A neighbouring farmer came round for a cup of tea sometime ago now, and he was having trouble filling in yet another 40 page Defra form for something or other.
He said to me:
"What do they (the government) want of me? I look after my stock, I dont use any pesticides, I use a tiny bit of fertiliser, look after my hedges and keep the footpaths open. What else do they want? I feel like a criminal before I've even started! I dont know how to fill out this form without "them" suspecting that I am doing something wrong!"
I checked out the form and felt like a criminal myself once I'd read all the questions.
I was thinking about this and of course its about trust. As the connection between food and the farm disintegrated and the problems that occur like BSE, TB and Foot and Mouth continue to dominate the press there is mistrust on both sides. The government's reaction is to legislate and clamp down.
It reminds me of my schooldays when we all had to stay in at dinner break - just one naughty child, and the whole school suffered! As farmers, the natural reaction is to shy away from it all, in despair.
The problem with this is that as we shy away and become quieter and quieter, more misunderstanding and confusion and mistrust builds up. Often the words we leave unsaid are more powerful than the words we actually speak.
And on that note the latest car I have rented in the USA has no handbrake.... no mention of a handbrake.... nothing.
I put the car into park mode and got a stone to go under the back wheel. I dont trust that car....
Turns out the "handbrake" was a pedal on the floor!!!!
Now how was I supposed to know that in the dark me dears? Does that mean its still a handbrake or is it now a footbrake? If its a footbrake - whats that other brake on the floor called. Nope a car without a handbrake and no mention of the problem.... I dont trust that one at all.
Lets talk eh? Keep everything as clear as possible, chat about the things we love about our farms, our community, our culture. And for that car manufacturer if you must put the handbrake on the floor would you please write a notice where the handbrake normally is to let me know!
PS: The picture is a puzzled camel, and I was puzzled to find a camel on an island near Podchef Island in Washington State. Almost as puzzled as finding the car's handbrake on the floor...More about Podchef and Podchef Island to come
Mark Eccleston and his wife Karen photographed ten of
the scenes for us that day - discovering a whole new definition of
'wildlife photography' in the process! As you can see, by the end of
the shoot we were all ready for a celebration with a few glasses of
champagne. Now that the scary bit was behind us, all we had to do was
sell lots of calendars and make loads of money for the fund! 
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