Blogs

The longest day, summer solstice is behind us. As we move into official summer, it is such a beautiful time of year to be up at silly o’ clock as the sun rises and there is very little noise in the countryside, except the vocal birds singing their dawn chorus. They seem to be even louder this year.

The year 1976 was a notable one. Steve Jobs launched Apple, the first Star Wars came out and I turned one during harvest that August.

While the world is captured by the ravages of Covid 19, the practice of a former political spin doctor to use a ‘crisis to bury bad news’ is as alive as ever.

With the Covid-19 virus still causing mayhem and hardship throughout the UK, it is at least encouraging to see things move forward and start to open up in England. Our Scottish leader is very popular, although she is taking a very cautious approach to leading Scotland out of lockdown.

I am writing this with a broken heart, having just had to have my young dog Kip put down. She was only two and a promising young bitch with the kindest, sweetest, nature of any dog I have known.

This month, Roger Evans tells us about how lockdown has curtailed his over-the-hedge inspections of his neighbour’s activities, and how at home he is waging war on the profusion of docks and nettles.

Having been a Farmers Guardian diary writer for a good few years, I am not sure if writing on the back page is a promotion or a relegation.

They say every day is a school day and inviting the general public into your farmyard on a daily basis is certainly an education.

It is getting dry. Locally, light land is practically burning up, heavy soils look to be about 10 days behind and last year’s bumper silage crops look like they will be needed.

I am now an expert (almost) in all manner of virtual meetings. I’ve also been made very aware of how poor my connectivity is on the farm.