- Clearing out after the cows
- A.G. Street
- Tom makes his move
- Double Think in action
- Is Brenda sane?
- Maurice, one again!
Clearing out after the cows
[Tony] “It’s a job and a half in it … making muck heaps takes longer than you expect”
A.G. Street
[Tony] “I’m only sitting in the kitchen, reading Wheat and Chaff again”
Sounds idyllic to me.
And cheers to Tony for introducing me to A.G Street.
Sounds good enough to read! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._G._Street
Tom makes his move
Tony wants to at least help Tom in the office, but Tom won’t hear of it.
Tom reckons he’s enjoying getting to grips with the farm finances, and he’s also absolute that Tony won’t overstrain himself.
Later on, Tom admits to Brenda that he’s actually enjoying the responsibility, but feels guilty that he wants to meddle.
Things like updating the software in the office.
While Tom doesn’t want his work on the brands to “go backward”, he also does want to offend Tony by making changes.
[Brenda] “He’ll understand if you have to make a few changes”
[Tom] “What if he thinks I’m putting him down … the last thing I want to do now is I don’t respect him, because I do, a hell of a lot”
Brenda thinks Tony will see that any changes Tom makes will be for the better of the farm, and that the world can’t stand still.
Hmmm.
Maybe so, Tony does seem to be in a very positive place these days.
But isn’t this all building up to Tom pushing Tony to one side so that he can lord and master it all?
Maybe.
Sure Pat and Helen will also have something to say about that …
Double Think in action
Brian and Annabelle are back seeing that PR chap Rufus.
Rufus seems to think all is well, and BL are “winning the argument”.
[Rufus] “These protests are like soap bubbles, biggest just before they burst”
Ahead of the planning meeting, Rufus suggests they have one last PR push.
(course he’d say that. must be a couple of grand in it for him!)
Rufus shows them a DVD that they had filmed for another farm in the same situation as BL.
It shows cows on grass when they’re “drying off” (when they’re allowed to stop lactating for a while before they calving).
Brian gets it straight away. The focus is on the cows that do get outside, rather than those indoors.
[Brian] “Some of replacement heifers could spend time in the open as well”
(a replacement heifer is basically a young one who isn’t ready to calf yet, but will be brought in to take over from an older one, ready for the … ahem … for retirement. I’m learning a lot today!).
So, BLs film will show that they are:
[Brian] “Providing a small patch of grazing near the indoor unit”
(note the “small”)
Which means they can pretend (my word) that they have “responded to concerns” (Brian’s words) without impacting on their business and profit.
[Annabelle] “Feels a little like window dressing to me”
[Rufus] “Well, you can be selling the most fantastic product in the world, but if you don’t care share if the shop window, people walk by”
Annabelle asks whether this is all too far from the truth:
[Rufus] “You can make false claims about something like this without the consequences coming back to bite you hard”
[Brian] “We’d simply be taking something BL is planning to do anyway”
[Rufus] “And pushing it to the forefront, so everyone can see it … One striking image conveys far more than any number of words!”
[Annabelle] “And it would reflect a genuine part of the operation?”
[Brian] “look at a few of the free range poultry boys, you’d think the birds were in paradise from the publicity, and the reality is often very different …. There’s a big difference between having access to outside and actually venturing out”
[Rufus] “Simply sums up the benefits you’re offering in a clear truthful way”
[Brian] “Brilliant. It could well take the sting out of a lot of criticism”
Annabelle caves, so off Rufus goes to make a few more thousand pounds.
I do agree Brian has a point about the free range chaps (always buy your chickens from your local butcher, where they can tell you everything about the farm they came from – my one even has pictures of them at “home!).
But, he and Rufus are talking rubbish that they’re presenting anything other than one very small slice of the truth.
Pat, Kirsty and Ruth (though ‘glass houses’, eh Ruth!) aren’t that daft to not spot their trick.
Is Brenda sane?
Even Tom is starting to doubt it.
She’s spending her afternoon off on the tractor while Tom works. She reckons it is the only way she’ll get to spend time with him.
(choosing to spend even one moment with Tom must surely suggested some sort of mental health issue …).
But, Brenda has brought quiche, salad, flapjacks and mango (!) for their picnic.
(bottom of the fridge stuff, then).
Maurice, one again!
It really is Maurice bashing season.
Tom’s on about him again as he’s been asked to do extra shifts (by Tom).
[Tom] “Oh, you know Maurice. Borchestshire’s Mr Sunshine!”
Why is it Maurice baiting season?
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