May 10

Hi everybody ,

Where on earth did March and April go ? It must be my age ! Time just seems to fly by, however ,if you put that comment into political terms,13 years seems like an awfully long time for the last government to have been in power.

Yes it's all over, they've left the building ! In my opinion it was definetely time for a change and it certainly seems like we are going to have quite a large one at that with the co-alition.I actually think that Cameron and Clegg could bring a well thought out and practical approach to government, although Clegg will need to stand up for the policies he was selling and Cameron will need to listen. If all of this comes to pass then we could well have a flexible ,innovative ,forward thinking Government with a slight hint of common sense ! I have always found that common sense is a very important part of succesful management, especially on the farm , unfortunately over the last 13 years it seems the cleverer the people at the top the less common sense they possesed ! To be fair, this lack of common sense seems to be a feature of government, economics and general politics the world over.  We can only hope that this time , things in this country will be better and that the politicians will understand what we want and need. As they say in Laverton  "We'll have to wait and see" !!

I hate to be a typical 'moaning about the weather ' farmer but we really could do with some rain ! Somebody turned the tap off and has forgotten how to turn it back on. Any minute now I bet  we'll be having hosepipe bans and the water authorities telling us we're coming into a drought situation !! Surely if that does happen ,which I would find hard to believe given the wet and snowy winter that we all had to endure, would it not be sensible to make or construct some more resevoirs in key areas ? Hold on , this might also tie in with some flood relief for certain communities. Let's hope that right now somebody is working on a coherent, joined up water management policy which would allow us to ;store more water when we have rain, always to have water available when we don't have much rain and to sort out flooding at the same time! Hey, you're right it is a good idea , but then it also requires that the powers that be demonstrate some common sense.I have a horrible feeling that this means that the idea may well be a nonstarter!

Joking apart we urgently need about an inch of rain .The dairy farmers need it for their grass and maize to grow ,and our cereals will not flower , nor will the grain filling  process happen effectively. In other words, without more rain our wheat ,barley and oilseed rape seeds will not plump up and weigh well when it comes to harvest.The rain will come no I've always been an optimist so I am sure that the rain will come but when it does, I just hope that it will know when to stop ,so that everybody can have a really good and well deserved summer.

On that note i'd just like to wish all you lads and lass's taking A levels , S levels (what ever they are ) , GCSE's and any other exams this summer the very best of luck and have a great summer holiday !

Speak soon , but in the meantime enjoy all the great British food that we produce, you won't taste better!

Andy