It is agonising watching crops withering in the fields due to the lack of rain. The April showers failed to materialise, and May is not much better. We had one useful downpour two weeks ago, since when nothing.
Half our winter barley failed due to sitting in waterlogged fields which we replaced with spring barley, rather against my better judgment. All too often we face drought conditions in this part of the country in the spring but one needs to have faith in mother nature and hope she doesn’t bowl us a second whammy and kill off two crops.
In hindsight I should have sat on my hands and done nothing. Unless we get some decent rain in the next few days, we shall have little to sell to the grain merchants this coming autumn.
On a positive note, the herbal leys are growing splendidly. In fact, we are in danger of being overwhelmed with too much grazing. I only wish the Sussex steers liked it; they don’t they hate it and do their best to find alternative nourishment as they rummage in the hedges and ditches. They have reduced the headland to bare earth and look longingly over the gate into the adjoining field, grass destined for hay.
They do occasionally venture out into the herbal ley and gingerly wrap their tongues around a few blades of grass which they carefully pick from amongst the red and white clover, Sheep’s parsley high in iron and vitamins A & C, high protein Lucerne, Birdsfoot Trefoil with its non-bloating qualities. There is also Chicory which offers a range of health benefits, including support for digestion, liver health, and blood sugar control. It also apparently acts as a mild laxative and a diuretic.
What is there not to like about this mix with its herbs and variety of grasses which I was assured they would go mad for, and it would increase their weight gain dramatically. I do my best to encourage them tuck in but watch in vain as they spit out anything other than grass, in a cow sort of way.
There are those who have decided the Prime Minister has no alternative but to surrender power to Brussels over our national sovereignty, borders, defence procurement, fishing grounds and youth mobility. They paint Britain as some poor third world nation cowering under threat from Putin, China’s President Xi and Trump with our only friend in the world being the European Union.
Nothing could be further from the truth. It is a pity this weak minded, blinkered Europhile Prime Minister lacks the leadership skills to stand up and be counted. He should be defending Great Britain and leading from the front rather than from behind EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s skirts.
I doubt this is what the public wants but they have been listening to those in the press and media who for years have been led by the nose by left wing Europhile MPs of all parties who fail to understand the implications of being beholden to a failed regime which is slowly sinking beneath too many EU laws and regulations.
Any closer alliance will result in too many people from the rest of Europe coming to work in Britain; are 30-year-olds really students? Our borders will become less safe than they are now. We will be sucked into subsidizing agriculture in other EU countries and will be pressured onto accepting too many imports from the rest of Europe.
Any trade deals with the USA will certainly be withdrawn by Trump who quite rightly, has utter contempt for the EU.
Parliament will end up having less power. Britain will once again become a rule taker rather than a rule maker. Is that really what we wished for as we celebrated last week and remembered all those brave men and women who served our country during WWII, and their families and friends who were bombed out of their homes and places of work. I don’t believe so.
Britain has outperformed the EU for the past nine years. Due to Brexit, we had the freedom to enter into trade deals with India, the US, and the Pacific market. None would have been possible without Brexit. The EU has as Daniel Hannan says, always wanted to take back control of our trade policy. It resents the idea of our buying foods that it has banned on protectionist grounds. To keep Britain as their captive market, Eurocrats want to set our standards in perpetuity.
Starmer has clearly sold out to the EU. He has surrendered our fishing rights to European fishermen for a further nine years in exchange for a long-term agreement on food standards.
He has sold out our armed forces. Britain will be expected to take part in new intelligence-sharing mechanisms, as well as co-ordination of conflict prevention and peace mediation. This could mean that British soldiers could be sent to “civilian missions and military operations and missions, upon the invitation of the EU”. For which we are expected to pay, heavily. Britain’s policy, even as a member of the EU was to oppose any defence integration outside Nato.
The “reset” deal will force the UK to follow European food standards and submit to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), in what Brexiteers and Labour rebels said amounted to “the worst of both worlds”.
It is barely a year since Labour won the General Election. If they can cause so much damage to our country both inside and outside our borders, think Chagos islands, in a few short months, what in God’s name will be left of Great Britain after a further four years?
Half our winter barley failed due to sitting in waterlogged fields which we replaced with spring barley, rather against my better judgment. All too often we face drought conditions in this part of the country in the spring but one needs to have faith in mother nature and hope she doesn’t bowl us a second whammy and kill off two crops.
In hindsight I should have sat on my hands and done nothing. Unless we get some decent rain in the next few days, we shall have little to sell to the grain merchants this coming autumn.
On a positive note, the herbal leys are growing splendidly. In fact, we are in danger of being overwhelmed with too much grazing. I only wish the Sussex steers liked it; they don’t they hate it and do their best to find alternative nourishment as they rummage in the hedges and ditches. They have reduced the headland to bare earth and look longingly over the gate into the adjoining field, grass destined for hay.
They do occasionally venture out into the herbal ley and gingerly wrap their tongues around a few blades of grass which they carefully pick from amongst the red and white clover, Sheep’s parsley high in iron and vitamins A & C, high protein Lucerne, Birdsfoot Trefoil with its non-bloating qualities. There is also Chicory which offers a range of health benefits, including support for digestion, liver health, and blood sugar control. It also apparently acts as a mild laxative and a diuretic.
What is there not to like about this mix with its herbs and variety of grasses which I was assured they would go mad for, and it would increase their weight gain dramatically. I do my best to encourage them tuck in but watch in vain as they spit out anything other than grass, in a cow sort of way.
There are those who have decided the Prime Minister has no alternative but to surrender power to Brussels over our national sovereignty, borders, defence procurement, fishing grounds and youth mobility. They paint Britain as some poor third world nation cowering under threat from Putin, China’s President Xi and Trump with our only friend in the world being the European Union.
Nothing could be further from the truth. It is a pity this weak minded, blinkered Europhile Prime Minister lacks the leadership skills to stand up and be counted. He should be defending Great Britain and leading from the front rather than from behind EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s skirts.
I doubt this is what the public wants but they have been listening to those in the press and media who for years have been led by the nose by left wing Europhile MPs of all parties who fail to understand the implications of being beholden to a failed regime which is slowly sinking beneath too many EU laws and regulations.
Any closer alliance will result in too many people from the rest of Europe coming to work in Britain; are 30-year-olds really students? Our borders will become less safe than they are now. We will be sucked into subsidizing agriculture in other EU countries and will be pressured onto accepting too many imports from the rest of Europe.
Any trade deals with the USA will certainly be withdrawn by Trump who quite rightly, has utter contempt for the EU.
Parliament will end up having less power. Britain will once again become a rule taker rather than a rule maker. Is that really what we wished for as we celebrated last week and remembered all those brave men and women who served our country during WWII, and their families and friends who were bombed out of their homes and places of work. I don’t believe so.
Britain has outperformed the EU for the past nine years. Due to Brexit, we had the freedom to enter into trade deals with India, the US, and the Pacific market. None would have been possible without Brexit. The EU has as Daniel Hannan says, always wanted to take back control of our trade policy. It resents the idea of our buying foods that it has banned on protectionist grounds. To keep Britain as their captive market, Eurocrats want to set our standards in perpetuity.
Starmer has clearly sold out to the EU. He has surrendered our fishing rights to European fishermen for a further nine years in exchange for a long-term agreement on food standards.
He has sold out our armed forces. Britain will be expected to take part in new intelligence-sharing mechanisms, as well as co-ordination of conflict prevention and peace mediation. This could mean that British soldiers could be sent to “civilian missions and military operations and missions, upon the invitation of the EU”. For which we are expected to pay, heavily. Britain’s policy, even as a member of the EU was to oppose any defence integration outside Nato.
The “reset” deal will force the UK to follow European food standards and submit to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), in what Brexiteers and Labour rebels said amounted to “the worst of both worlds”.
It is barely a year since Labour won the General Election. If they can cause so much damage to our country both inside and outside our borders, think Chagos islands, in a few short months, what in God’s name will be left of Great Britain after a further four years?
RSS Feed