Last week will remain memorably for all the wrong reasons.
 
On Friday we sadly bade a fond and very fitting Ote Hall farewell to John’s wife Sandy, who had battled ill health following major surgery to her left lung in 2015.
 
Sandy first came to live at Ote Hall in 1978 when she worked for my mother. By 1980 she and John, who had started working here aged 15, in 1968, became a couple, an amazing partnership which spanned the better part of their lives.
 
During their marriage they travelled widely experiencing incredible sights. They visited 7 African countries, and most of India from the southern tip right up into the Himalayas.
 
Most years they left cold damp England in early January and returning in late February, a quiet time on the farm.
 
They faced highs and lows including Sandy’s ill health in recent years, and John’s very badly broken leg which laid him off work for four months some years ago.
 
Throughout all the experiences that they have faced together, including great sadness, they have also shared much laughter and joy, and shown incredible resilience. Through the years they have both been deeply committed and genuinely loyal to their working and social communities.
 
As was said in the Eulogy during Sandy’s beautiful funeral service, as a couple their very DNA and personalities are embedded here, or as we say in the farming world, they were ‘hefted’ into all our lives and our unique Ote Hall community.
 
At the start of last week we lost one of our bullocks which unexpectedly went down with pneumonia. He was a lovely 18 month old Sussex steer, but despite doing our best to pull him through with the help of the vet, he sadly did not make it.
 
Then on Saturday morning I found my daughter’s loyal horse Sandro had gone down with colic. Despite all our efforts and the help of the equine vet who came out three times, sadly, with heavy hearts, we had to allow him to slip away. We had tried so hard to help him by walking him for hours, desperately trying to dislodge the blockage. Eventually it was clear that he had a twisted gut which nothing was going to resolve.
 
Sandro has looked after Nina for many years. He was a stunningly handsome horse but despite his near 17hands, and looking powerful and alert, in all the years he never once attempted to buck, rear or bolt with her. For that we are eternally grateful - he will be impossible to replace.
 
Our mood has been lifted by the return of my eldest son Matthew from Singapore, where he has been working for the past ten years. It is lovely to have him back in England, permanently once again.
He found the events of last week interesting in so much as he observed that he has been sheltered from reality whilst living within the rarefied bubble of Singapore. Having grown up on the farm where life and death are daily occurrences, he realises that in Singapore old age is hidden away as the elderly are confined to isolated care homes. The streets are notably full of vibrant youth, and livestock or indeed dead stock are rarely seen.
 
At a time when food standards and animal welfare are high on the agenda, it is encouraging to see that the British Veterinary Association, which has been campaigning, quite rightly, to ban the ‘cruel practise’ of religious slaughter, by not stunning livestock before slitting their throats so they bleed slowly to death.  
 
The BVA are now stepping up the pressure on Government to at least label meat killed in this manner, which is neither humane nor civilised.
 
Those of us who care deeply for our livestock are calling for a total ban on this sadistic practise altogether. 

Most of those who know me well will admit that I prefer to talk to my cattle, with of course exceptions including my family and close friends. It is therefore interesting that research has concluded that cattle regularly spoken to produce much tastier meat than those which aren’t.
 
This explains why those who buy Ote Hall Farm Sussex grass fed beef, without exception, report how tasty it is. I regularly chatter to my guys at least once if not twice a day!
 
Certain people believe that talking to flowers encourages them to grow. However, chatting to my cattle somehow makes more sense, and perhaps appear less loopy than talking to pot plants! Maybe!
 
The idea that cattle over 27 months should be taxed, and encouraging beef farmers to slaughter cattle by 18 months, has clearly not been thought through. This would result in the general public never knowing what mature extensively grass fed delicious beef actually tastes like, a decision which will certainly not save the planet. Who is coming up with these crack pot ideas?
 
The public must be allowed to choose what they buy, and decide if they want quality or quantity. The UK has the highest rate of obesity in Europe and we are the fifth fattest nation in the world. I am not sure those who are pushing their ideas to save the planet should be doing so at the expense of the health of the nation by pushing poor quality fast food down our throats.
 
So, the EU have decided to play dirty, and President Macron in particular, keen to retain his presidency at next year’s election, is encouraging French fishermen to lob missiles at British fishing vessels.
 
Boris is right to stand his ground. He has given the men from Brussels enough rope to hang themselves, or actually play fair and keep to their word. But no, they expect the UK to do all the compromising, including rolling over and allowing Brussels to call the shots: remain within the Customs Union, and the Common Fisheries Policy, thus allowing the French in particular, to continue plundering fish from British waters, as they have been doing for decades and putting British fishing fleets out of business.
 
It is all very well for the Europhiles to say that fish caught in our waters are mostly consumed by Europeans as the British eat mostly cod and salmon, but surely it is the right for our fishermen to harvest our fish, selling into EU markets if they wish, thus benefitting the British fishing economy.
 
The current status quo is plane highway robbery.
 
EU president Charles Michel recently called the United Kingdom, ‘A dangerous neighbour’, comparable to Libya or Russia. If that is the case Boris really has the right to rescind the Withdrawal Agreement, which was signed on the basis of a promise that a trade deal would not only be signed but executed in 2020.
 
No doubt best friends of Brussels Tony Blair, John Major, Gordon Brown, Theresa May and co, will again hit the headlines attacking the PM. The EU will of course complain that the UK is behaving like a ‘rogue state’, and retreat into their bunker. They are currently giving no ground and counting on Boris rolling over which he clearly will not. It will be interesting to see what happens this week.
 
Had Mrs May during her catastrophic premiership gone for a EFTA deal instead of her ridiculous Chequers give away, none of this would be necessary. Boris has had to pick up the pieces, doing what is right by putting the UK first. If that ends up as no deal so be it. The UK will prosper and thrive as an independent nation - the world is our oyster.

It is encouraging to see that crops already sown are up, and so far looking good. The bad news is we had to stop drilling two weeks ago when it started to rain.
 
Our land’s ‘normal’ is either too wet or too dry. Perfect conditions for drilling are as rare as hen’s teeth. However, we are keeping optimistic - well John is - as we hope to get the final 140acres planted.
 
The cattle are happy as the grass is still growing in abundance. So too are the field mushrooms which are once again plentiful. No doubt they are growing again because of the full moon with its gravitational pull which apparently brings more moisture to the surface of the soil and creates perfect conditions for plump porcini, in much the same way as the moon affects the tides.
 
I fail to understand why the public are being so misled by fake facts regarding the Agriculture Bill, the amendment in particular introduced by Lord Granchester. (His father will be turning in his grave) The Clause, supported by  NFU President Minnette Batters, Jamie Oliver, Joe Wicks (what does he know about farming?) the BBC, members of the House of Lords, and of course the anti-Brexiteers on the benches in the House of Commons, will not help farmers.
 
It is not about animal welfare, chlorinated chicken, hormone implanted beef or food products but about food production. If passed it would impose British production standards, amongst the highest in the world, not only on US Agriculture Corporations, but on every other country in the world we wish to trade with.
 
The scare tactics are misleading the public and some farmers, into thinking future trade deals will lower food standards and allow cheap dodgy food imports, including chlorinated chicken and hormone treated beef, into the country.
 
This cannot and will not happen. When we left the EU, all food and animal welfare standards were put straight into UK law, in January. You cannot legislate for the same thing twice.
 
In addition the amendment is invalid as it calls on standards of food production to be protected and not the food product itself.
 
It is not possible for another country to legislate for food production standards of another country. This would be against EU and WTO rules, and would mean all our exports to other countries would cease overnight. That will certainly not help enterprising farmers, tax payers or consumers.
 
The ‘independent’ Food Standards Agency was created to actively prevent retailers and food outlets from selling unlawful products. Cases have included incidents of undeclared horse meat found in frozen beef burgers in Irish and English supermarkets in 2013. Also pork DNA found in beef burgers being supplied to the Muslim community.
 
It is hard to understand why the NFU is doing its best to prevent the government from doing trade deals. Their arguments appear to be a smoke screen for what is actually protectionism for big British producers, who are, it is said, over represented in the upper ranks of the NFU.
 
Unfortunately the NFU never has been very supportive of small enterprising family farms, despite recent Daily Mail headlines trumpeting Mrs Batter’s support for, ‘the British family farm’.
 
As Daniel Hannan makes very clear in his column in the Sunday Telegraph, this amendment would criminalise much of what we already sell. It would also make it impossible to trade not just with the US but also Brussels, whose animal welfare rules we exceed. As Daniel said, “It would give Britain the most restrictive food policy on the planet”.
 
On Tuesday the fishing bill will set out how we will reclaim UK fishing waters, and prevent Super trawlers fishing just off our coast. I hope MPs will support it, I know ours will.

What we badly needed were some gentle showers. What we got was torrential rain which we now need to stop, so we can resume drilling the winter crops. Hopefully the rain is not set in for the next six months, as happened last year.
 
It is fairly damp in Sussex but we should spare a thought for those living and farming in parts of the UK, France and Italy where they are already under water.
 
There really is a spectacular change in the climate as revealed by the exceptionally relentless rainfall, strong winds and drought conditions we have been experiencing over the past few years.
 
All of this put together with the fluctuating global prices for cereals, meat, dairy and wool, and other influences are the reason why those of us who are able to, and are in the right geographical location, must diversify alongside our traditional farming practices, which are so important to maintain in order to support the ecology and historic nature of the British countryside.
 
Small family farms such as ours, are most able to adapt nimbly towards sustainable diversification, such as we are about to embark upon at Ote Hall Farm.
 
The Godman family have owned and managed Ote Hall and the surrounding farm land, despite occasional historic interruptions, for the past 500 years. If we wish to future proof and maintain appropriately this unique and very beautiful property and farming business, for the next 100 years, it is now essential that we branch out into a new enterprise.
 
This week we are submitting a planning application to Mid Sussex District Council, to build a Farm Shop and Tea Room, adjacent to the existing farm buildings. This enterprise will help support the farm as we cope with climate change, which has already had a significant impact upon the farm’s income, and help to cancel out the negative effects of the soon to be implemented Agriculture Bill, by ensuring that the farm can weather the financial storms, as well as actual and proverbial.
 
The local community which we have consulted widely, have been hugely positive and supportive of our intention to build the Farm Shop and Tea Room. We have already received many encouraging messages, most stating their approval and delight at the prospect of being able to shop for local produce at Ote Hall, and enjoy the views while enjoying a coffee and something to eat whilst out on their daily walk round the farm. Sadly the days of local independent produce shops are now few and far between.
 
Interesting data has emerged which shows that a surprisingly large percentage of those who relied upon weekly deliveries from supermarkets during lockdown have continued to receive a delivery, and so avoid their weekly outing to the shops.
 
It also appears that this trend is rising. As we hear daily that many companies are now deciding their employees should continue to work from home, on a more permanent basis, I am wondering just what these trends and developments will have upon the health of the nation?
 
With a significant percentage of the population, particularly those living in towns, cities and suburbia, confined to their sitting rooms, dining room and kitchen tables, I can see an explosion of obesity, heart disease and mental health issues.
 
Those of us living in the countryside, rural villages and market towns, are fortunate as we are far more incentivised and used to getting out and about. Added to which if we have the opportunity to walk to our local farm shops and enjoy a meal while looking out across green fields and the beautiful countryside, we are not only hugely privileged, but undoubtedly will keep fitter due to taking the exercise, and being able to buy healthy, local and unprocessed produce.

Find out more about the Ote Hall Farm Shop & Tea Room - ​http://otehallfarm.co.uk/ote-hall-farm-shop-tea-room/