It was not that long ago that we were desperate for the rain to stop! Now we would be more than grateful if it would resume - proportionately! The crops are parched and like the grass, not growing.
 
I collected young cattle last week from local farms which we turned out onto what should be lush spring grass. In reality there is little of that, so we will be moving them fairly regularly from field to field, just to keep them happy.
 
There is a pattern emerging with little or no April showers year on year. In 2020 the spring was hot and dry, now it’s cold and dry. Which is preferable but I am not entirely sure, but if this is the future we need increase our acreage of grass, thus ensuring we make enough hay to fill the barns.
 
The debate rumbles on as to whether this trend is due to ‘manmade’ climate change, or a natural occurrence. We should not lose sight of the fact that there were similar weather patterns long before the ‘industrial revolution’ and mid-20th Century increase of greenhouse gases.
 
It is interesting that the ‘environmental group’ Extinction Rebellion (XR), are no longer content to disrupt city centres with their climate protests: closing down central London over five days in 2020, and spraying graffiti and smashing windows at the Shell building in 2019.
 
I am curious as to why they have turned their attention on the countryside with activists stating that, “Most of England is being ‘criminally misused’.
 
Last Saturday XR invited every citizen of the UK to ‘trespass in the countryside on private land, farms and estates, wherever and however they could’.
 
The aim was apparently to, “Remember our radical roots and reclaim our most fundamental rights: to walk, to wander, to live". The demonstration on the 89th Anniversary of the Kinder Scout trespass, aimed to highlight the ‘injustice of exclusive land ownership’.
 
‘Activists’ from across Dorset, included Extinction Rebellion, Weymouth Animal Rights, North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs and Dorset Against Blood sports, took part in a mass trespass on Tory MP Richard Drax’s land.
 
What XR has against Mr Drax and other farmers who produce the food, which members of XR presumably eat, whilst taking care of the countryside and protecting wildlife, is beyond me. However, no doubt the superior intellect of the Greta Thunbergs’ of this world, will explain the reasoning for their behaviour.
 
Tim Bonner, of the Countryside Alliance said: “In England and Wales there are 140,000 miles of rights of way as well as hundreds of thousands of open access land for people to use. Rules around access are there for a reason, not least to protect crops and livestock”.
 
It seems XR are getting themselves in a pickle and certainly sending out mixed messages. Surely if so keen on the environment they would appreciate that a mass invasion of the countryside at this time of year when it is at its most fragile, just as the wildlife is getting ready to reproduce, is not wise.
 
Surely Greta, their team leader, knows the danger of disturbing the flora and fauna, including ground nesting birds such as grey partridges, lapwings and skylarks.  XR and Co will crush and destroy as they trample over delicate hidden nests.
 
As Richard Negus, hedgelayer and Shooting Times contributor said, ‘It is the height of hypocrisy that XR say they are caring for the environment when their actions are doing harm. They are not worthy of the title environmentalists.’
 
These are the same people who held up packed trains in October 2019, although trains are one of the ‘greenest’ forms of transport. Their action provoked angry protests from frustrated commuters resulting in XR losing much public support.
 
We should be asking: ‘What exactly do these people want’?

The vaccine roll out continues with over 50% of the population now having had their first jab, and just over 15% have now received their second.

Of the over 127,000 people who have been recorded as having died of Covid 19, it is now reported that around a quarter, although testing positive, in fact died of other causes. A fact which is not exactly surprising. We have all heard stories of heart attack, cancer and road accident victims being recorded as Covid being the cause of death!

It is good to hear that the CBBC television programme Blue Peter has dropped an anti-meat pledge that was part of a green badge climate challenge for its young viewers. The “climate heroes” challenge, which involved such tasks as switching off lights and not using plastic bottles, had been criticised by farmers and agricultural organisations, for asking children to swap to vegetarian meals.

Tim Davie, the BBC director-general was reminded of the BBC’s responsibility to provide an impartial argument, and it was suggested the green badge campaign was an “opportunity to share the fantastic credentials of the British red meat industry, which is amongst the most sustainable in the world”.
Now, the new wording on the BBC website says “choose a couple of vegetarian meal options during your two weeks as part of a healthy balanced diet".

Welsh farmer Gareth Wyn Jones had criticised the initial “sweeping statement” for overlooking the benefits of UK grass-fed meat, and local and seasonal food. He welcomes the BBCs climb-down and said, ‘the answer is to educate the next generation not to dictate to them’.

Geneticists are conducting research with the help of Northern Ireland cattle farmers, with a view to identifying cattle with aggressive behaviour. Cattle are the main cause of on farm fatalities and injuries, which is clearly a concern.

The aim of the research is to identify hereditary traits in certain cattle which have harmed or killed. They are also asked to report incidents which have been near misses. I am sure this research will be valuable.
However, this story reminds me that not all incidents involving the interaction between livestock and humans which result in death or injury, are the fault of the animal.

Many years ago when we had the Guernsey herd at Ote Hall, there was a point in case. My mother had employed a herdsman who came well recommended but, within a short time she realised his behaviour towards the cattle was inappropriate, bordering on the dangerous.

She was concerned that his treatment of the livestock would eventually result in an incident which would not end well. The final straw being when she found him provoking her prize winning Jersey bull with a pitch fork.
My mother’s reaction was to fire him on the spot with immediate effect. He left Ote Hall and moved onto another dairy farm which also had a Channel Island breed, in that case Jerseys.

How right she was to send him packing, for within three months she received the news that the guy was dead. He had been gored to death by a young heifer with a new born calf.

The moral of this story is that cattle, as with all animals, should be treated with respect. They have natural instincts to protect themselves, and their offspring in particular. Cows with calves, and bulls, however even tempered they are generally can return to their primeval instinctive behaviour in the environment of the farm yard, or out in the fields.
​
Be it dogs or unfamiliar humans, they become instinctively wary and protective against the possible danger. This can make a normally docile animal extremely dangerous. The fault is not with the cattle but the humans. I trust the researchers will keep this in mind.

“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong”.

Those words spoken by the then twenty one year old Princess Elizabeth in 1947 have indeed shaped her whole life. I feel certain they were also embraced by HRH Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh, when he took on the role of Consort at the time of the Queen’s coronation.

He has lived a long and active life, one which has been dedicated to the Queen to whom he was a devoted husband, to his family, the Nation, the Commonwealth, his charities and regiments.

Princess Elizabeth knowing that a life time of responsibilities and duty lay ahead, chose her ‘Prince Charming’ well. Not for her the Prince who would turn into a frog. Her Prince was the ‘real deal’; a supportive husband, a pillar of strength, her rock of granite. All of which has sustained her whilst being a truly remarkable Monarch.
Theirs has been a true love story. An extraordinary partnership which has enriched our Nation. Also the lives of all those they have encountered around the globe, over these past 74 years.

As has been said since we heard the news that Prince Philip died on the 9th of April, on the 99th day of the year, aged 99, ‘He lived a life of service faced with strength and fortitude’.

Somehow the age of 99 seems appropriately upright and powerful for such a prominent figure. Perhaps the perfect age for our remarkable Prince to slip peacefully away.

One has a feeling that, as throughout his life, the Duke ‘did it his way’. I doubt he relished the idea of ‘all that fuss’, had he reached his 100th birthday.

I feel sure that next Saturday he will be looking down upon his ‘beloved Lilibet’ the Queen, and his family, when they gather to mourn his death, and ‘celebrate’ his extraordinary long and creative life, at St George’s Chapel.

If they listen carefully I believe they will hear a gentle chuckle coming from high up in the rafters. As Prince Philip watches over this very private service and the proceedings, including his coffin being delivered to the Chapel by his trusty Land Rover, he will be content that he did indeed do it ‘His Way’!

Not for him the pomp and circumstance of a ‘State Funeral’. Covid 19 has allowed his Queen and their family the peace and privacy he would wish for them, as they give thanks for his life and contemplate the years ahead without his love, strength and wisdom.

Everyone will have their own memories of Prince Philip. Some distant observations, some brief and in passing, but many will have had the privilege of meeting him in person.

On the occasions that I did, over a period of forty years, I always came away having gained one if not several pearls of wisdom. The Duke had that rare ability to engage one in conversation on an extraordinary wide range of topics including farming, into which he would drop facts, figures and information which left one wondering, ‘how on earth does he know that’?

A close friend tells me she feels ‘a mist of gloom has descended’. I disagree. The Nation is of course sad as we mourn for the Queen and her family, but as a ‘United Nation’ we must celebrate and give thanks for all that Prince Philip has been.

His legacies include challenges and support which enrich young lives. His work over decades protecting wildlife and the environment has been ground breaking. He leaves behind hope for many youngsters, a healthier environment, and a Monarchy fit for the 21st Century.

Spring appears to have arrived in a hurry. The beautiful warm sunny days certainly cheered everyone up. The countryside looks stunning as buds gently burst into a variety of greens, interspersed with cheerful clusters of yellow daffodils.
 
The cold nights have discouraged the grass but no doubt it will soon put on a spurt. As livestock farmers we are all desperate to turn our cattle out into the fields before we run out of hay and straw completely.
 
I have made a mental ‘note to self’, to ensure we make plenty of hay this summer to refill the barns. Hopefully the cereal crops will also produce plenty of straw, unlike last year when the early oncome of the wettest of winters, followed by a summer of excessive drought, caused mayhem with yields.
 
How very reassuring to see the result of a poll carried out by Deltapoll, that the British public “overwhelmingly” prefers traditional architecture over ‘brutalism’. What a perfect word to describe some the more ghastly modern buildings which offend the eye. Planners have granted permission for some of these more notable buildings on the assumption we must assume, their architects are brilliant 21 Century pioneers. The reality being questionable.
 
This survey found that most people like public buildings built in 19th century style through to the early 20th century best. I am surprised it has taken a poll to establish this fact.
 
Prince Charles, who has campaigned for decades to protect towns, cities and the countryside from ‘carbuncles’, for which he was derided, has been proved to be spot on. Let us hope that this latest revelation seeps through to current and future architects and planners. This matter includes not only public buildings but corporate, housing developments and one off private builds.
 
Throughout Sussex the number of hideous buildings, both private and commercial are growing. There are in particular a number of houses which have sprung up on small sites which are extraordinarily ghastly. They sit alien to their surroundings, and are an insult to the neighbours who have to look at them.
 
Surely organisations such as the Campaign for Rural England could step up and encourage planners to require builders to design homes which complement their surroundings, rather than fight against it?
 
Research in Scotland has described a paradox in the UK planning system as it tries to encourage tradition and vernacular architecture in the rural built environment. There lies an argument that hinges around the true nature of vernacular built forms in relation to changing, culturally driven and contemporary tradition, in the minds of many planners.
 
Our ancestors clearly had a better eye for working with and complimenting nature, and the countryside in particular. They also designed and created beautifully elegant buildings in the urban settings of towns and cities.
 
The Prince of Wales has been both criticised and praised for his genuine interest regarding this subject. He hit the jackpot, and the egos of many members of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) when in 1984 he compared the proposed facade for the National Gallery, to a municipal fire station. Following his comments the project was scrapped and London saved from what clearly would have been this beautiful building being defaced.
 
There is news that the latest victim of automation is the scarecrow. Farmers are turning to technology to protect their crops with lasers. If anyone is throwing out their Worzel Gummidges, please let me know. We could do with an army of scarecrows to scare off hundreds of ducks and geese which are decimating the winter wheat crop. To date all efforts have resulted in them rising up momentarily only to circle round and return to carry on eating!