Just over a week to go until the outcome of the NFU presidential elections are known – will it be a plume of smoke from that papal chimney or will it be less exciting and take the form of a tweet or a text from one of those council members? I suppose that depends on the new venue.
I very much enjoyed visiting the local hustings, hearing what each of the candidates suggested for the future of the NFU. There is no doubt it is going to be crucial that we get our voice heard over the next couple of years; after all, who wants to endure a CAP reform implementation like the last one?
Fair enough reform, simplify and improve – but make sure the implementation is well planned and thought out. Given that it's the end of January and I haven't been to anymore conferences, I will carry on with the NFU theme. My local branch is very fortunate in that we have Jim Paice as one of our MPs so we were duly granted an audience, and I have to say we did get answers to some of our questions. Not too many about CAP reform, which is concerning, but that demonstrates it's all still to play for. Lots of exciting questions about water, but not even a government minister can make it rain.
As a result of the water situation, there are some serious questions being asked in this part of the country about how much risk to take in the planting of root crops and low reservoir levels, and the potential of a restriction on summer ground water abstraction is starting to test people's ability to sleep at night. Lots of linseed, sign up to a spring malting barley contract and plant a bit more sugar beet are all thoughts passing through the mind of farmers continuing to battle with a lack of water. With sods law, you could almost guarantee a soaking wet spring and summer, but who will take that risk?