Although a few weeks have passed since the sad occasion of our great Queen’s passing, it would be remiss of me not to mention the moving tribute which the North-east farmers organised with their tractors, on both sides of the road, and the horses, to pay tribute to Her Majesty.

Also, there was excellent commentary by Hugh Edwards, on the BBC's coverage of such a historic event. Congratulations to all for their contribution.

In the past, I have addressed several non-farming audiences using the title 'You can’t have a meal without a farmer'. It certainly made the audience sit up and wonder what was coming next!

It is only when one goes through the day, that it sinks in – from tea or coffee breakfast, lunch and dinner – whatever we eat in 24 hours, a farmer is required to produce it.

Even if you are vegetarian, or vegan, you still need some kind of farmer, as you will also need several types of farmers for tea, coffee and a full Scottish breakfast, containing cereals, bacon, sausage, eggs, beans, toast, butter, milk, marmalade, and honey.

It applies to all meals but what we, as an industry, fail to promote more strongly to the consuming public is that they cannot have any kind of meal without a farmer. Farmers are the core of human survival!

Dare I now touch on politics – which is the most dirty, vicious, back-stabbing profession in the world! No matter what I say today, it is almost certain that it will be out of date by the time you read this publication, especially following Liz Truss' resignation.

Fortunately, I have much faith in the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt. But it now looks that what will happen is another re-shuffle of the deck of cards, with another bunch of inexperienced politicians with little knowledge of how business and economics work!

Some of them leave you with the impression that if you put them into business and especially into farming, they would be bust in six months!

I saw a head-line in another publication the other day: 'Can any margin be made in finishing beef cattle this winter?' The reality is that this is a question being asked by most finishers every day.

The truth is that we finishers know that our suppliers need every pound we pay them to stay in business, otherwise we will not be in business, which will result in more 'redundancies' from our industry. Maybe that is what politicians and Civil Servants desire?

We are certainly in the second worst period in my 50 years in finishing cattle. The worst was in March, 1996, when BSE hit the UK and millions were lost, even though Government eased the pain with a payment of £50 per prime beast killed during that period.

In the past few weeks, I have seen thousands of suckled calves going through store rings, anywhere from £600 to £1000 through their weight. With feed costs per day of around £3 and overheads at another £1, it will be difficult to leave a margin over the finishing period with a dead-weight price per kg anywhere below £5/kg.

So, what is the hope of that happening? Very slim, if not impossible, but who knows, strange things can happen these days. Who thought that milk would be 50p/litre six months ago.

The only reason that happened was tighter 'supplies'. Could beef be the same?

It is certainly possible, especially with the number of beef cows reducing, not only here but around the world. The US lost 6% of its herd in the last three years and it is the largest beef producer in the world.

Beef production is certainly reducing in Scotland, not only from reduced suckler cow numbers, but by reduced carcase weights at abattoirs by 10-15kg per carcase. Cattle are also going to slaughter under-finished because of the cost to properly put cover on them.

The other down side is this beef will be less tasty, with reduced flavour – which cannot be good for the marketing of our product. There is also an aspect of the beef sector that should be causing Scottish abattoirs some concern, which is, the number of store cattle going south to England for finishing.

In one week alone, from a Central Scotland store sale, I noticed around 500 of the best and largest store cattle being purchased to go south. Now, I know it has been happening for years, but not quite at this pace. Is it because there is no Scotch premium, or are heavier weights more wanted and paid for in the south?

That leads me on to the bull sales and though I did not attend, I had a full report from The SF and others. Too many bulls for the number of customers looking to purchase a stock sire, which is not surprising, considering what I have just written in the previous paragraph!

For the past 30-odd years we have always taken on wintering sheep from a well-known sheep farmer, but due to a new enterprise, it is all change, with our grand-daughter, Yasmin, now being at home with her father, showing a keen interest in farming.

If I go down my grand-mother’s line, she will be the sixth generation to farm Gaindykehead, which is good to know. Yasmin’s new enterprise has been buying several hundred white-faced lambs to finish on the abundance of grass that we have on this lowground farm.

It has not taken her long, with a few tips from her grandfather, to watch those auctioneers with 'the sparrows in the rafters!' She has certainly had a good year to begin her project, having plenty of grass and so far the weather has been kind.

The summer rainfall – ie from April to September was 13-inches, last year it was 12.5-inches and the driest in the past 30-plus years was 1996 with only 11-inches. All this talk about global warming, so far as my rainfall is concerned, is a load of rubbish.

Many people have said to me after this past summer 'if this is global warming. then we will accept it every year!' There is no doubt that Lanarkshire has had one of the best summers many of us can remember.

A subject I have been meaning to mention for some time is soil pH and the importance of it. It will be 60 years in a few months since I became the farmer here.

My great uncle died at 94, so this farm was in a poor state, fertility wise. Fortunately for me, there was support at that time, with grants for re-seeding, which included lime and slag, in order to increase the pH to around 6, which is necessary for good grass growth.

If the present government had any sense, it should bring back this line of support if grassland is to be the basis for livestock production, using much less bag fertiliser that is now heading towards £1000 per tonne.

Again, the economics of using that does not stack up. What we need to do, as grassland farmers, is to make much better use of dung and slurry, but the benefits of that can only be achieved if the pH is around 6 and the dung and slurry can be stored until spring.

Now, I know there is some slurry storage support available, but the problem is that is only a pittance of what is required if adequate storage is to be provided. We need more aid to make it work for us ... and the environment!