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Animal Aid speakers addressing pupils at local secondary school have drawn numerous messages from members of irate farming families and students on Faceboook pages this week:

“We are extremely upset with our local secondary school for organising a one-sided talk by a group called Animal Aid, slating conventional livestock farming methods: their one sided view of the countryside and influencing children on how they could live their lives - if we are going to have a debate let’s have both sides.”

“Do-gooders with their one-sided views always cause the most trouble! Farming (arable, dairy, beef, sheep, etc., etc) is an essential economic, sociological and human need. Agriculture was a massive part of my life growing up and working on farms and I loved every minute of it! I was fully aware that the cattle needed to be de-wormed before being ‘fattened’ for human consumption! I was aware that the tack sheep we had over the winter were solely intended as breeding ewes for Welsh lamb yet people who don’t understand, appreciate or agree with farming practices should wind their necks in and stick to chick peas and celery sticks - it is not wrong, barbaric or uncontrolled slaughter! If you don’t like it, go back to your eco lodge and turn up the power on your dung fuelled heater and wipe your backside with recycled toilet paper. Freaks!

“I think that this is of great concern. You need to find out under whose authority within the school were Animal Aid invited. Were they speaking during lesson time and what subject was their talk supposed to be covering? We send our children to school to be educated but not to have one sided thoughts and views thrust upon them. Maybe the schools need to invite a farmer in to discuss all the welfare, hygiene and farm assurance standards that we have to adhere to?”

Are you legal?

The NFU’s transport adviser, Thomas Price, suggests that your driving licence entitlements might to to be examined in greater detail.

“Most people know that in order to drive a tractor on the road a driver needs a category F driving licence, but how many know that there are two ways to get a category F licence?

The F category is automatically acquired when a car driving test is passed - it is an entitlement that is linked to the car category B. With a category B licence, a driver gets the entitlement to drive a car and also gets the entitlement to drive a tractor.

Take a stand-alone tractor test. If the test is passed, the applicant is issued with a category F licence. This allows the holder to drive agricultural tractors and trailers only. It will not cover any other type of vehicle.

A category B licence also allows the holder to drive on road other vehicles which are registered as agricultural machines. This includes vehicles such as sprayers and telehandlers.

There are however age restrictions on the maximum vehicle weights that can be driven by younger drivers: Agricultural vehicles up to 3.5 tonne - minimum age 17 years; 3.5 tonne to 7.5 tonne -18 years, and over 7.5 tonne (including most silage and grain trailers) - 21 years. A requirement that is sometimes missed by drivers.

Turkey time

As anyone who has served up Christmas dinner will know, this is one meal that is rarely flung together last minute but, with the trend for sourcing ingredients from local producers on the up, those with a penchant for food provenance will be all ears to the news that many producers offer birds direct from the farm gate - see adverts in this paper.

A growing interest in buying farm produce means more and more turkey farmers are offering a direct purchase service, giving shoppers access to delicious local fayre close to home.

Like choosing the tree, ordering the turkey for Christmas is also becoming a popular festive event - part and parcel of the run up to the celebrations.

Luckily, there’s an online directory to help smooth the process, by way of the NFU’s Turkey Finder. Just pop in your postcode for a list of local turkey farmers to choose from.

Buying turkey directly from the farm where it has been produced ensures you’re supporting British farmers’ high animal welfare standards, and choosing a bird that has been fed a natural diet, bred for its natural flavour and has been reared locally.

New situation

In times gone by, if you lived in a rural area, without a convenient bus service, all you needed to do was stand at the roadside and very soon some kind friend or neighbour would come along and offer you a lift.

How times have changed!

Today, a passenger picked up could well insist that you take them somewhere you didn’t need to go (possibly with a knife threat) or accuse you of some form of inappropriate behaviour that could find you in court.

One unfortunate lady who gave a lady hiker a lift soon found that her prized lambswool car seat covers were infested with fleas!

Horse boxes again

I’m reminded that all new trailers come with a manufacturer serial number and you can record the details as additional information in your FarmWatch profile.

The secondhand market for trailers and horseboxes is a ‘busy place,’ Tim says. “Care should be taken when buying a used item. Ask for proof of ownership and be suspicious of anything that seems out of the ordinary. Never view a trailer in a public car park or other public place - if possible, try to view at the seller’s home address or at a known place where there is CCTV and ensure to check for any

“Cattle rustling, unlike many other thefts, theft of cattle and other livestock is not opportunist but instead organised criminality so stock owners should aim to reduce opportunity.

“Carry out regular, physical counts of the animals - if you are unable to do this perhaps ask for help from a trusted person - and consider the access route. Ask yourself, how would I access the cattle if I was a thief?

“Watch out for suspicious activity and report anything unusual to the police.”

Life’s lessons

1. The best is yet to come.

2. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

3. Take a deep breath, it calms the mind.

4. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

5. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

Innovation

Some local postmen serving our rural areas, whose mail vans have broken down, have been issued with hired double cab pick up trucks to complete their deliveries.

Mindful that vehicles of this kind are seen in use frequently in war zones says something of their versatility!