8.01am - Sunday 7th December 2025 13,219

How did your MP vote link:

https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/how-did-your-mp-vote.433269/


The government want to align us with Europe to open up markets, they are calling it Dynamic Alignment but this would mean we will have to agree to using the same plant protection products as the EU. We currently are able to use around 80 more products than EU farmers but that would have to stop so we would lose them. We have a very good regulatory system, CRD, which controls the products we are able to produce food with. In the last 5 years CRD have approved 5 new active ingredients which the EU do not have access to but under the new gov proposals, we would not be able to use these.

I wanted to get to the bottom of this so Mark Buckingham of Bayer agreed to join me to go through it all. Mark is head of Public Affairs for Bayer UK and Ireland and has a huge depth of knowledge in the area. I’ve known Mark many years and he was instrumental in helping myself and a group of farmers fight for the re authorisation of Glyphosate (Round Up) a few years ago.

It’s time to look at the machines I am going to sell and prepare them for being photographed for the catalogue so all of them are washed with the help of a neighbour.

The hedge cutting contractor has also arrived but the field margins and need cutting first to cut down the self set Blackthorne plants which are now taking over the grass and flower margins, I also cut the dyke banks because it’s quicker than the hedge cutter.

I also have the biopsy for suspected prostate cancer but won’t know the results for a couple of weeks.