The present I got on Christmas day was a phone bill via email that seemed to take more time to load than HS2 will save commuters, which considering I struggle to get signal everywhere I wasn’t too happy about. So why then is the government planning on spending however many billions on a train line that will only save minutes on a journey – rather than getting the country decent mobile phone and broadband coverage?

The mild weather we’ve been experiencing has been helpful for later-drilled wheat, which is still emerging on heavier land. However, for the fields that were drilled early it’s a different story. Most are now far too thick and could prove to be a challenge to keep disease free, and standing. We suffered a couple of casualties during the windy start to January, luckily we weren’t loading a lorry at the time of one such incident or we’d have had a contamination claim for a popular tree in the sample.

It’s good to see that Peter Kendell remains unchallenged for the presidency of the NFU – at a time when the NFU is involved in so many important issues I think it would be a bad idea for someone new to take over. Especially with the great reputation he has built up, and no doubt contacts and understanding of how government and the EU work. With this in mind it’s now as important as ever to get along to a local NFU meeting and voice your opinions – if you don’t, you can’t moan when things don’t go your way.

This year marks a significant change for me as I’m heading off into the world of self-employment – thus promoting myself to boss but paying myself a lot less, as well as taking on all my Dad’s farm record keeping. I must be mad. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank AG Burton and Partners for the guidance and experience I’ve gained while working for them.

Farmer Focus: Matt Redman