News

Badger and British value

Published

9 years ago

March 4, 2015

badger84image SALAD, readers. Funny thing, salad. As the temperature above ground climbs up towards the giddy heights of the low seventies on the Fahrenheit scale, it seems that everyone becomes obsessed with eating raw leaves, tomatoes and hard boiled eggs — all topped up with the sort or salad cream best used as wallpaper paste. Now, rabbit food is all very well. Especially for feeding rabbits in the period of time before they enter their natural state: wrapped in bacon and served with shallots. But not for Badger. He prefers simple, wholesome food and traditional British food. Lamb pathia, egg rice, samosas, and a nice naan bread. That sort of thing. Tradition suddenly seems very important to some politicians. No sooner have a few swivel-eyed loons and non-entities won their expenses rations for five years, than out come the usual suspects to wrap themselves in the flag and rattle on about British values, the British way of life, their pride in being British.

The Prime Minister, the type of man possessed of the surface charm of a film of oil in a puddle, has taken to the right wing tabloids to proclaim the importance of British qualities and , without ever quite defining what they are, said he is proud to proclaim just how important they are. in David Cameron’s case the fact he can claim William the Fourth, by the Grace of God, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also King of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick and LlIneburg as a five times great-grandfather rather gives him a unique insight into tradition. The tradition of inherited privilege and the burden of never having to work a day in his life. But that is not the issue which grinds Badger’s gears today, readers. Let’s put aside David Cameron and his jolly band of brigands for the moment. We will come back to them soon enough. British values. That is what Badger wants to talk about. Or at least its abuse by a hate-group of sponging, whining, paranoid fascists to promote their vile beliefs. Facebook is a wonderful toy. Badger uses it to chat to his woodland chums about all sorts of things.

He reads interesting articles helpfully flagged up for him and uses it to look at photos of the Welsh landscape, particularly that of Pembrokeshire. Readers, if you ever want to know just how magical a world it is up there on the surface, Badger suggests you look at some of the photographs of it and then go and discover the landscape for yourself. But something has appeared on Facebook which Badger wants to warn his readers about. There is a species of vermin that has appeared on Facebook calling itself “Britain First”. This band of neo-Nazi scum are so low as to leave no opportunity — not matter how low — to attract people to their Facebook page and like their content. They do so by way of publishing photos (for example of Lee Rigby) with captions such as “Click like if you support those who defend us” or “Share if you agree that pensioners deserve more than refugees”.

These cockroaches have even set up a PayPal account to solicit donations which are ostensibly for charities related to the photos and captions they display. They have pimped for contributions for sweatshirts and hoodies on the basis that the proceeds would go to support British forces and their families. Lies. All lies, readers. Do not be taken in, readers. Do not contribute to the coffers of an organization that exploits your sentiment to promote an abhorrent fascist agenda. Do not give support — even unwitting – to an organization so extreme that it split from the fascist BNP to follow an even more fanatical form of deranged white supremacism. It is all very well disapproving of animal cruelty, but not even the type of deranged ding dong who wears a tin foil hat to stop communication from the Planet Spog would have joined the Wehrmacht because Hitler was kind to his pet budgie. Britain First has practised — and set out to perpetrate — a fraud. Pretending to be one thing and being its polar opposite.

Samuel Johnson said that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Britain First and its motley band of holocaust deniers, bigots, football hooligans and assorted other pond life, have rushed to wrap themselves in the cloth of patriotism as flag of convenience. The Charity Commission is now investigating their “charitable” scams. The Electoral
Commission is now probing these lice on the body politic. And if you are in any doubt about how toxic this pack of jackals are, this is what Lee Rigby’s mother said about the way that the Electoral Commission allowed Britain First to put her son’s name next to their candidates’ in the European election: “Well yet again can anymore heartbreak be thrown at me and my family: so heartbroken tonight. Electoral commission phoned saying that a party in Wales has stood for election in the European parliament named Britain First using Lee’s name to promote their party and some f****r from the commission allowed it to go through but [they] cannot take any action till after the election which is held on my son’s anniversary of his murder.THEIR VIEWS ARE NOT WHAT LEE BELIEVED IN AND HAS NO SUPPORT FROM THE FAMILY.
There will be a family apology from the electoral commission but cannot be made public till after 22nd of May. Lee’s legacy will live on through Team Lee United Forces and all the good I hope to achieve xxxx” Badger doesn’t know what his readers, their parents, or grandparents did in the Second World War, but Badger knows damn well what his grandfather did – and what a soldier like Lee Rigby would have been doing; shooting fascists not unlike those behind “Britain First”. Readers: email Badger at badger@ pembrokeshi reherald .com if you agree.

Farming

Animal health and welfare workshops help family farm shape future business

Published

8 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Tom Sinclair

AN eagerness to learn new skills and knowledge is helping mother and son Dianna and Iestyn Spary to continually improve their livestock farming enterprise and build a financially sustainable business fit for the future.

Technical expertise and good business sense are not qualities the Sparys lack since embarking on an impressive number of Farming Connect workshops, covering a range of animal health and welfare topics.

“It’s been an amazing opportunity, we have learned so much that we can apply within the day to day running of our farm and herd, and we can draw on that knowledge as we look at developing new enterprises and diversifications,’’ says Dianna.

She is the fifth generation of her family to farm at Goytre Farm at New Church West, Chepstow, Iestyn the sixth.

Together they farm 110 hectares, running a Hereford-cross beef suckler herd and also rearing beef cattle purchased as baby calves, including more recently British Blues, taking these through to slaughter.

Although they have been immersed in agriculture all their lives, they recognise that it is an industry that is constantly changing as new research and ideas are rolled out and applied.

This is where the Farming Connect workshops have been so incredibly valuable, says Dianna.

“You are never too old to learn, things are changing all the time. If we hadn’t got involved in attending the workshops, we would never have known about some of those new ways of doing things.’’

From learning how to maximise suckler cow productivity and protecting youngstock health to understanding diseases such as Johne’s and bovine TB, the animal health and welfare training workshops have been “enormously valuable’’, she adds.

The pair have tapped into Farming Connect accredited training courses covering areas such as calf management, health and housing, body condition scoring and safe use of veterinary medicines.

“You name it we have done it,’’ says Dianna.

They were announced the winners of the 2023 Farming Connect Animal Health and Welfare Award at the Lantra Cymru Awards in January.

The knowledge gained through Farming Connect workshops and training has helped inform changes in the business.

“We now monitor cattle weights more closely and have introduced different ways of feeding,’’ Dianna explains.

“We have also been revamping all the cattle sheds and have a couple of new ones that will be going up.

“We’ve also invested in calf jackets and if there are any drops in weights, we are more responsive with feed intakes, little things like that.’’

Iestyn has also benefited from a number of sheep-related topics offered through the animal health workshops.

Through the Farming Connect Advisory Service, they have received specialist veterinary advice on their Herd Health Plan with a focus on incoming stock and biosecurity. They have also had guidance on soil health through the soil clinic.

The Sparys largely use traditional farming methods at Goytre Farm where they have several hay meadows.

All feed is produced on-farm. “By doing everything in-house we know exactly what we are feeding and that’s important to us,’’ says Dianna.

That distinctiveness, which sets them apart from some of the more mainstream farming systems, has given them the confidence to consider establishing a diversification into meat box sales, what Dianna describes as a ‘farm to fork’ approach.

Working with a local butcher who has an abattoir licence, they hope to do everything on-site, from slaughter through to hanging the carcass for 28 days, and then selling cuts direct to the consumer.

“We have also spoken to a chef who is going to produce some recipe cards for us to include in the boxes along with a bit of history of where the meat has come from,’’ says Dianna.

Another future project could be converting stone barns in the farmyard to holiday accommodation.

To help focus their minds on their plans, the Sparys will get guidance at a Farming Connect diversification surgery; they have also signed up for a ‘planning a diversification’ training course and will attend a ‘Dos and Don’ts of Diversification’ event in the coming weeks.

For Iestyn, another form of diversification, into agricultural contracting, has provided a secondary income stream.

His customer base is largely farms with smaller acreages with crops that require harvesting or spraying.

Farming Connect has helped with this process too as Iestyn has gained his Level 2 Award in the Safe Use of Pesticides (PA1) and Safe Application of Pesticides Using Vehicle mounted Boom Sprayer Equipment (PA2).

He also offers field maintenance and fencing and works on a neighbouring farm during the lambing season.

This is where Farming Connect has again helped; through the animal health workshops, he has covered modules advising on the prevention of lambing losses and lameness, improving lamb performance post-weaning and parasite controls.

Dianna says the opportunities available through Farming Connect have really helped to drive the family farming business forward.

“We have a good relationship with our local Farming Connect development officer Lisa Powell, she has been brilliant in giving us advice on which courses and workshops are right for us and signing us up for those,’’ she says.

All your achievements, training and knowledge transfer activities are saved within your personal, online Storfa Sgiliau account, the unique, online professional development tool, available for you to view and download at any time from your BOSS (Business Online Support Service) account.

Education

Lib Dem leader meets student union after scrapping of teacher training

Published

12 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Tom Sinclair

Last week, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds visited Aberystwyth University to meet students following the announcement that the University will be scrapping their Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) program.

The announcement comes after the publication of an Estyn inspection report last year, which found that the institution had “been too slow” when it came to prioritising student support.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have now called for the University to produce and implement an action plan that will enable the reintroduction of this course at the earliest opportunity, as well as for the Uni to rectify any similar shortcomings in other training programs.

Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said:

“Aberystwyth university has long been seen as a cornerstone of education here in Wales, and its role in shaping the future of Welsh-medium education is pivotal.

However, the decision by the Education Workforce Council to withdraw accreditation for their teacher training program now puts this at risk.

The report published by Estyn rightfully identified several flaws in the Uni’s approach to supporting student teachers, along with requiring the University to make significant improvement.

The decision of the EWC suggest that these improvements have not been made.

We are now calling on the University to get their act together, fix the shortcomings in this program and begin plans to reintroduce the course as soon as possible.

Commenting, a spokesperson for the Welsh Young Liberals said: “There was an overwhelming lack of support, especially for Disabled Students, which has been consistent since 2020.

Previous lecturers were always late, and assignments were marked late and inconsistently.

As a joint honours student my timetable is very erratic, and this has an adverse effect on my wellbeing.

This does not however, mean that the course should be cut, Aberystwyth university should be looking to improve the course and help deliver the next generation of teachers.”

Commenting, the Welsh Liberal Democrat PPC for Ceredigion Mark Williams said: “The reputation of Aberystwyth University as a well-respected centre of education is rightfully a source of pride for many residents here in Ceredigion.

This is why it is so dis-heartening to hear that the Uni have failed to take the recommendations in the 2023 Estyn report seriously, leading them into the embarrassing position of losing their accreditation which risks delivering a severe blow to the future of Welsh-medium education.

The lack of foresight from the Uni in this regard is deeply worrying and I hope that, for the sake of both the students and the wider community, they take all the steps needed to restart the course at the earliest opportunity.”