If you've just come in from the cold, make yourself a brew, pull up a chair and read my blog, about the progression of a small Yorkshire family farm over the course of 100 years;

@pete_ar_fryn @Jes_Squirrell Yep, we have two choices- change the work or watch people leave for something better…

@Joshuaa92231354 @NealHockley @aSamEvans The other thing is that the country owns land and is therefore very wealthy, but we still need tax income, so why don’t we just sell some national assets? That’s right, because it undermines future wealth generation, and so it’s no different for farmers.

RT @JoeWStanley: So, @UKLabour has declared war on Britain’s farmers. A reminder that only weeks ago his government agreed to row back on…

@pete_ar_fryn @Jes_Squirrell As a tractor driver I can sit in a cab and listen to music all day, it's a world away from sitting in an office for five days having to interact with people. Not sure why people think that work has to be like a punishment for existing. No wonder staff are hard to find.

@Jes_Squirrell @pete_ar_fryn As I've just said in another reply, they (the RPA) can and do. There aren't enough staff in the department, for sure, but that's due to the budget, not the structure of the working week.

@pete_ar_fryn @Jes_Squirrell @PaulBGip Absolutely. And the last two Sundays I've had an email from the RPA, it can clearly be done & help to offer a better coverage of service.

@Jes_Squirrell @PaulBGip @pete_ar_fryn Seems unlikely, but that's down to them to manage their budget, giving more workers a chance to fit their lives around work will not end in them resenting you for it.

@Jes_Squirrell @pete_ar_fryn Why wouldn't your employee come in on a good spraying day? If you expect them to come in on a Friday night or a Sunday morning now, when the conditions are right, why would they suddenly refuse to if their regular hours are anything other than five weekdays? 🤷‍♂️

@PaulBGip @Jes_Squirrell @pete_ar_fryn Not necessarily. I get by on a lower income because I can afford to do life around work. Giving people a better work-life balance allows for savings to be made.

@RabbleChorus @golfnshoot The thing is that I *expect* 'important people' like the King & senior politicians to have a lot of secure transport, just as I expect farmers in a highly mechanised country to have tractors. It shouldn't be having machines or the NHS, it's a bad comparison.

@pete_ar_fryn @Jes_Squirrell A 3.5 day week could certainly fit with many farm jobs that require 7 day working week, under a job share arrangement, providing there were enough people willing and able to do the work.

Of course they do, they're not manufactured as host-specific biocides so a pesticide that doesn't kill other life is not going to work on it's target, either.

@Wilkster_ I always miss a word out on important tweets, I blame it on autocorrect, or software, or something...

@Wilkster_ @ITVNewsPolitics @JakeBenRichards Perfectly put 👌

@pete_ar_fryn @Jes_Squirrell I think he's doing the industry a disservice - there is lots of flexible working in farming. There's also a lot of asking good workers to do long hours because there aren't that many of them, but that's a different issue. Offering flexible working patterns helps to retain staff.

@vickihird They could, with the right design. The proposals to make them so remind me of house builder commitments though - an initial effort to 'create' but none to maintain in the long term. 🫤

RT @Wilkster_: Also worth noting is that, at its height, MFs Coventry plant exported £1bn worth of agricultural equipment. AGCO closed it…

@Cynfab3 My cousin drives an ambulance - does she & her colleagues not work hard enough because they clean them? 🤔

@horton_official @NFUtweets They don't have coherent or consistent policies - they're just hoping that their voters don't notice.