Environment and landscape are an integral part of what we do

It is very dry indeed, and after taking a very good second cut, filling the silage clamp, we are busy spreading dirty water on 100 acres in order to promote growth and a potential third cut on this acreage at least.

It is growing back strongly, but some rain is badly needed.

The arable men are worried, not only is the grain lacking moisture, but with such a dry spell, when the weather does break, it could mean difficult conditions for harvest, which is about to start as we start July tomorrow.

Our grazing paddocks are still growing reasonably well, and we certainly improved things by topping them after the last round, which has meant a more even, cleaner growth, with the 'stubble' re-established at two inches.

We have two weeks of grazing ahead of us; it then becomes more difficult without rain.

All the young-stock look very well, and are enjoying the sunshine; they all have plenty of grass ahead of them, but we do need to keep an eye on the in-calf heifers, as they are carting almost too much condition.

We can control this if necessary as they come inside for half of July, in order to introduce them to their winter accommodation and cubicles, making sure that they are used to lying in them before they calve down this autumn.

n We have now heard the budget that everyone was 'expecting'.

Many have told me it was not as bad as they feared. Certainly, the amount of preparation that went on to 'soften-up' the general public was extensive and very thorough.

Most people were in agreement that a radical change was needed and that the country could not continue to live beyond its means, and that we should be cutting back savagely on waste and over-spending.

It will be interesting to hear what these same people say in a year's time, when the reality of last week's announcements hit home.

The Home Office for instance is facing major cuts in its budget, and I will be very interested to see what effect that has on rural policing and on rural crime.

Defra will certainly face huge cuts in its budget, and we will need to make sure that we work closely with the department in order to assist where we can; making sure that the industry is part of the process when it comes to choice.

There will be very hard choices to make, cuts at this level means a fundamental change in the Department, and not just cutting a percentage off each area of work, or stopping a few activities; this will mean radical and major change which will mean real difference on each and every farm.

However, it will mean opportunities too.

This is the age of austerity, new thinking is needed according to the Coalition, and this will mean that we have different priorities, and values; a return to recognising for instance that food production in this country matters, and that whilst the environment is very important, it has to take its place in the order of things.

Those of us in agriculture have always maintained that the environment and landscape are an integral part of what we do, and that it is there as a direct result of food production, and is certainly not 'natural'; it is man made, and changes continually.

Spending taxpayer's money on taking land out of food production, 're-wilding' and other such schemes will need to be looked at.

The domination of environmentalists needs to be addressed, some of the mad schemes they dreamed up need to be scrapped.

The introduction of animals and birds which have not lived here for centuries needs careful attention, as does the flooding of vast areas of land in order to cater for wading birds.

A new order is called for, where the excesses of consumerism, and the guilt of our comfortable lifestyle (now taken care of by the Coalition!), is not addressed through ridiculous schemes, costly ideas, and a sense of priority that suggests we have taken leave of our senses.

The Campaign For the Farming Environment is an excellent example of an industry led scheme to create and maintain habitat by voluntarily building on the benefits of the former set-aside land.

There are other opportunities for the industry to lead new initiatives, and this is a far better approach than regulation and costly red tape, which often does a lot less for a great deal more cost.

Regulation, which is the beaurocrats' blunt instrument, needs to be curtailed, and we are assured by the coalition government that the form filling nightmare we struggle to cope with every day of our farming lives will be eased.

We have swallows nesting in our AD plant. They have made nests tucked in under the weatherproof cover, and I only found out due to their droppings.

The towers are 40 degrees centigrade, and these are crude nests with full weather protection and central heating provided by us.

There could be hundreds of nests in due course; will I get a wildlife grant to assist with the cleaning bills, which will be considerable?

I wrote from Australia in March, and commented on the amount of rain which had fallen, flooding huge areas of Queensland, which would slowly migrate into the Murray Darling river catchments area (the biggest river catchments area in the world), finding its way into the Darling and eventually the Murray.

The mouth of the Murray has not flowed for years, and Frank Tyndall has gone out into the bush to check out how it is all going.

He sent me pictures of him and a mate, canoeing rapids on the Paroo river in New South Wales, where it enters the Darling river, over a thousand miles from the area of floods back in March.

The river is a raging torrent, and flowing for only the second time in recorded history.

Will the mouth of the Murray River flow in many weeks time?

Keep reading this column to find out.