Out on the farm a very benign November made a lovely change from the previous two years. The milk price rise announced at the beginning of December was very welcome but will no doubt soon be swallowed up by the increase in input costs, not least fertiliser.
While the grain traders will tell us that the fertiliser cost is factored into the wheat price, it would appear to be more of a cashflow problem than a gross margin issue. I doubt many fertiliser companies will be willing to wait for payment until after the grain is sold.
As I put pen to paper, the Christmas music is already playing on the radio, the winter evenings are here and the fire has been lit. Christmas shopping is well under way and Ted will have a visit to see the “big red man”, AKA Father Christmas, for the first time.
Fingers crossed he remembers his words for the school Nativity. Oh, how I love a nativity play. Unfortunately, this will be our last one watching as parents. Great excitement from mummy as Ted will be a “King” rather than the sheep or cow all the others have played in previous years; it must be the farming theme.
Excitement is certainly building in our household. This year, instead of advent calendars we have decided to put a gift in a box and donate to a local family that is not as fortunate as ours. It’s a fab scheme run locally by volunteers. The children have all participated at school with the shoebox scheme run by the Samaritans; and destined for infants and children throughout the country who may not have the best Christmas.
The Christmas tree will make an appearance when the children have finished school. A quiet, working Christmas for us and hopefully a meet with the East Kent Hunt with West Street for the birthday girl on Boxing Day.
Donk the donkey will play his starring role in the Cathedral nativity for the first time in two years. It’s about time he earnt his keep. We are certainly hoping that he doesn’t deposit anything unsavoury in the nave and doesn’t tow “Joseph” while he’s carrying “Mary”. Fingers crossed normality will stay resumed, athough Covid-19 appears to be on the rise again in this area.
I’ve read with interest over the past few weeks that hypocrisy seems to pay. Why? COP26 is the answer. Leonardo du Caprio made his fame in the film Titanic (as well as many others). He certainly is a marvellous actor, and now, it would appear, an environmental activist. He has been preaching all about climate change and global warming as well as how farming is a major contributing factor to all the above.
Unfortunately, he seems to have overlooked the environmental damage that flying into London and catching a connecting flight to Glasgow for the summit and then returning the same way has on the environment. He avoided taking a private jet to the conference as it was deemed to demonstrate more of a commitment to the environment to travel with others.
Over 400 private aircraft attended COP26, carrying over 40,000 delegates, including world leaders and some of the richest people on this earth to the conference. The average private jet emits two tons of CO2 for every hour in flight. Jeff Bezos (Amazon founder) also flew to the conference in a private jet, but to counteract this he pledged $2billion to save our planet. Oh, to be in such a fortunate position.
The late David Bellamy dared to make his opinions heard regarding climate change. He was incredibly sceptical and claimed there was no proof that carbon dioxide would kill us all. It’s not a poison; it’s the most important gas in the world. Carbon dioxide is an airborne fertiliser. How can farmers grow an increased amount of food without a rise in CO2?
The 80 year-old environmentalist and former broadcaster admitted his scepticism signalled the end of his career as he had known it. From that moment a major broadcasting station appeared to freeze him out as he didn’t believe in global warming.
A good friend commented against global warming on a post on social media and received a 12-hour ban. Is this the dictatorship we are now entering into? Big brother all over again?
The earth’s climate has changed throughout history, moving in and out of ice ages and warm periods. How do we know this is any different? We can all make small changes if we work together, but it would appear that several countries can’t/won’t change anything after COP26. So, the small minority will spoil it for the majority. Could COP26 not have been a zoom conference instead? Time will tell who is proved to be correct.
Have a very happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous new year.
