This week we have our annual Red Tractor inspection. The same gentleman comes and asks the same questions every year.
 
We are required to produce certificates of competence, and he always checks the cattle are housed in a suitably ventilated building, they have feed and a fresh supply of water. He also makes sure the trees and hedges are in the same places there were previously, giving shelter during the summer.
 
Anyone would think we spend the intervening months knocking down buildings, felling oak trees which are hundreds of years old, grubbing out hedges, and generally abandoning animal welfare.
 
We must also produce certificates and records for operating the sprayer and other equipment, laying down rat bait, staff competency and transporting livestock licenses. We provide evidence that the vet has been out to tell us how to feed our cattle and check they are healthy. We must prove that we take advice on what fertiliser and sprays we administer to our crops, and where they are stored.
 
Movement tickets, and samples of grain are retained, as well as delivery notes and invoices for fertiliser, seed, and sprays. And we must give the inspector a map showing on which fields we shall be spreading FYM.
 
Does all this make us better farmers? I truly hope so because if not it is a dreadful waste of time. I must suppose there is a purpose, or I am tempted to suggest the scheme is designed specifically to annoy farmers who know more about their farm, livestock, and crops, than the guy who keeps coming back year after year to tick boxes. Poor man, I wonder if he thinks it is as big a waste of time as we do.
 
It is time to remind dog walkers that the countryside is the natural habitat for nature’s wildlife, farm livestock - lambing will soon be underway, and the growing of food crops.
 
Across Sussex most farms are in range of towns, villages, or small settlements. Today it seems every family has a dog; some have several. They need walking and those with the countryside on their doorstep, naturally set off to take them across farmland.
 
Unless these dogs can be kept to heel within a few feet of their owners, they must remain on a lead. Soon ground nesting birds will be laying eggs in hedgerows, and the long grass around arable fields. Ewes will be lambing; a time when if disturbed or chased by dogs, they will abort at best, or be mutilated and killed at worst.
 
None of us wish to face the consequences, whether seeing the trauma of dog attacks on innocent animals, or farmers coping with terrified and damaged livestock, and profits wiped out in an instant.
 
It is not just dogs which can cause harm. My neighbour’s annual scan found his small flock of Texel sheep were traumatised by an organised ‘Big Bang’ firework display close to his fields, back in December. His lambing percentage will be down this spring as 50 per cent of his ewes are carrying at least one dead embryo which has been dated back to the night of the fireworks.
 
The countryside is a finely balanced environment. One which should be approached with understanding and sensitivity. If farmers are driven away by the creep of urbanisation, the countryside, our green and pleasant land, will end up unrecognisable, unproductive, and barren of wildlife, flora, and fauna.
 
We need to decide what we want. A giant themed playground devoid of nature, bird song, wildlife, farmers and food production, or a countryside which is alive with wildlife and productivity, managed by farmers and respected by everyone.
This starts with the public keeping strictly to footpaths, their dogs on leads, and following and respecting the countryside code.

After winning the 2019 General Election with a landslide, Boris Johnson pledged to lower energy bills and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

When first announced, a report claimed that the country would need to consistently drop emissions by 9.7 per cent to achieve this target, which for obvious reasons it is currently failing to do.

Speaking at a Bow Group conference, the oldest Conservative think tank in the world, John Redwood implored the government to use a ‘domestic first’ approach.

 He said: “We need to be realistic. We are going to have less nuclear power by 2030 than we do today. We need affordable power, we need available power, we need to trust our own resources more, and import less. We cannot rely on imports, which is increasingly being demonstrated by shortages and over inflated prices”.

The UK has a lot of oil and gas which is increasingly ‘green’.  Surely a safer option than relying on imports and the ‘goodwill’ of foreigners.

Now others too are calling on the government to reverse its policy and put our domestically sourced energy first, meaning cheaper prices and greater security.

The country is experiencing energy price inflation up to 50 per cent, the highest for over 10 years.
This government inherited some very costly, badly thought through climate change levies, including grants to low-income families, as well as grants and contracts to suppliers and households.

Some of these have been in place since 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2017. They will not end for 25 to 30 years, costing the public through green taxes by adding up to 25%, to our energy bills. This needs addressing now.

It is time to ask, ‘who decides who governs Britain’? Clearly Dominic Cummings, Remainers, the left-wing media in particular the BBC, and rather too many disaffected and disloyal Tory MPs, think they do.
Perhaps we should be reminded that it is in fact the British electorate who decides, and they do that at the time of a General Election.

In 2019 Boris won the GE by an overwhelming 80 seats. He then delivered Brexit which meant that when the pandemic arrived, he was able to ensure the UK could independently order and distribute the COVID vaccine months before most other countries even began.

He put an end to lockdown last July against much opposition from Sage, Neil Ferguson, and Labour, with their scaremongering and doomsday predictions of thousands of hospital admissions, and 5,000 deaths per day.
Currently the economy is surging, having returned to pre-pandemic GDP back in November, and we are close to full employment.

During the height of the pandemic, people and businesses were supported through furlough and other financial packages, some in hindsight recognised as fraudulently obtained, while the country rode out the worst of the COVID virus.

This was not, as we are led to believe, thanks to the generosity of Rishi Sunak. It was because the PM Boris Johnson directed his Chancellor to financially support the nation under these extraordinary circumstances.
When it suits an agenda, we can have short memories. However, we should remember that if it were not for Boris, Jeremy Corbyn would be PM, Brexit would never have happened, the UK’s roll out of the vaccine would not have been allowed unilaterally but chaotically dictated by Brussels.

Our GDP would be declining, farmers stuck within the corrosive Common Agricultural Policy, and Brussels would be tightening the screws on regulations, trade, our defence forces, and demanding more and more UK taxpayer’s money to distribute to corrupt governments and businesses within the EU block. Things are not perfect, but we are in control of our destiny.
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Divide and rule is the objective of those who aim to drive Boris from No 10. Tory MPs should be very wary before acting in a way they will regret.

No one cares for nature more than small farmers like me. But paying us to ‘rewild’ land is eco-zealot idiocy.” Writes farmer Rob Halliday, in the Daily Mail.

I had every intension of remaining more positive, but when it comes to ‘rewilding’, ‘net-zero emissions’, food security, traditional v intensive farming, and other topics which get me going, including ‘disloyalty’, I really cannot hold back.

Mr Halliday explains how his small family run farm in south-east Cornwall is abounding with wildlife. There are deer in his barley crop, fieldmice scampering in and out of the hedgerows, and beneath his feet the soil is teeming with earth worms and dung beetles – a sure sign of a healthy soil.

In the summer he hears the song of the skylark, and many other birds, some endangered, which thrive on his farm; a fine example of farming and nature working hand in hand, symbiosis at its best.

According to the latest message from George Eustice, agriculture is on a collision course with nature. Under the new ‘schemes’ announced at the Oxford Farming Conference, farmers will be paid to ‘make space for nature’, by replacing fields of crops and livestock with wildlife habitats, peat bogs, trees, wetlands and establishing new nature reserves.

Who wouldn’t want to see more wildlife and the rest? But this simplistic approach to the countryside, as Rob Halliday explains so eloquently, is potentially disastrous for farmers, consumers, and ironically, nature too.
It is not necessary for land to be taken out of agriculture. Do ministers really want more intensification? Mega factory farms popping up with dodgy welfare, and increased risk of infection due to overcrowding?

Do they want arable farmers using more fertilisers and chemicals, to boost productivity? And do they believe that the British Isles should become a playground allowing the public to roam freely disturbing the wildlife, and we rely upon imported food? Most of which is produced under lower welfare standards, poor worker’s rights, and certainly little consideration for the environment. In other words, “Just send the food, never mind its origins”. How ethical is that?

Farming, and nature can and do co-exist. One does not need to make way for the other. Farmers have nurtured their land for generations, working with the landscape, protecting the soil, caring for crops and livestock, ensuring the highest welfare standards, traceability, transparency, and protecting the countryside.

Digression from those aims has been driven by governments and the EU. They have exploited the countryside by paying farmers to squeeze production into every inch. Filling in ditches, ripping out hedges. Don’t blame the farmers, check the facts.

Our ‘green and pleasant land’, the tapestry of our beautiful landscape it due entirely to traditional farming, and hunting, shooting, and fishing. These activities add to the richness and management of the countryside and help to preserve that unique environment. The land produces grass fed beef and lamb, delicious pork from pigs which have been reared under the highest welfare standards, and dairy cattle now increasingly keeping their calves afoot until they are ready for weaning at four to five months, not taken away at 24 hours.
We are tired of being told by ‘experts’, that we should stop damaging our soil, don’t know what we are doing, and abusing livestock. No, we are not.

Ote Hall arable fields have not been ploughed for over 25 years. Our heavy Weald clay is full to bursting with worms and organic matter, which is no longer buried annually by the plough.
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Soil and leaf samples are taken for analysis, and soil conditioners and trace elements applied. We ensure that nature’s nitrogen and other essentials are made available to the growing plants, through working with nature, not against it.  ‘Note to Ministers – We get it, we are already well ahead, it is time for ‘expert environmentalists’ to catch up with all of us.

The New Year offers us opportunities to get up and out and make a difference to our lives, families, communities, and businesses.
 
It is disappointing to hear farming leaders being so negative. The President of the NFU regularly complains about trade deals, Brexit, inadequate financial support for farmers, the PM, and his ministers. NFU Presidents do their best, but I sometimes wonder if they should not stick to farming and leave politics to others!
 
Except for pig farmers, and isolated tenant farmers, we are mostly doing ok. The high cost of fertilizer is of course concerning, and fuel and feed costs have risen too. Other industries are also struggling; difficulties sourcing parts, the cost of building materials have gone through the roof, as so too has the cost of living for families.
 
On the plus side most dairy farmers are getting a better deal for their milk. Beef and lamb producers are receiving higher prices, and it is encouraging that the public are learning that buying local is better for the environment and supports British farmers. They are also becoming aware that our basic food cannot continue to be subsidised by the taxpayer.
 
Many are concerned that farmers are being encouraged to ‘rewild’ the countryside and cut back on food production. New Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery schemes will be explained by George Eustice at the Oxford Farming Conferences this week. Unfortunately, commercial companies, some foreign, are already buying up vast acreages of productive farmland to offset carbon emissions.
 
There is a place for everything, and Knepp Estate, now featuring on these pages, is an interesting example of transforming farmland into a wildlife wilderness.
 
Farmers are the first to ensure the countryside plays its part in protecting and supporting nature; highlighting the benefits farming bring to negate Climate Change, and recognizing that it is our job to feed the nation, and generally be responsible for the heritage we are entrusted with.
 
Yes, there is poor land which will lend itself to wild bee meadows, restoring wetlands and host plantations of trees. But, if the aim is to ensure our small island can sustain its growing population by producing healthy, high-quality food, and keep the shelves filled, then farmers should be encouraged to do that too.
 
There is so much to be positive about as we enter 2022. The UK economy is on course to outpace all other G7 nations for the second year running.  And London has retained its crown as the top Stock Exchange in Europe.
 
Employment is up, and those unable to work have access to free health care, travel costs, school meals, and discounted childcare. They get reduced council tax and capped water bills, £140 off fuel bills and extra help paying rent, and more.
 
The numbers of unemployed continues to fall, and those fit to work are increasingly aware that rather than sit around waiting for taxpayer’s handouts, they can access job opportunities, work experiences, and further education to enhance income prospects.
 
It is encouraging to see people taking back control of their lives, making the right choices, earning their own money, and deciding how, where, and when to spend it.
 
This time last year I highlighted the exceptional numbers being vaccinated, the British Bull Dog Spirit, the relief of having left the EU, the rise in red meat sales, and how good it was to see farming attracting young entrepreneurs such as William Banham. Little has changed except things are even better.
 
Covid is on the run, Boris held his nerve and trusted the public to do the right thing and take responsibility. Fewer Covid related patients are in hospital, and the numbers dying are well below the national average for this time of year. Things are looking up – Happy New Year!