environment, Farming

A Country Girl’s Reflections on Environmentalism

BY ROCHELLE BLAKEMAN “Toil mastered everything, relentless toil And the pressure of pinching poverty… Everything by nature’s law Tends to the worse, slips ever backward, backward.” Virgil, the Georgics As a farmer’s daughter, I was blessed with a bucolic childhood. With only 1% of the UK population being farmers, it is a lucky stroke to have lived my younger years with a closeness to the … Continue reading A Country Girl’s Reflections on Environmentalism

countrysquiremagazineNovember 25, 2021November 25, 2021

What Shall the Future Bring Us?

BY JIM WEBSTER I went down to London the other day. First time for a couple of years, so I was quite intrigued to see what things were like down there. On the train and at the stations, masks were optional. Pretty much the same proportion of people were wearing them as wear them round here. Once in the big city it did feel quiet. … Continue reading What Shall the Future Bring Us?

countrysquiremagazineNovember 9, 2021November 8, 2021

Pigs & Boars

BY JIM WEBSTER I kept a few pigs before the last foot and mouth outbreak. I used to buy a weaned litter or two and fatten them on a mix of spare milk and some 16% protein dairy feed. This is grossly inefficient but was quite profitable because I was having them killed at a local abattoir. Then they were cut up for me by … Continue reading Pigs & Boars

countrysquiremagazineOctober 22, 2021October 20, 2021

The Law of Unintended Consequences

BY JIM WEBSTER I don’t often apologise to the government of the People’s Republic of China but I confess I have been somewhat sceptical about their sincerity when it comes to cutting carbon emissions. But apparently they are trying. The government laid down strict limits on the amount of energy that could be used in various provinces. But when lockdown ended, there were a lot … Continue reading The Law of Unintended Consequences

countrysquiremagazineOctober 12, 2021October 12, 2021

Milking It

BY JIM WEBSTER I’ve spent a lot of time with milk cows. Milking them isn’t a cheap hobby. A lot of dairy farms have a business model which resembles a hosepipe. You get in quite a lot of money from the milk cheque but then it moves down the hosepipe at speed, and sprays the money out to your suppliers and the bank. Hopefully enough … Continue reading Milking It

countrysquiremagazineOctober 7, 2021October 7, 2021

Cowman

BY JIM WEBSTER I used to boast at one time that in our dairy herd we had every colour of cow, other than green. Green would be far too difficult to spot when out at grass. (Actually Black and White cows, in the early morning, can be damned difficult to spot when they’re standing against a hedge line. They’re woodland animals wearing woodland camo). But … Continue reading Cowman

countrysquiremagazineSeptember 17, 2021September 17, 2021

Food Prices on the Rise?

BY JIM WEBSTER Well, are food prices going to rise? After all, governments have successfully held prices down for decades. Milk is cheaper in the shops in cash terms than it was back in the 1990s. Is the tide turning? One advantage of living on the side of Morecambe Bay is that you get used to the tides. I once spent some time in Scarborough … Continue reading Food Prices on the Rise?

countrysquiremagazineSeptember 8, 2021September 8, 2021

The Lorry Driver Shortage

BY JIM WEBSTER I’ve worked a lot with lorry drivers over the years. Normally we get the good ones, as the other sort don’t make it down the lanes. But at the moment there’s a shortage. Yet I can remember Bob Bojduniak of Farm Brief mentioning to me over twenty years ago that the various agricultural supply companies were telling him then that they struggled … Continue reading The Lorry Driver Shortage

countrysquiremagazineAugust 31, 2021August 31, 2021

Small World

BY JIM WEBSTER On the 23rd March 2021, the Ever Given, one of the largest container ships in the world, got stuck in the Suez Canal. It took six days to refloat it. This made the media everywhere. What wasn’t reported in quite as many newspapers was that the ship was then impounded by the Egyptian government on 13 April 2021. This is because the … Continue reading Small World

countrysquiremagazineAugust 17, 2021August 16, 2021

editorial, Farming

Time to End Farm Trespass

CSM EDITORIAL Make trespass on British Farms a criminal offence! Protect British farmers from trespass, including by animal rights protestors, who are entering private property without permission. Protect livestock from unnecessary stress caused by people trespassing on private property without permission. Many people, including animal rights protestors are entering farms without permission. This is an invasion of privacy, it is a health and safety risk, … Continue reading Time to End Farm Trespass

countrysquiremagazineAugust 14, 2021August 14, 2021

Farmers Farm

BY JIM WEBSTER It’s a lot of years ago now. My father and I went on this farm walk organised by the Country Landowners Association. In some parts of England and Wales, the CLA seems to have a preponderance of major estates and landowners, and in other parts of England and Wales most of its members are small farmers. I think I was about sixteen … Continue reading Farmers Farm

countrysquiremagazineAugust 6, 2021

Decolonise Your Diet!

BY JIM WEBSTER Every so often you realise you’ve missed a trick! I was chatting to another church warden and she commented that she cannot wait for somebody to demand her church be decolonised. She’d point out that the parish isn’t worthy and she could gift the church building to those protesting. Then the church itself could meet in the local community centre where it’s … Continue reading Decolonise Your Diet!

countrysquiremagazineJuly 28, 2021July 27, 20211 Comment

Piggies Off the Market

BY JIM WEBSTER There is a lot of discussion about food waste. I came across an article with the snappy title, “The UK wastes millions of tonnes of food every year: here’s how we can change that.” The article makes some useful points: “In the case of pig farmers in the UK, this system is causing an industry-wide crisis. UK pig farms are governed by … Continue reading Piggies Off the Market

countrysquiremagazineJuly 22, 2021July 22, 2021

Farming & Government Net Zero

BY JIM WEBSTER The problem with being rural is that government and a major part of the population aren’t rural and in some cases haven’t got a clue what is going on. To put this in perspective somebody mentioned to me four issues those in authority hold against rural dwellers. They feel that these things are standing in the way of us reaching net zero. … Continue reading Farming & Government Net Zero

countrysquiremagazineJuly 12, 2021

Townhouse Desk Rules

BY JIM WEBSTER There are times you have to ask where all the grown-ups have gone to. I won’t say that the lunatics are running the asylum but there are a lot of people setting out the rules who obviously haven’t a clue how the world works. I know a chap who is going into hospital for an operation. He has to self-isolate first. For … Continue reading Townhouse Desk Rules

countrysquiremagazineJune 24, 2021June 23, 2021

Stirks & Sunshine

BY JIM WEBSTER I escaped and went for a walk last weekend. I just made my way along the various back paths to a village about eight miles away. It was a glorious day, the sun shone, and everything looked green and well cared for. The village has a coffee morning come jumble sale so I dropped in. After eight miles I felt I merited … Continue reading Stirks & Sunshine

countrysquiremagazineJune 4, 2021

BBC Wrong Again on Farming

BY JIM WEBSTER The BBC has been at it again, telling the world that government is paying farmers large sums of money to retire. OK so where to start? Let’s start with the money. The EU had a system of farm support. Because it was an EU scheme it was obviously worthy (at least to the metropolitan BBC crowd) and was supported by all right … Continue reading BBC Wrong Again on Farming

countrysquiremagazineMay 20, 2021May 20, 2021

Well Stirred Shit

BY JIM WEBSTER There are more ways of stirring up a slurry pit Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Parking a tractor with a slurry stirrer by the side of the pit suddenly seems so pedestrian. There again, at least with the tractor you’ve less chance of an early bath. The picture below is a still from a video available on Facebook but, … Continue reading Well Stirred Shit

countrysquiremagazineMay 5, 2021May 5, 2021

Moving to Mechanisation

BY JIM WEBSTER Whilst my time in agriculture has been a time of impressive change, I suspect that the industry has been moving so quickly that every generation born since 1900 will be able to say that. I started my life working alongside men who’d been in farm work in the 1920s and 1930s. They were horsemen but I just missed that era. But being … Continue reading Moving to Mechanisation

countrysquiremagazineApril 22, 2021April 21, 2021

Outspoken Hamilton Wrong

BY NICK PEARCE The video below is a must watch. It encapsulates the growing feeling across many parts of the countryside that the ‘progressivism’ pushed by the animal rights lobby has reached a dangerous point. The farming community is now being continually undermined and threatened by woke campaigners who, knowingly or unknowingly, are empowering animal rights extremists who can make their lives hell. The realities … Continue reading Outspoken Hamilton Wrong

countrysquiremagazineApril 16, 2021April 16, 2021