Farm Diary

The dark clouds looked ominous at first light, and with snow forecasted, we knew that it was about to arrive, but the quantity was surprising.

The workers were out within minutes, and as it was their weekend off, had plenty of time for snowball fights, and to enjoy the full experience of a snowfall. The roads were treacherous, but luckily not busy on a Sunday, and within a couple of hours had turned to slush.

The cows were not fooled by the lovely spring weather last Friday, their built in barometer warned of the dark clouds gathering, and at the weekend, they were very snug in their beds thank you very much.

One of the bulls had his head stuck in the dividing rails at the weekend, and I was about to go off and get the grinder, when Adrian told me that this can be dealt with in a different way. The gel we use for calving cows was applied liberally behind his ears, and low and behold, he slipped his head out again!

As expected, statistics show that food prices are rising, and last week the Governor of the Bank of England warned that food and fuel are now built into expectations, which means that it is accepted that higher food prices are here to stay.

Government have relied on food deflation to balance rising costs elsewhere, and deliver low inflation, year on year. Farmers were producing food at below the price of production for years, and that is simply not sustainable in the long term. Everyone accepts that apart from some economists.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette April 9