churchward

That recording is extraordinary. It certainly touches one's soul. A great singing voice throughout her career. It is sad that she is gone but we have her back catalogue to listen to and it is a magnificent one.

I don't know. I wasn't there.

They are very unlikely to be treated with anything. However, the wood was most likely of a greater quality to begin with and treated better in terms of natural proper seasoning before it was used. As long as the wood has been kept dry and with good ventilation there is no reason it won't last many more years.

Then you are failing to see how a modern economy works. Interest rates are a component of a healthy economy. What we have currently is not wholly desirable. An ideal rate would be about the same or a little above inflation. At that point it does attract money into the country (helps to raise the currency exchange rate) and helps to encourage people to save. The system does need savers to supply enough money to create supply to loan to businesses and people wanting mortgages etc. It is as in so many things all about balance. presently we have an unbalanced economy with interest rates too low but there are and have been reasons to keep it low. The Bank of England strategy though is to reach a higher rate eventually of around 4%. This though could take the best part of a decade unless other factors good or bad come into the equation.

It may mean an increase in oil based fuel products but as always it is best to look at the whole picture than take an element. The USD has been showing strength against several key currencies this month not just GBP. The Euro for example is also showing a low for this year against the USD. The possible mitigation for buying fuel oil in USD is that production currently is ramping up again particularly in the US so keeping the Crude Barrel price in the lower to mid $70's A No deal Brexit will most likely weaken GBP exchange against USD and other key currencies,

It is sometimes. but the world is a beautiful place it just happens that there are some evil people to spoil it occasionally. To take another life for any reason is a terrible, disgusting thing. I hope they find the culprit(s) and bring them to justice. For the family it will only be a crumb of comfort eventually if they are caught and tried. The loss must be near to unbearable just now.

As I say the market is price sensitive to age of the lamb particularly when selling to supermarkets for prime meat rather than going to processing. A month can make a difference to the price particularly of you are selling good lamb early and makes a good deal of difference to some farmers living close to the edge for cashflow. I do not know if the limits are longer or not just now I think they may be but I don't know what they are.

Foot rot is a problem in Sheep. Normally around us it is more about wet fields causing the issue but the dry weather brings its own issue and is more like a fungus/yeast infection that causes issues and seems to be harder to treat. I don't know much about that though. In the old days of shepherds and more people to tend the animals day by day they would not be so likely to get it wet or dry. It would have been a matter of pride that the animals were healthy It is a fixture of the sheep around here that quite a lot of them are lame. It is all about cost and making a living with a very few people to work the land and care for the stock. It is a consequence of chasing cheaper and cheaper food. Yes red Tractor is part of the antibiotic free process https://www.ruma.org.uk/new-red-tractor-antibiotic-rules-outlined/ I agree antibiotics are great and probably have done more to save lives in the last century than any other drug. We do need to use them sensibly. I probably used the wrong word/phrase when I said age limits. You can sell any lamb (must be under 1 year old) or sheep at any age but the size and age of the beast will effect the price is what I meant. So a lamb grown and ready for market at 6 or nine months is valuable if it is oversized or older it may get a lesser price so waiting to be antibiotic free as were were discussing after a dose may reduce the price at market. Hogget or mutton is worth a fraction of an under 1 year old lamb. Time of year also makes a difference of course too. Some farmers time some their lambs to be born just after Christmas so that they will just be ready to market in the Spring so get a higher price but of often suffer a higher mortality rate so it is risky.

Yes it is different to Organic. You can be organic (with ot without antibiotics) or non-organic and antibiotic free. There is less prescription like the Organic rules as far as I know but wholesalers and supermarkets will not pay the premium price if the animal has been dossed with antibiotics. The Red Tractor process does outline the following: A recommendation has been added that the highest priority critically important antibiotics (Colistin, third and fourth generation Cephalosporins, Fluoroquinolones) are only used as a last resort under veterinary direction. For farm to farm sales, animals under statutory withdrawal periods for medicines must be accompanied by a withdrawal period declaration. As you can see they do allow dosage as a last resort but the thing is if it is a choice of allowing the animal to expire or go untreated is one of cost Vs lost revenue if the withdrawal period takes them over an age limit. It is often about the money not the welfare issue. It has led to a lot more foot rot in animals i.e. you see a lot more sheep limping on 3 legs these days. It is treatable but the cost of doing so especially with antibiotics is a factor. There are of course non antibiotic treatments too but they are not as effective on the whole especially it seems for dry weather foot rot/fungus as opposed to the wet weather variety in sheep. After all if there was no issue with antibiotics or that we could all do without their use there would not be a need to have antibiotic free meat. The clamor for ever cheaper food also plays a part as when there is a choice of treating or not treating, cost is a factor and often these days the choice not to treat can seem the better business decision. It is not always a matter of rules but the consequences of the economics and the rules.

Yes I do. The certification for Antibiotic free means just that you can't use them. A farmer can of course use a vet and they could be treated by other means. The time lapse you describe is the issue and costs money and if in the case of a lamb if it gets too old the value of the animal drops significantly taking that animal over the line in terms of cost Vs revenue. It is delusional to think being antibiotic free has no consequences. However, overall I think it is the better way in terms of the breeding stock is stronger and the meat produced better for human consumption especially not using Hormone treatment. The truth is i that there are some animals that die or do not develop as well as they could using hormone or antibiotic treatment in meat production. It is one of the reasons they are used to bring the survival, yield and weight of the animal up more quickly.

Yes indeed but I think that is as you say about being able to compete with the imports. Feeding antibiotics etc. is all about increasing yield rather than quality and so cheaper per head to bring to market. The trend in the UK in some part driven by consumer demand is for hormone and antibiotic free meat (for good reasons in my view) but it has to be noted it has a down side too. Animals in effect are allowed to die for treatable illness due to the drugs not being "acceptable" to the wholesaler/supermarket buyer. Only so many people will pay extra for better quality either drug free or organic. Overall if managed correctly it may not effect the overall fresh meat market that much but cheap imports will effect the cooked produce market e.g. pies etc. where any reduction in ingredient cost would be attractive.

It has been a higher price meat for a while but the lamb price is even higher this year due to low supply. The high price is due to demand over supply so they can sell all they take to market which is great in one way but the costs of producing is raised too and they have less to sell than normal. All feed stocks were used in Spring and the hay/silage cut this year is already being used to supplement poor grazing due to the hot weather and little rain to make the grass grow. It is going to be an expensive winter for them this year.

That is of course a possibility and I certainly do now especially as I live in an area where locally produced meat is easily available although not always the cheapest option. This is evident this year particualrly where lamb prices have risen significantly due to low availability from the harsh end of winter beginning of spring. There lies the issue if we are not careful it is a potential scenario that with less financial support for UK livestock farmers and a flood of cheaper foreign imports people will vote with their wallets and avoid paying for the homegrown varieties that could look expensive in comparison. Thus putting some especially smaller farmers out of business. Brexit does not mean it has to be that way but without proper management of the economics of the situation it is a danger.

Yes it is possible so are a lot of other things. California since the last recession has been strongly driving the US recovery and is still doing so. Like all things this may not last and a lot of economic situations are cyclical.

Situation normal (for Brexit anyway) . I don't think we will see an answer to your question this side of the New year.