Happy New Year everyone.
The dying embers of a year to forget have been fanned into a spark of hope for the year to come. The promise of a vaccine for over 50s by late spring bodes well for most farmers (average age 56) and somewhat cushions the blow of turning 50 in May for me.
We coped with one lockdown, we will find a way to cope with another, although many of our staff are visiting family in Poland and Romania, and their route back to Scotland is uncertain at this point.
A no-deal Brexit has been narrowly averted, but what we are left with has not necessarily given us back control of our own destiny. Michael McParland QC wrote an excellent letter to The Times recently – 'The sole determinants (of all free trade agreements) are economic interests and muscle, and the UK will always be smaller than the EU. We’ll be dancing to its tune for the foreseeable future.'