Farm Diary: it's extraordinary how fashion and habits can change

There have been increased cases of bluetongue in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe and we can only hope the disease can be contained or minimised over here. There is no vaccine available for this particular strain unlike some of the other Blue Tongue strains where a vaccine is available and widely used in high-risk countries.

There has been quite a reaction from the industry following Brian May’s documentary on bovine TB and badgers. Both the NFU and AHDB (levy body) expressed disappointment that, despite speaking to the programme makers to share concerns about inaccuracies in the preview they had seen, the documentary was still missing key evidence which would have helped inform viewers on the facts about bovine TB. They highlighted to the BBC how important it was that peer reviewed evidence on how the disease spread and the positive impact badger culling has had on TB infected herds.

Sadly, this was not taken up and I’m afraid that dismissing peer reviewed papers was an indictment on the BBC programme makers; it is simply not done. It was also disappointing that Brian May who is a scientist, allowed his quest to prove that badgers are not part of this complex disease override the scientific evidence. Much was made of the impact of this disease on farmer’s wellbeing, but I’m afraid that the programme will have made matters worse for farmer mental health; much worse. They claimed to have found the answer on the farm highlighted, but again failed to inform viewers that the farm has gone down with bTB at least twice since the programme was made.

Here we are in September and the summer is (technically) over! The summer weather may not be, and we can only hope that summer now pushes into autumn. We have been very fortunate weatherwise, spending August in France and enjoying a month of proper hot summer sunshine.

France often makes people think of wine and I was interested to read how the death of the dinosaurs led to the birth of wine. As you will all know, 66 million years ago an asteroid the size of a city crashed into the earth, plunging the earth into a nuclear winter and wiping out the dinosaurs (apart from those who could adapt and became birds). A new study suggests that the oldest fossilised grape pips also date from around 60 million years ago, only able to take root after the large dinosaurs had perished.

The aftermath of the asteroid incident also had a huge effect on plants with forests resetting in a way that changed the composition of their plants. Without the large dinosaurs crashing about, denser habitats provided new opportunities and plants that use vines to climb up the trees developed around this time. The diversification of birds and mammals in the years following the mass extinction may also have aided grapes by spreading their seed.

It was the Romans (what have the Romans ever done for us?), whose culture the ancient Britons resisted, introduced wine to the UK. An archaeological dig in Dorset earlier this year found burial pits, where some of the local people at the time were buried with Roman style wine flagons despite a traditional burial. Whilst the local people were not becoming Roman in a big way, they were taking advantage of things which enhanced and improved their lives.

It was not just the wine, the oenological culture was also catching on, with flagons and goblets made in the Roman style found buried with women in an otherwise traditional Iron Age burial. In France, wine consumption has dropped considerably and as one retired Frenchman was telling me last week, in his day school children were served with diluted wine in school with their lunch. Since 1980 French wine consumption has decreased by more than 50%; from 120 litres per capita per annum, to 47 litres per capita now which is less than 1 litre per capita per week.

Isn’t it extraordinary how fashion and habits change. Not that long ago we did not see people buying bottled water but now it’s a booming business with consumers hauling heavy bottles of water from supermarkets. Very often these are the same people that worry about the environment, but purchase plastic bottles by the score. Plastic bottles that researchers found to contain 10-100 times more nano bits of plastic than previously estimated. No matter, whilst this would have been a major scandal for food producers, in the name of fashion and perceived well-being, water continues to be bought at increased quantities.

Interestingly, patients who are very ill and often have compromised immune systems, are advised not to drink bottled water and to drink tap water which is safer. Furthermore, those expensive (of course) fashionable items; the reusable water bottle, can often have harmful bacteria if not regularly cleaned. Research again shows that the average reusable water bottle can contains up to 40,000 times more bacteria than a toilet seat!

This eco-friendly fad, the constant companion nowadays, who’s real purpose is to assist in losing weight rather than re-hydrate. Hydration is important, but to see people suckling on these plastic multi-coloured bacteria laden vessels, is odd. Many people only wash these out properly once a week the study showed, relying on a rinse before re-filling the rest of the time. Having criticised Water Companies last week, I do need to balance that with the safety and quality of tap water in almost all areas at a fraction of the cost of often inferior bottled water. Tap water out of the fridge tastes just fine in my experience.

There are a few things that make one take a sharp intake of breath, but every now and then there are also some ludicrous ideas which people are willing to pay extra for. Take the placebo gearboxes in electric cars as an example. Electric car drivers now yearn for the cut and thrust of a gearbox; electric cars do not have or need a gearbox as they only need one gear. Hyundai have just released one with 8 pretend gears with noises to suit, and other makes are to follow suit.

This is to re-introduce emotion into the driving experience and using software, the driver can operate ‘gear’ paddles on the steering wheel which will provide the pretend jolts and soundtrack of a gearbox, a bit like a vegan sausage. Engine braking is also mimicked, and drivers can even rev the ‘engine’. Mark Tisshaw of Autocar (thank goodness I stopped buying that magazine a few years ago) remarked at how passable the impression of a manual car this all is. BMW are to introduce fake gears and believe it’s the way to go, and Toyota will go further in 2026, introducing fake gear levers and clutch pedals. Mark Tinshaw believes that this technology will be the differentiator; in other words gullible drivers will pay more for such gimmicks.