The tricky things you cannot plan for
New Year resolutions will be done and dusted by now, but it is so important for us all to set some goals so that we have something to focus on.
It doesn’t matter if they are short-term or long-term but they must be realistic, or they become a rod for our own backs.
Farmers have always had to plan ahead, whether it be in livestock – planning matings, stock numbers, grazing patterns, feeding routines, and so on – or in the arable sector, with the cropping plan, selection of crops and treatments, or of course major items like capital expenditure.
One of the things that farming can never plan for is which way the market will go, and everything is produced based on what the market should be or could be, with no guarantee. It’s a difficult world! Another difficult area is the weather – and it looks as though we are in for a very wet period again.
But British farmers will continue to bring British produce to market in this unique country of ours, and we must thank them for that.
Sarah Norton is a retired rural dweller living near Shrewsbury
