Happy new year! I’ll do my best to highlight positives for 2021

Welcome to 2021. Another year and we all hope it is going to be better than the last one; well the second half of it anyway as it seems that 2020 carries on seamlessly as far as Covid-19 is concerned with restrictions firmly in place. The weather is also the same cold, misty, dull days, but dry which is very good and no snow as yet. There is much talk of another beast from the east, but who knows if that is likely to happen or not; only time will tell.

Very important to be positive in a New Year and I shall now do my best to highlight the positives ahead of us in 2021. First of all the days are getting longer, not by much I grant you, but we are on a roll and that daylight will only get longer as each day goes past. It is only six weeks before we are in the last week of February, looking for the 1st of March and spring; I can’t wait.

The snowdrops are out at Tillington and daffodil bulbs are shooting not only on the sandy soils of the Manor of Dean, but on the clay at Plaistow and these green swords thrusting through the soil are most comforting in early January. The majority of trees are now in hibernation and the landscape is bleak apart from the odd patch of greenery, it will not be long however before we see buds swelling before bursting open in late winter or early spring depending on temperature.

We have a deal with the EU and a huge collective sigh of relief from all of us involved in farming as a deal was vital for us all.

Staying positive, this is not the place and time to delve into any details as they will all unfold over the weeks and months ahead to the delight of newspapers and the media; picking over every morsel as a raptor does with its carcass.

We have a vaccine; actually we have two with another on the way! That is our get out of jail card with Covid and we look forward to having it injected into our arms ASAP. The flu jab was a military operation at our Loxwood Surgery late autumn, with a precise time to arrive (mine was 4.17pm), to present with arm exposed and as you march down the corridor at the precise time on the Saturday, someone else was leaving by the side door and within a minute or less, so was I. Brilliant.

New Year resolutions are not something I bother with as there is nothing I need to stop doing, or more importantly want to stop doing, and therefore no point in it. Maybe I should start a trend on New Year resolutions where I am going to do more of something? Drink more, eat more, go out more (oops – not allowed), exercise more; damn now I have strayed into the trap so we will leave it there.

Actually, I am making a New Year resolution which I know I will break in no time, but at this precise moment in time as with everyone else who make these silly self-promises; I do meant it and I wish to keep to it. I am not going to criticise this government. There, I have said it and I am determined today to be positive about our government from now on. Some of you may think that this is a huge resolution and that it is impossible; maybe but that is what New Year Resolutions are - impossible dreams.

I think we are doing very well with the Covid 19 vaccine, we are ahead of other European countries in validating the vaccines and rolling them out. We have a brilliant team at Oxford who have developed a vaccine in record time which does not need to be stored at very cold temperatures. I don’t think we make enough of this as if it were Germany or France in this position ad well ahead of us, the media and many people would be outraged, but sadly there is silence where there should be euphoria.

I have a second New Year resolution this year making it two more than I would normally have and the second is that I am not going to mention Veganuary; okay I just have but that was necessary in order to tell you dear reader that I will not do so again, if I can possibly avoid it that is. This is a really tough one too and I hope you will be full of admiration for this outburst of positivity and optimism.

If I look back on 2020 I see that farming’s stock has risen as the general public recognised the importance of food and took much more interest with many returning to real cooking with proper ingredients. There was minimal trade disruption despite the challenges and those selling to the general public offering alternatives to the weekly shop. We were supported by the general public in our quest to maintain our high standards in the future as over a million people signed the NFU petition.

Butcher shops were big winners in 2020 and having gained a younger consumer look to maintain their support for top class products in 2021. As in World Wars (not that I am in any way comparing Covid to 1914-1918 or 1939-1945), farming and food production suddenly mattered and we all feel valued once again. We need to build on this in 2021 and maintain our place in society.

Looking back at 2020, it is not difficult to be cheerful that it has passed; from the very wet early spring which prevented planting of crops delayed in the 2019’s even wetter autumn, to the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent lockdown. This caused staffing issues, especially in food processing and some markets disappeared overnight. Some dairy farmers threw milk away whilst others were unaffected.

Arable fields were left fallow; we saw an increase in mental health issues, with various charities and organisations assisting, and more accidents on farms. Vandalism in the guise of flytipping, hare coursing and dog attacks on sheep were high and we look forward to greater rural policing in 2021.

It is generally agreed that the greatest challenges in 2021 will be market conditions closely followed as always by government policies; weather of course will be very important, how soon we get back to normal as we defeat Covid, labour supply and so on. As always there is plenty of optimism and no doubt agriculture will be in good shape overall during 2021.

I am told that interest in native and rare breeds will grow as the green agenda offers new and different opportunities for farmers under the guise of public good. More trees and hedgerows will be planted again this year by farmers no doubt and I look forward to seeing new technology alongside more traditional farming assisting us make the changes necessary.

Let’s see how we go and hope that a New Year with all its vim and fizz in these first days of January maintains the positive and optimism necessary as we patiently await our release from Covid.