Not much work has been done since LAMMA.  We have ploughed some black land and removed 150 large bog oaks.  Most of our wheat has gone, the grain beetles are dead, but the sprouting is still a problem!  With all the snow the spuds are warm in the shed, and the council snow plough is on the tractor, but no contracts as yet.  There is no money so I think our roads will remain impassable till it thaws.  On the meeting with Sir Don Curry I’m pleased to say that the voluntary approach to set-aside mitigation is to be included in the DEFRA consultation.  I don’t think Natural England are very happy, but they are our delivery partners so they should work with us not against us to the benefit of flagship projects where they have complete control.  We can ask Helen Phillips at the AGM (March 10th) what she thinks.

I attended the City Food Lecture on January 28th.  Sir Terry Leahy spoke well on Tesco and the consumers (are king) behalf.  He will continue providing what the consumer wants at a cheap price whatever happens to the supply chain.  There will be no concession to pay a fair price, and an absolute no to an industry ombudsman (too much extra cost and time with paperwork etc).  Funnily enough, that cuts no ice from our side of the fence with Quality Assurance, Natures Choice and all the hoops we have to jump through for no monetary gain, just access to the market!  They will continue to source the cheapest and keep their margins up.  In the partnership in the supply chain the boot is still firmly on the foot of the supermarket.

The farmer was also at fault because we put so much production into non-food use.  Yet it has been shown that the effect of the non-food market has little bearing on price.  Speculators on the other hand do.  Why should the rape price track the oil price?  There are some that say speculation is a self-fulfilling prophecy, create a problem, take the right position, and make money.  We have to think hard and avoid this volatility especially as a tenant.  Consider some single farm payment protection with the Euro rate; it could be worth a look.

Back home, the sheep are jabbed.  We have a foot rot problem that came in with new stock, so as well as chlostridial; the ewes have had footvax, and so have I.  Very painful as it is mineral oil based.  I still have a stiff finger, luckily it was just a puncture, no injection.  I understand why they won’t stand still!  Lambs are due at the end of the month.  Only 200t of wheat, a little Holl rape and some spring beans for seed to go.  We have a little more light land to plough, but looking out the window, spring is a long way off.  The snow has at least given the rape some respite from the pigeons.

Keep warm!