Winter is progressing nicely here at Euston, with a good few sharp frosts that have penetrated the ground and started to work on some of our winter ploughing. This is all quite a change from the most recent winters.

It has, however, tested one or two of the more exposed water pipes, with remedial repairs being quite a challenge, especially when you have forgotten just which slab the stopcock is under.

Besides more winter ploughing and hedge trimming, other winter tasks have included log processing and delivery, something that provides a useful enterprise to use surplus timber generated from numerous forestry operations.

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The workshop has been busy with repairs to numerous bits of kit, a couple of special projects have occupied a certain amount of time and, by the way, the combine is now ready to go to work.

The harvest of last year’s planting has now finally finished, with the last of the sugar beet being delivered to the factory in the week before it closed.

As we finished the harvest of late carrots and parsnips in December, this is the first year for quite a while with nothing to harvest in February or into March.

Needless to say, the process of planting is now well under way and the covers are on in an attempt to warm the soil.

Single market departure

On a wider note, if we leave the European single market, the continued development of our home market and the wider global market will be a significant challenge. 

Will we as a nation adopt a foolish, cheap food policy or will we see sense and introduce some form of protectionism, with balancing tariffs on imports?

Surely our memories, or more importantly, those of our political masters, are not that short that we have all forgotten where we were at the turn of the century?

I remember being told that we only needed to be park keepers maintaining the land for the tourists and that we could import all of our food from around the world.

We only need to look at what happened just a few short years later – world food price inflation rocketed, food was short and politicians suddenly realised that sustainable UK-based food production was worthwhile, not to mention our assistance in reducing that massive trade deficit.

Andrew Blenkiron manages the 4,400ha Euston Estate, south of Thetford. Principal farm enterprises are combinable and root crops, including sugar beet. In addition the estate supports let land, sheep, outdoor pigs, poultry, suckler cows, horses and stewardship.