Promises, promises, or lies, lies and more lies? By the time you read this I am sure that we will have a new government in power. Hopefully normality will resume, although I fear anarchy may prevail. Possibly another political party that claims to have all the answers to all the issues (if only we could all claim the same).
Each and every party seems to have had a manifesto full of unachievable aspirations that amount to copious amounts of lies. According to one party, if you do not rely on government support you cannot be classed as working class. Any ideas as to how a farmer would be classed when working all hours?
I had always promised myself that I wouldn’t write about politics in this article. Firstly, it is something that I have limited interest in, but while each and every politician claims they are different, fundamentally they are mostly career orientated politicians who have never had a job in a real-life situation and seemingly have no desire to investigate the real world.
One of the most alarming statements to have appeared is that one party will abolish the badger trial/cull. This will have a devastating impact on the dairy/beef industry in the UK.
After months of flooding, high production costs and low returns, we need a government to support the future of farming in the UK. A government that will rebuild confidence within the farming community and deliver a thriving, profitable farming sector. The population needs affordable food produced in a sustainable but realistic manner. For many decades governments have failed to provide the conditions needed for rural growth. We can only hope that a new government makes clear progress on all these challenges that farmers face on a daily/weekly basis. I fear that we could be disappointed.
Enough about politics and more about the real world. Our super English Springer Spaniel has somehow managed to rear 11 puppies all by herself; 10 girls and only one boy. She really is a dog of a lifetime. Ted has loved playing with them, and we shall all be sad when most of them disappear to new homes. They have been complete time wasters, but they are all so lovely.
The summer holidays are getting closer on a daily basis, and the excitement is building. The weather plays a huge part for farmers, and with continued rain and cooler temperatures, the maize has been slow to start and needed a little nurturing. In general, the crops are looking well, although a little more sun in June would have been more than welcome. I have never before lit a fire in June, but this year we had two.
The seasons seem to be around six weeks behind. The combine is serviced and ready to go and second cut silage is now nearing completion. This year has been rather stressful for Fergus in gauging the right time to go mowing. Dodging the showers has become the new game around here.
The grain stores are clean and ready to go for another year, so now we play the waiting game. Fingers crossed for some sunshine.
The swimming pool has been erected and Ted has been taking a dip as soon as school is out. Zara has been competing with great success and has been selected to represent the U18s at Bishop Burton.
We have been asking ourselves how the future will be for the youth of today; unfortunately Monty was assaulted on a train returning from Tonbridge by a youth who was clearly high on drugs. Being punched in the face for no apparent reason in a completely unprovoked attack is very unnerving. In time Monty will recover and move on, but I guess this is another issue that the youth of today have to deal with. British transport police have evidence via CCTV, Monty also has two creditable witnesses and two other people have reported a similar incident on the same day. We can only hope that they catch the culprit.
Until next time, stay safe.
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