FROM THE EDITOR
By anybody’s standards, 2013 was an eventful
year. So much so that for many people – and
farmers in particular – it began to feel like
some sort of marathon endurance trial.
The weather alone was enough to cause
major havoc. Most of the farming business
people we have featured over the past year
have admitted that the extreme weather
had been the worst single problem with
which they had to cope, in many cases
working virtually round-the-clock in the
most appalling conditions.
Flooding and gales are bad enough
though we all hope that conditions this year
will not deteriorate further and we don’t
get the heavy snow. As 2013 drew to a
close and the New Year got under way,
many parts of the UK were still suffering
from gales and torrential rail with still more
flooding – and for many it was a miserable
instead of a merry Christmas with no
power and awful conditions in homes and
businesses, many of which had already
experienced floods earlier.
ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE
In his final New Year message before
stepping down as NFU President, Peter
Kendall rightly reminded us of the influence
of extreme weather and the environment
on farming, Mr Kendall, who will certainly
be a hard act to follow when his successor
takes over in February, commented on
the “delicate balance” that exists between
mankind and the environment, and how
important it is to adapt to climate change
and build resilience essential for us all. Few
people are as resilient as farmers who,
as Peter Kendall points out, constantly
demonstrate their careful stewardship of
the countryside, often in the face of much
criticism.
THE YEAR OF ‘HORSEGATE’
2013 will be remembered as the
year of “horsegate” and all that
followed the revelations – but it
rumbles on, with recent reports
of unfit for human consumption
laboratory horses allegedly entering
the food chain via a scam.
A GREAT YEAR FOR SHOWS
2013 saw some terrific events on
the Show scene, with a glorious
summer compensating to some
degree for the previous winter. We
are confident that this year will be just
as fantastic – giving us all something
to look forward to despite all the
many challenges that the farming year
brings.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Where are the opportunities in
agriculture, how they can be funded
and how should farms operate in the
future? They