Comment – Water, Water, Everywhere

Down Mexico way there is a scrap going on between the USA and their southern neighbour over water. In summary a 1944 water sharing agreement entitles each party to certain water rights from the other, on the basis of several conditions regarding water flow in the respective rivers. The US claims that they have kept their part of the bargain and reckon that Mexico owes them about 1.5 billion cubic metres of water. Mexico has transferred about 75 million cubic metres back to the USA, but that’s only 5% of the current total owed. The issue is that the water table on both parts of the border is historically very low, so Mexico, who admittedly would like to give the USA back the water it owes, can’t. It doesn’t have any water available. Read here for the full beef.

Elsewhere EU lawmakers have proposed the budget for the next cycle of funding for 2028-2034, with a real terms reduction in funding for the Common Agricultural Policy (remember those happy days?), and simultaneously considering a critical supplies stockpiling policy.  Does anyone remember the wine and milk lakes, plus the butter mountains, so beloved of the right wing press in the UK? Mind you, some of us have been stock piling sausages and red wine for a long time, without government intervention.

Recently a couple of friends have asked me about how to get farmings message across to the politicians and ruling classes, I replied by saying that for most politicians supporting farmers, resilience of food  supply, and even good old fashioned provenance of food, is so far down the list of their priorities (‘its the economy stupid‘) after the NHS and Education and that most ethereal of things, pleasing the voters, that its not even on the dashboard. In the goldfish bowl of UK Agriculture PLC, its easy to think that its all about us, but sadly, for most of the population, its not. At this point all our Dads shout from the other room ‘We need a good war’!

The industry also really needs a good way of bridging that divide and being able to eloquently express the challenges and risks of the current food policy. Answers on a postcard, whilst for me, driving round Westminster, honking my horn, protesting,  in something big and shiny, worth more than the average UK house price, might not be the right look.

Back home, it’s raining (again), and with a mere 41 mm of rain between Tuesday 8am and the next morning, haytime remains postponed. Although I’m considering making an offer to Mexico for our current surplus rainfall.

Have a good week.

Andy

PS the pigs took their final journey this week, so let me know if you are passing and want some sausages.