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A child born in Bourne is blessed
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Take pride in our farming industry
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Support your local shops
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A child born in Bourne is blessed
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Take pride in our farming industry
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Support your local shops
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On Friday I visited the Prince William of Gloucester barracks outside Grantham which is the home of the Royal Logistics Corps Territorial Army and a major training centre for all TA regiments. It was a real eye-opener. I had no idea that the TA is now fully integrated into the regular Army and that deployment to Iraq, Afghanistan and Cyprus is something that many TA soldiers will experience. I am sure that this is a positive development, which must increase the flexibility of our military response. But, equally, we must not allow the improved readiness and training of the TA to be used as an excuse for further cuts in the numbers of regular forces.
Although I come from a farming family, I know next to nothing about arable farming. So yesterday I went to the Cereals show for arable farmers at Royston. Although I was stunned by the scale of the event and the number of stands, what impressed me most was the technological specialisation on display, whether in varieties of seed and pulse, methods of fertilisation and pest control or types of machinery. Most people would laugh if you told them that British farming was a hyper-competitive hi-tech industry in which Britain excelled. But, in arable farming at least, it is clearly true. And that's why there were so many men and women in their 20s and 30s at the fair. This is an industry in which you can make a career. The only thing that puzzles me is why the farming industry isn't better at communicating its successes to the rest of us. Situation vacant: advocate and champion for 21st century hi-tech British farming.