It's all about size.....

My husband and I have a bit of an on-going debate/dispute going on. He sees the dilemma of the smaller, more sustainable (mmm?) farmer as eventually getting through the public and the decision-makers. Then there will be a tipping point and things will have to get better, when the realisation dawns that 2 dairy farmers a day are leaving the industry. I'm afraid I am more cynical - as long as the supermarkets, our new lords and masters, have their "dedicated suppliers" and their guaranteed supply of milk the rest of us can just...well...sink or swim. What do you think?
In the meantime, calves born on a small farm have a good start in life.

But there are certain traits

Country-dwellers do not fit into square tweed-covered boxes, but it would be wrong to say that farming people, in particular, do not share some traits. To a man, or a woman they are practical. Any farmer worth his salt can reverse any length of vehicle, more or less anywhere. The women in this area are born with the knowledge (or so it seems) needed to grow, to make and to make do. It's comforting and reassuring somehow, particularly if it came to a choice of being stuck on an island somewhere...you know those questions? Would you be better off with a deep-thinking intellectual, or someone who could build a shelter and get the two of you fed. Meanwhile, back on the farm, it has been a day of surrogacy and swapping as calves and their mothers are sorted - not made any easier by the slippery yard - all good stuff though. They're all content and bedded down on straw now.