David's Digest

Last year ended slightly more satisfactorily than seemed likely only days before. Between Christmas and New Years Day the snow disappeared (apart from a few isolated piles in the bottom of ditches and in sheltered places where the thaw has not quite reached) and frozen pipes have started to run again. We did have a couple of split pipes but nothing serious and we've been able to fix them. Other than those relatively minor problems the insulation worked better than might have been expected given the depths to which temperatures dropped.

Better still, the soil thawed sufficiently for us to be able to lift a field of sugar beet last Wednesday. It was one of our better fields - by that I mean it is the kindest land we farm - and we decided to risk ploughing and drilling it with wheat after the beet had been lifted. It went in surprisingly well with 99% of the seed being covered and we must hope it germinates and produces a worthwhile crop.

OK, it's not likely to yield as well as that drilled in late September or October. But we were way behind with our autumn sowing, the seed was dressed and in the barn, and the forward price after next harvest suggested that even a modest yield might be worthwhile. I shall be anxiously watching through January and February to see if it emerges.

Meanwhile our beet haulier managed to get permits to take some of the beet to the sugar factory during the Holiday period and although the roots had been severly frozen they have so far been accepted for processing. We still have more sugar beet to lift than I would want and more than I can remember ever having in the ground after Christmas before. But with the willing help of our contract beet lifting gang, the ploughman and the drillman, we have at least salvaged something from our efforts and managed to reduce our potential weather losses.

All that was achieved, of course, while most of the non farming population was eating and drinking to excess with work furthest from their thoughts. I supect we got more satisfaction from what we did - and we still have clear heads!

 If I'm not too late may I wish you a Happy New Year.

I always check the sits vac pages in Farmers Weekly. Discrimination for age is illegal now and I like to keep an eye on employment possibilities.

One colourful half page ad placed by DEFRA in the current edition of FW caught my eye immediately. "Applications are invited for positions in a number of our public bodies", it said, and in particular to "Chair the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board".

That sounds just up my street, I thought. I've done a lot of chairing in my time and it will probably only be about a day a week for which the pay will likely be several tens of thousands of pounds a year. It'll be money for old rope, I thought, and a nice addition to my pension.

Then I looked more closely at the photo that was the background to the ad. The background was a very English looking oak tree in front of which was a table bearing fruit and veg. Nice touch, I thought and then I noticed that among the fruit and veg on the table were banana's, what looked like an avocado, an orange and a pineapple.

I jumped to one of two conclusions. Either DEFRA is so convinced about climate change that it is intending to urgently extend its remit to exotic fruit and the development of this will be part the responsibilities of whoever chairs the AHDB in future. Or the people seeking candidates for the job, by definition existing DEFRA employees, still haven't a clue about the industry over which they preside.

I think we should be told.