Had some feedback now from my first attempt at a blog last month – on the whole positive (which is nice…) but I think on reflection it was a bit too long and table thumping. This month aiming to be pithier and perhaps less concentrated on legal issues.

So here we go…..

On the radio earlier last week we had the announcement of drought status in East Anglia and other areas in England. It remains to be seen what practical impact this will have on farmers in those areas.

It has certainly been dry this side of the border, but I hope we are a long way from a shortage in most areas. Global warming will have come along way when South Wales runs out of water. Water, or the lack of it, is going to be an increasing issue. As it is a natural resource associated with Wales – perhaps this is the opportunity for Wales to start exporting water to other drier areas. After all, we have to put up with more rain than most other areas – surely there should be some financial recompense for the country!! If we could attract enough revenue, we could look at pushing devolution to try and aim to create an offshore tax haven. With a fair wind, in a few years time, Swansea could be seen in the same light as say Monaco……

In the last few weeks we have also seen the potential impact on European markets as a result of health scares. We have had the German e-coli outbreak which has caused the death of some 22 people. As that developed, it was clear that it would have an effect of markets across Europe and beyond. Russian banned imports, the Spanish cucumber was blamed, beansprouts were implicated.

The authorities will be doing their best to track down the source and in the meantime, a compensation fund has been created. No doubt producers in the UK will have been affected - I just hope that they get a fair allocation of compensation.

The main JCP news this month is the arrival of Malcolm Thomas with JCP. Most of you will either know (or know of) Malcolm in his capacity as the former director of NFU Cymru and more recently, the director of NFU Membership services in Stoneleigh. I am delighted that Malcolm is on board and he will be there to make sure that we offer the highest level of service to both existing and new clients and to help us develop and tailor our services for the benefit of our clients.