Farm subsidy entitlement - Sunday Opinion has a lugubrious style!

Inspired by the earlier post I go in search of knowledge about Manx Agriculture and subsidies. Fortunately Catherine Nicoll is in the Manx Radio ‘portal’ talking to Famers representatives.

They outline the rural agricultural scene as they see it including the recent uncharacteristically dry weather which now seems to have been consigned to history.

Much of the points made are sound enough and I would sign up to the need for a sound agricultural base on the Isle of Man. An Island community needs some element of sufficiency in food to achieve that there have to be subsidies - mainly because the rest of European agriculture is subsidised.

Sunday Opinion is heavy going though. The message is delivered in a lugubrious manner even Nicoll at times seems lost for words to generate the next segment of the programme - surely a first.

Sadly for many people price will always triumph over ‘BUY MANX’. I noticed during my brief IOM Creameries boycott that UK products were appreciably less expensive despite the shipping costs and the quality is not bad either.

Still after straying from ‘the light’ I am back in the support Manx produce camp and the Manx lamb chops this evening will be joined by an assortment of Manx veg. However the ‘bobby beans’ (that I have an affinity for at present) I see come all the way from Kenya - no subsidy there I would imagine.

I muse I wonder how much the Kenyan farmer gets so I can indulge my fancy for his greens!

Here’s the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZNDiv-DGkA&list=PLlYbZRWy2iElKpmnjfIMZs...

Bernard Moffatt