British manufacturing is enjoying its longest unbroken run of expansion in more than 20 years, as the weak pound boosts exports. And factory output has increased for the first time since records began in 1997.
 
British farm products are exportable, produced to the highest standard and quality in the world, and should be benefitting from the weak pound. Agriculture marketing teams should be working overtime to ensure our farmers are also reaping the benefits of the favourable currency exchange.
 
My sheep farming friends worry the EU will impose Trade Tariffs post Brexit, so it is vital we leave the single market and customs union. Then given the value of British Markets to EU exporters, commercial interests will encourage EU politicians to strike a UK free-trade deal.
 
Mr Gove is directing his favours towards some baffling environmental and green projects, but we believe proper farmers should be recognised for producing vital sustainable food, which supports and maintains the countryside.
 
It seems that there is still confusion regarding the direction of travel. But it is surely a good time to promote British agricultural products as there is no reason to ignore this important export highly valued worldwide, including within the diminishing market of the EU.
 
It seems extraordinary that people are losing their jobs, being publically humiliated, and in many cases being found guilty without substantiation. What ever happened to the rule introduced in Roman law that we are ‘innocent until proven guilty’?
 
On Saturday having travelled to London and into the West End to see a show with my family, I could have reported that I was repeatedly physically abused.
 
At Gatwick the Southern Rail train was already full when it arrived. Those of us who managed to squeeze into a carriage which offered standing room only, were pushed, shoved, groped and coughed over, all the way to Victoria.
 
From there we headed for the Tube which if anything was worse. Here not only were there wandering hands but also suspicious individuals shoving back packs in our faces, and plenty wearing the Niqab and Burka’s, many looking highly suspicious.
 
The streets of London were not much better as we dodged amongst the vast crowds, trying to avoid ear splitting street music, jostling from raucous Eastern Europeans who were clearly doing their best to distract innocent passers-by while they relieved us of our bags and wallets.
 
I think with respect to those individuals who have truly faced real threats and abuse, that those little flowers who are crying into their champagne glasses, having been brushed against under the mistletoe, or received an over ‘friendly’ hug, should get out of their privileged bubbles and experience the real world out on the streets and on public transport in our major cities.
 
As for me, that is the last time I venture off the farm until well into the New Year. I am happy to be jostled and barged by my Sussex bullocks, but not by what today answers for ‘the British public’.  
  
How refreshing to have a Defence Secretary with balls, or spheres as our PC cousins would probably prefer me to say. Gavin Williamson is a breath of fresh air and stands out like a beacon amongst many of his parliamentary colleagues. He is someone who is prepared to voice what the majority of the British electorate are demanding.
 
Not only has he refused to withdraw his statement that “a dead terrorist can’t cause any harm in Britain”, he was also prepared, before the Prime Minister stepped in and broke them up, to come to blows with Chancellor Philip Hammond over defence cuts, and delaying tactics which will postpone the pay rise due in April to 200,000 troops.
 
If you are on a basic salary of £18,500 per annum, an extra £15 per month is significant, as the Defence Secretary know doubt tried to explain to Mr Hammond.

As has been noted in a selection of agricultural journals recently, David Cameron assured the electorate, when he entered Number 10 Downing Street, that he would cut back the amount of red tape that is choking this country to death.

The farming industry has its fair share to cope with, which instead of declining is becoming increasingly invasive and is spreading like a virus.

It is quite clear to that there are more people snooping and checking on British Farmers and telling us what we can and cannot do, than there are farmers actually doing the job.

Regulations are becoming restrictive and quite frankly dangerous and costly. Do they ensure we do a better job? No, they are putting our businesses under stain both physically and financially.

Farm workers who have 30 years or more experience but did not take the necessary exams to qualify for the work they do so expertly, will soon be banned from spraying our crops and carrying out other daily tasks they have done for years.

Farmers will then have to employ an outside contractor who may only have had one year’s training whom the ‘system’ considers will do the job better. This will cost far more than using ‘in house’ staff, and is unlikely to be done at the optimum time.

We must continue to question why farmers are now being made to grow three separate crops each year. Will that make farming in the UK better, and will it improve the environment? No, of course not.

Why do we have inexperienced, often non farming inspectors coming to check we are complying with the Farm Assurance Directives on an annual basis? Surely if our farms ticked all the right boxes for the past ten or more years, not much will have changed.

On the crop side they check we keep records of everything we do from drilling through to combining and storage of the grain. And with livestock it is the same, including checking the water troughs are adequate and trees are there for livestock to shelter under when it is hot.

If farms pass the lengthy scrutiny as they have done for decades, you would think we could be trusted to carry on without this annual inspection, by someone less able than those who actually do the job.

There are hundreds of unnecessary rules, regulations and red tape which should if David Cameron meant what he said, by now have been removed so the farming industry can get on with producing good quality safe food, which we are very good at, without interference.

Other industries are suffering the same burdensome regulations and red tape piled high by bureaucrats who are most likely just ensuring the safety of their own jobs.

This week Her Majesty the Queen will meet Ms Nicola Sturgeon the newly elected leader of the Scottish National Party. Who would not want to be a fly on the wall!

Ms Sturgeon is a strong anti-Royalist, she boycotted a visit by the Queen to the Scottish Parliament in 2003. She also deliberately made her oath of allegiance in the Scottish Parliament to the sovereignty of the people, not the Monarch, when elected in 1999.

She has just announced that the Scottish Parliament will not honour the Act of the United Kingdom Parliament, under which it is the legal duty for Scotland to send Crown Estate money to the treasury, from which a percentage is given to the Queen as part of the ‘sovereign grant’.

The way Ms Sturgeon and the SNP are seizing power, stoking the embers of Scottish Nationalism and taking liberties way beyond her brief over devolution, one would be forgiven for thinking the Yes vote had won the Referendum.

Two very differing stories from north of the border have reached me which indicate that not only will Ms Sturgeon not have things all her own way, but also her brand of politics could well drive many Scots south into England.

One shows the venomous residue which is still evident after the shambolic referendum which was handled so incompetently and complacently by David Cameron and Westminster politicians.

It seems the atmosphere since the Referendum has become increasingly toxic. The level of intimidation against the ‘No’ campaigners was grossly under reported and anti-English sentiments are still commonplace, with examples such as the WI becoming bigoted against English members.

A couple from Galloway have decided to leave and move to England. (I am told there are many more) He is a Scot with an English accent which for the first time in his life, is leading to derisory comments and they now feel uncomfortable in their community.

House prices in retirement areas are already starting to fall, so those considering moving to England need to move fast if they wish to buy comparable properties.

I was encouraged to hear that a group of Sussex farming friends who spent most of last week shooting in the Highlands found the locals at complete odds with Ms Sturgeon and had not a good word to say for her.

Those involved in rural industries including agriculture, who rely upon the English coming north to shoot, stalk, fish and stay in local hostelries, recognise that should Scotland become independent, their income will dry up overnight. My chums and plenty others will not travel 600 miles into Scotland, they will stop in Yorkshire.

Carola Godman Irvine

As far as I can remember, this time last year it had already started to rain and it did not stop until well into April. What a difference it makes to work in these near perfect weather conditions we are currently enjoying. Although the nights are becoming increasingly chilly, the warm days ensure the seed bed is warm and the with the heavy dew perfect growing conditions will give the crops a good start.

Dairy farmers are now harvesting some very impressive crops of maize. Not only is the maize harvest plentiful this year, the ideal growing conditions and ample sunshine will have resulted in a high sugar content. At a time when milk prices continue to be squeezed by retailers, dairy farmers need all the help they can get. If the cattle can produce milk from high quality silage which is a relatively inexpensive food source, hopefully the use of expensive concentrates can be kept to a minimum.

The occasional showers have ensured the grass is still growing. The Sussex bullocks are once again content with their lot and have stopped asking to be moved each time they catch sight of me. I have for now shelved the plan to supplement their diet of grass with hay for the time being, but no doubt in due course they will be looking for a little extra.

I was somewhat taken back when it was suggested to me last Friday that ‘not since Oliver Cromwell has the British Constitution been so recklessly and wantonly torn asunder, as David Cameron has achieved through his mishandling of the Scottish Referendum’!  Some may consider this sentiment a little harsh, but when one stops to consider the fall out following the fiasco of the referendum and the mishandling of the process over the past two years, it is difficult to defend.

The newspapers and airwaves over the weekend were quite rightly full to bursting with accusations and indignation as it dawned upon them just what had been promised in a moment of panic in those final days, by of all people Gordon Brown who had been handed the baton of the ‘Better Together’ team by the Prime Minister.

Mr Salmond and his fellow band of Scottish Nationalists are putting on a good show of being disappointed having lost the YES vote. But I suspect none of them are quite so disquieted or angry as the millions’ of British voters who have watched in disbelief at the incompetence of senior politicians whose prime task should be to defend the Monarchy, the United Kingdom and our Constitution.

It is little wonder that the British Electorate, and reading between the lines, certain sections of the media, are increasingly questioning the competence of the Prime Minister.

I am informed that had David Cameron listened to the many warnings he received over the past two years from intelligent, concerned senior Scots and businessmen, things could have been handled very differently. Not only did he ignore their warnings that Alex Salmond and the YES team had the upper hand and were a real danger, he also failed to acknowledge or reply to their communications. I wonder if he will now find time to apologies for not only his lack of manners but also his poor judgement.

There is a feeling that nothing much has changed since 2010 when David Cameron and his shadow cabinet refused to listen to the increasing volume of concern amongst the grass roots, regarding Britain’s membership of the European Union. Had he done so then he would not be facing the prospect of Ed Miliband and Ed Balls walking into Downing Street by default following the General Election next May, as the traditional Tory electorate turn to Nigel Farage and his UKIP party, in the belief that they will miraculously protect the UK from further interference from Brussels.

There are some who tell me that as long as David Cameron leads his party they cannot bring themselves to vote Conservative. It will be interesting to see if this view grows or if these disaffected angry conservatives who are unhappy by his handling of all things European and the Scottish Referendum, will be swayed by the new distraction and prospect of Home Rule for the English. Also, it will be interesting to see if his back bench MPs and conservative candidates, call for his resignation at the party conference. The word is that the party is unelectable with Cameron as leader!

The referendum has resulted in making an awful lot of people very cross and concerned for the future of Great Britain and just what direction Scotland will take next. No doubt time will settle the dust but unfortunately in this case it is highly toxic. The Genie is well and truly out of the bottle, and for all the talk of ‘devo-max’ for Scotland and ‘home rule’ for England, things will never be the same again.

They say a week in politics is a long time, and people move on and forget yesterday’s news. In this case it will surely run and run.

Carola Godman Irvine

The mellow autumn days have been just the job for catching up with field work in preparation for sowing winter crops. The Hi P Slag and Bio-Mulch Humic have been applied to the fields, products which improve the soil condition and release the availability of trace elements required by the growing plant. Soil analysis is a vital tool when it comes to ensuring that we are giving the growing crops the best start.

It is all too easy to assume the soil makes available to the plant’s root system whatever nourishment it requires. However, if the soil is too acid or alkaline or there is an imbalance of trace elements, many of the important ingredients which encourage a strong and healthy root system could well be ‘locked up’ and rendered unavailable to the growing plant.

We also like to ensure there is a good worm count. These little creatures are a farmer’s best friend. They help with breaking down the organic matter and are an important assistant regarding drainage. Ground without worms is generally a sign of bad drainage and poor soil structure.

The advent of ‘min till’ has helped encourage worms and vastly improved the quality and condition of the seed bed. As long as there is good field drainage and ditches are well maintained the water has somewhere to flow. The plough is a tool which we use only sparingly when necessary to bury trash in a dirty field, or when re-sowing after grass. Min till also lessens the amount of run off during heavy rain fall which can result in losing vast quantities of top soil into  ditches and rivers.

It seems incredible at a time when every agency which has an interest in the health of the nation are concerned by the escalating cases of obesity which is rife amongst all ages but particularly the young, that councils are actively still selling off playing fields for development.

Over the past 35 years more than 10,000 school playing fields across Britain have been lost beneath bricks and mortar. In recent years the sell-offs have slowed down but once again it is reported to be on the increase. Some local councils are stating that school playing fields ‘are surplus to educational requirements’. How crazy is that?

All children should be required to be actively involved in some kind of exercise or sport every day, it should be a major part of their education. It was always so in the past, in times when every child left school able to read and write and add up. Today far too many kids leave school unable to do any of the above and many are already grossly over-weight.

Children today get too much choice, the liberal attitude to nurturing them over several decades has been unhelpful and indeed left many confused, uneducated, unhealthy and unemployable. Michael Grove recognised this, highlighted the problems, tried to put in place a solution and was castigated by the very professionals who should surely have recognised he was right. He was then sacked by David Cameron for reasons best known to himself.

Local communities must stand up to the councils and make a real fuss at the merest whiff or whisper of attempts to sell off this precious, irreplaceable facility. Once it is gone our children and grand-children will be denied the opportunity to enjoy sport, keep fit and remain healthy. And many inner cities will lose these precious green lungs beneath yet more concrete and tarmac.

By the weekend we shall know the fate of Scotland. I have faith that the Scots are an intelligent race and that sense will prevail. But perhaps they should be reminded that ‘united we stand divided we fall’.

Why on earth would they vote YES for independence which will result in huge difficulties regarding their economy, health, defence and employment, when by voting No, they have already been promised more devolved power by David Cameron, Gordon Brown (for some reason) and others. Scotland can by voting NO have its cake and eat it, it has been handed a blank canvas to demand just about every conceivable privilege, concession and handout they could possibly want, as well as remaining part of one of the most stable economic nations in the world?

If the referendum on Thursday has been a ploy, as has been suggested, for Alex Salmond to gain additional powers from Westminster which he assumed he would lose, he is playing a very dangerous game. If by default the YES team win, Mr Salmond will go down in history as the man whose inflated ego buried Scotland. Let us hope common sense will prevail.

Carola Godman Irvine

It feels like autumn but I am assured this is only temporary as by all accounts August should still be considered peak summer. We are relieved to have finished harvesting and now resume field cultivations where possible.

There is a fair glut of blackberries, apples and pears, and the fields are heaving with mushrooms. I think that maybe something to do with the exceptionally large moon last week, which was stunning as it lit up the night sky.

In days gone by the house would be a hive of activity as my forbearers’ collected surplus fruit which would be bottled, frozen or pickled and stored away for the winter months. I am in awe of their productivity; for the life of me I cannot understand how they found the time. Today with all our time saving gadgets, instant communications and ‘progress’, there are never enough hours in the day to complete just the normal day to day tasks.

When I recall how my mother coped without our modern day washing machines and ‘time saving’ gadgets, I am appalled by my slothfulness. In those days laundry was boiled and starched by hand. She would churn the cream and make butter every Friday, make bread twice a week, pick and freeze seasonal vegetables, and bottle soft fruit and store apples and pears for the winter.

Today our vegetable garden has become an orchard, the fruit from which is gathered by friends and family. And I feel guilty for not slaving away in the kitchen making pies and preserving produce for the winter. I am full of admiration and bewilderment for those who do still manage to find the time.

There are regular stories in the press which make one question our freedom to choose the direction we take our lives and those of our loves ones. Looking around the world we should be comforted that the UK is a peaceful place to live, is not a police state, and so far, we may choose what religion we may or not follow without facing beheading or crucifixion.

It is however disturbing to become increasingly aware of cases where daughters are being secretly jailed for removing aged parents from unsuitable care homes, when they fear for their wellbeing. One has to ask why council personnel and others are considered to know what is best for our families and loved ones than we do.

There is increasing concern regarding the high handed behaviour of the RSPCA. Again one must question their right to intervene in deciding when is the right time to put a family pet to sleep. Surely the family which has cared and nurtured that animal over many years  and know the animal should be left to decide the time and place. Unfortunately it is too often well-meaning but interfering neighbours who call the authorities who then brazenly mishandle the situation.

Only last week it was time to allow our much loved Labrador to gently slip away to the ‘happy hunting ground in the sky’. Sasha was 15 years old and her heart and lungs were failing her. Had some busy body from the RSPCA called the day before her final journey they would no doubt have whipped her away in a callous fashion, prosecuted me for neglect and removed all my remaining dogs to be rehomed or destroyed.  As it was Sasha spent her final evening rabbiting with our one eyed, semi disabled whippet, in the field behind the house. They returned home blissfully happy, exhausted and breathless but with not a care in the world.

Would the RSPCA or busy body neighbours have approved of that, no of course not but as we watched our old friend slip peacefully away the following day, all we could think about was the wonderful life she had lived roaming the fields, the companionship and loyalty she had given, and the satisfaction of knowing her last evening was spent tormenting the bunnies which she never caught, with her best friend Roxy. 

Westminster politics seem to have been infused by intrigue since Boris Johnson, as expected, announced he would like to stand as an MP at next year’s General Election. Which constituency he ends up fighting will be interesting. Will it be one to be vacated by a retiring MP or will someone give up their safe majority for Boris?

Electioneering is already underway across the country as associations gear up for national and local polling in 2015. I am told by canvassers that although very few have any love of David Cameron, when asked if they would prefer Ed Milliband running the country, the answer is a decided no!

Taking a straw poll amongst the farming and rural community it is very evident that Mr Cameron is viewed with suspicion and mistrust. Had he not sacked Owen Paterson at the recent reshuffle, one must assume for no better reason than to up his tally of women in the cabinet, he would be rather more popular than he is now.

How things pan out and will his popularity increase over the following nine months, time will tell.

Carola Godman Irvine

The thunder storms have been spectacular and noisy; I doubt many slept through the racket in the early hours of last Thursday morning. It certainly had me pacing round the house mopping up where the water is still pouring in on three levels, at the merest drop of rain. And on that occasion I also checked for lightening damage as I was certain we took a direct hit as the whole house seemed to light up and shake when the lightening was directly overhead.

I must remember to inform our insurance company that the lightening conductors are indeed working. They have been nagging me for months to get a certificate of effectiveness from my electrician. Surely the proof is in the pudding and I can now assure them they are indeed doing their job.

Much of the farming community are baffled as to why once again David Cameron has sacked a perfectly good secretary of state for DEFRA. Each time an agricultural minister connects with his brief and those he is representing, he pulls the rug from beneath their feet. He did the same with Jim Pace and now again with Owen Paterson. What our industry needs is continuity especially at times of difficulties as now.

Sir Jim was certainly the farmer’s champion and played a very significant role negotiating CAP reforms in Brussels. He was ceremonially dumped at a crucial time, and we are still dealing with the fallout of that. I suspect had he not been moved when he was, some 22 months ago, we would not be having to cope with the three crop idiocy and other unhelpful impositions.

Now Owen Paterson who has played a straight bat with the badger cull, tackling the aftermath of the winter floods ensuring work on flood defences were put in place, and recognises the importance of sustainable food production, has also been shown his cards

We now have in place South West Norfolk MP Liz Truss who will no doubt do her best to pick up the reins but it is quite frankly disappointing that she has to.

Farmers can be generous and supportive of those who are seen to do their best for the industry, and I am sure Miss Truss will be well supported. She will no doubt be bombarded with advice from NGOs, animal welfare campaigners and environmentalists, let us hope she listens to those who truly understand the countryside, the farming industry and the importance of sustainable food production.

A priority will be to pick up the CAP reform brief and ensure British farmers do not suffer from the usual gold plating of EU directives by little men in grey suits sitting at their desks in Whitehall. We now wait for clarification regarding the new rules which will apply as from 1st January, but we need answers very soon in order to plan our autumn sowing and field work.

If we get things wrong we will be heavily penalised financially and with the prospect of poor returns from this year’s harvest sales, many farmers could face considerable financial difficulties. So, much is riding upon receiving the correct information, at the right time.

Each week countless articles are written in the farming press about tackling weeds and rogue grasses in arable crops. Dominant weeds such as blackgrass become increasingly resistant to the chemicals we are now restricted to. Discussions and advice also include tackling the various diseases in wheat, barley and other arable crops which have been rampant this summer, brought about by the high humidity.

A practical solutions which I have regularly returned to over the years in my columns here and occasionally in the Farmers Weekly, has been that of the merits of stubble burning.

Each time I raise the subject I am rebuffed and told to ‘get back in my box’, by  DEFRA ministers, NFU presidents and some local farmers, all of whom tell me that stubble burning with NEVER be re-introduced.

One of the very first conversations I had with the recently retired but then newly elected Peter Kendal was on this very subject. It is now time to raise the subject again. We need a reliable, effective and inexpensive method of cleaning arable fields of disease, pests and weeds. There is a growing need to cut back on expensive and increasingly ineffective chemicals, and the easiest, traditional, tried and tested method of doing so is to burn the stubble.

Before chemicals were introduced stubble burning and tillage were the only methods of weed and pest control, it was only in recent years that a total ban has been introduced. The ban was brought in for purely environmental reasons, a few hedges caught fire, (this is entirely preventable if adequate preparations and precautions are taken), and there was pressure from some environmental lobbyist regarding wildlife casualties.

Not every farm or farmer would take up the option but many would to improve their chances of growing healthy crops with less chemical coshes. Perhaps it is time to approach the new minister and test the water to see if she would consider at least debating this practical and simple option.

Carola Godman Irvine