does not exactly make our job easy. It would be lovely if we had the perfect weather conditions to allow us time to sow, grow and harvest, but life is not like that and nor should it be.
Life can be a challenge when ones livelihood is effected by nature and the elements, and most of the time we embrace it and try and use it to our advantage as farmers before us have done for thousands of years.
We are indeed fortunate and privileged to live and work in a part of the world where we are cushioned both physically and financially from hardship and devastation, something which the poor people of the Philippines and others around the world can only dream about.
Carola Godman Irvine
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