The past week has been one of contrasts. The dry weather enabled us to make good headway with harvesting the winter barley and getting the straw baled. Working through the heat was challenging, but at least John was comfortable in his air conditioned combine cab and without doubt this is his favourite and most satisfying job.
When the rain came it was actually a blessed relief. It cleared the air, enabling us to breathe once again. However, on the practical side, it would have been helpful if we could have cracked on and moved into the winter wheat which is now well ready.
Saturday morning we were on tender hooks with a wedding being set up. The forecast was for all day rain but as it turned out it dried up at mid-day, leaving the afternoon and evening just perfect for the outdoor marriage ceremony and the following celebrations.
Travelling north on the M11 and A1 last week I saw just one field which had been combined. This week on a return trip to North Yorkshire it was good to see some progress had been made.
Michael Gove has been replaced by Theresa Villiers, and I would suggest just in time. Let us hope that this new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recognises that farmers must actually produce food, as opposed to acting as caretakers of the land and making the environment the priority.
Mr Gove was hijacked by the environmental lobby, and regrettably the NFU leadership failed to dent the eco-armour he had developed. I suspect most probably due to their negative rants about how unfair the prospect of Brexit will have on the future for British farmers will and for sheep farmers in particular. Let us hope Mrs Villiers is made of sterner stuff and gets a better grasp of her brief.
Mr Gove was clearly trying to make a name for himself and raise his somewhat tarnished image, having stabbed Boris in the back. Hopefully Theresa Villiers under the guidance of a strong Prime Minister who has promised to deliver Brexit on October 30, will work closely with Liz Truss the new International Trade Secretary, and together they will ensure appropriate trade deals will open markets which will offer opportunities for British sheep farmers amongst others.
For example, Americans are desperate to see British lamb on their supermarket shelves - a ready market if ever there were one. Perhaps this is a subject which Boris and Donald can discuss during their next trans-Atlantic chat.
The Agricultural Bill has been kicked about for some while. Perhaps now Theresa Villiers can knock it into some kind of shape but must first delete any references to ‘Public money for public good’!
I hope she will also have picked up that the PM recognises the merits of GM in certain areas, and will therefore speak to the new Chancellor of the Exchequer about finding extra funding for essential Research and Development to drive this forward.
Businesses, manufacturers, banks and developers can no longer hold back ‘because of the uncertainty over Brexit’. We now all know that the UK will leave the EU on 30th October. The Prime Minister told us so, but unlike his predecessor, we can rest assured he actually means it.
At last we have a strong, determined leader who believes in Great Britain and more importantly the great British public. Boris has injected a sense of optimism and people clearly have a renewed bounce in their step.
The transformation within and around my community since last Wednesday has been extraordinary. People who admit they voted to Remain, those who have in recent months joined the Brexit Party, the Lib Dems or even the Greens are now planning to join the Conservative party, or as someone said - Boris’s party!
When the rain came it was actually a blessed relief. It cleared the air, enabling us to breathe once again. However, on the practical side, it would have been helpful if we could have cracked on and moved into the winter wheat which is now well ready.
Saturday morning we were on tender hooks with a wedding being set up. The forecast was for all day rain but as it turned out it dried up at mid-day, leaving the afternoon and evening just perfect for the outdoor marriage ceremony and the following celebrations.
Travelling north on the M11 and A1 last week I saw just one field which had been combined. This week on a return trip to North Yorkshire it was good to see some progress had been made.
Michael Gove has been replaced by Theresa Villiers, and I would suggest just in time. Let us hope that this new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recognises that farmers must actually produce food, as opposed to acting as caretakers of the land and making the environment the priority.
Mr Gove was hijacked by the environmental lobby, and regrettably the NFU leadership failed to dent the eco-armour he had developed. I suspect most probably due to their negative rants about how unfair the prospect of Brexit will have on the future for British farmers will and for sheep farmers in particular. Let us hope Mrs Villiers is made of sterner stuff and gets a better grasp of her brief.
Mr Gove was clearly trying to make a name for himself and raise his somewhat tarnished image, having stabbed Boris in the back. Hopefully Theresa Villiers under the guidance of a strong Prime Minister who has promised to deliver Brexit on October 30, will work closely with Liz Truss the new International Trade Secretary, and together they will ensure appropriate trade deals will open markets which will offer opportunities for British sheep farmers amongst others.
For example, Americans are desperate to see British lamb on their supermarket shelves - a ready market if ever there were one. Perhaps this is a subject which Boris and Donald can discuss during their next trans-Atlantic chat.
The Agricultural Bill has been kicked about for some while. Perhaps now Theresa Villiers can knock it into some kind of shape but must first delete any references to ‘Public money for public good’!
I hope she will also have picked up that the PM recognises the merits of GM in certain areas, and will therefore speak to the new Chancellor of the Exchequer about finding extra funding for essential Research and Development to drive this forward.
Businesses, manufacturers, banks and developers can no longer hold back ‘because of the uncertainty over Brexit’. We now all know that the UK will leave the EU on 30th October. The Prime Minister told us so, but unlike his predecessor, we can rest assured he actually means it.
At last we have a strong, determined leader who believes in Great Britain and more importantly the great British public. Boris has injected a sense of optimism and people clearly have a renewed bounce in their step.
The transformation within and around my community since last Wednesday has been extraordinary. People who admit they voted to Remain, those who have in recent months joined the Brexit Party, the Lib Dems or even the Greens are now planning to join the Conservative party, or as someone said - Boris’s party!
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