Comment – Politics and the usual

Last weekend we ventured to London for a few days and the difference was marked, with a brown land from Preston south. You would have had your head firmly in the sand if you missed the terrible news of burnt out properties and fires across the UK this week.

There’s no doubt that the climate is changing, and whether we are just having ‘another 1976’ or not, is up for debate.

The government appears to have taken notice, and on the one hand banned the sale of disposable BBQ’s, and on the other announced a package of measures to help farmers through. Although building reservoirs, and jumping through the planning and regulatory hoops required will be no easy task.

We are not alone with the fires,  have a look at this Belgian nature reserve near the German border.

It’s certainly febrile in the wider world, we have been following the closing of the Black Sea grain corridor for a while, with both Ukrainian and Russian exports being dented. But who knew that the Argentinian dock workers were on strike and stopping soya, grain and maize exports?  The good news for UK farmers is that these far away issues put upward pressure on grain prices, the bad news is that there’s not a lot in the shed.

This week, JCB getting the world speed record for a hydrogen powered vehicle is good news, and shows a direction of travel for the industry.

Have a good week, I hope the temperature drops and some rain finally arrives.

Andy