One thing that’s become clear to me, given the difficulties of the past few years, is the world is becoming a difficult place to live for law-abiding decent people who like sleeping with a clear conscience.

Unfortunately, we are being drowned out by people who have been brainwashed by media to think they are number one and no one else matters.

See also: Cereals 2023: Robotti drills and weeds 150ha of sugar beet

About the author

Richard Orr

Richard Orr farms cereals and potatoes in a reduced cultivation system in County Down, Northern Ireland, with his wife and two children. He is a cereals and oilseeds sector council member and focuses on soil and plant health. He also keeps a small number of cattle, pigs and sheep.

Read more articles by Richard Orr

It all starts at the top with our government and corrupt civil servants, who do as they wish. We won’t even mention the financial institutions.

Whatever happened to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”?

The media controls the narrative that we should all believe, where big business pays to get the right answer.

Consequently, we’ve bred a new generation of self-centred, entitled individuals who are holding the world to ransom looking for massive pay rises and cheap food, all while farmers are supposed to invest in “saving the planet”.

Unfortunately, I’m in a position whereby these people will make the decisions as to how I get out of the current controlling partnership I’m stuck in.

On a brighter farming note, I was delighted to be asked to represent the Ulster Farmers’ Union cereal and potato sectors on a new sustainability body for Northern Ireland. The UFU has done a fantastic job getting industry representation around one table.

We just need to be careful that it doesn’t become another quango to control farmers by regulation, and not see the true benefits. I will be doing my best to ensure any body structure is fair to the farmers on the ground.

The weather has improved – in my last article there wasn’t enough room to comment on how much lower sunlight/radiation levels were throughout March and April.

We’re making up for it now and are now irrigating early potatoes. It’s made a huge difference to them in tuber numbers, but as a result they are no more advanced in anticipation for selling.

There are three times as many tubers on irrigated beds and I am likely to dig the non-irrigated crop first, but without the desired yield. Water at tuber initiation definitely will pay.