I can’t write without mentioning the weather – what a fabulous spell we’ve had over the past month or so. Hopefully, everyone has managed to get first cut silage in. It’s certainly been a very long time since I actually heard anyone say their silage was 'too dry' and that 'we’re needing rain'. That’s not a position that we in Scotland can say has happened very often over the last few of years.

Our two local shows have come and gone and at the risk of blowing our own trumpet, what a fantastic day we had at both. In glorious weather, not only was our cow – the fourth calver, Lieu Thomain Heliot – the dairy champion but champion of champions too. East

Fife is not renowned for its dairying so we 'milked her out' thinking we had no chance in the running. However, Stewart Stevenson, from Bonerbo, thought otherwise!

West Fife Show also basked in glorious sunshine and yielded a similar result, but with a different cow.

Aside from the accolades it was great to see both shows – thanks to the weather I’m sure – supported by both rural and townsfolk in their droves. West Fife boasts a very successful 'Baby animal' tent where youngsters can see, touch and experience different animals. In my opinion, this is a great way to showcase our industry and a worthy way of educating school children (and adults) about the many aspects of farming.

The milking demonstration was also a great 'draw' with many questions asked. Why is the milk warm? Does a cow need to have a baby to produce milk? I thought milk came from a supermarket? I think there’s nothing like hands on experience when it comes to educating anyone about anything.

Milk is a dietary staple for millions worldwide and we need to reinforce this, especially to the doubters. It’s filled with nine essential nutrients that benefit our health. It helps build healthy bones and teeth; it’s a great source of energy; it helps maintain healthy blood pressure and it boosts our immune system.

In other words, milk packs quite a punch when it comes to nutrition — just one small glass of milk provides the same amount of vitamin D you'd get from 3.5 ounces of cooked salmon, as much calcium as a large handful of broccoli, as much potassium as a small banana, as much vitamin A as two baby carrots and as much phosphorus as a cup of kidney beans! To quote Aldi – Milk is a 'super food'.

We should be shouting about this from the rooftops, but sadly there are some extremists out there who would have us doubt this. Which leads me on to the vegan brigade.

I’m sorry to see they’ve reared their ugly head in taking offence once again. A recent article in a well-known newspaper headlined 'How vegans made egg vanish from salad emoji'. The internet giant, Google, removed the egg from said emoji … wait for it … in case it offended vegans.

The original image included lettuce, cucumber, tomato and a boiled egg, showing its golden yolk. The new image – without the egg – makes it a more inclusive vegan salad, apparently!

How utterly ridiculous! I would put money on it that more people than not eat eggs. Personally, I’m offended that a company like Google is bending to the warped ideology of a tiny number of activists.

Why oh why do we give house room to these zealots who hate farmers, especially dairy farmers and anyone who doesn’t support their warped, fanatical views.

As the saying goes 'if you can’t beat them, join them'. So, we desperately need to shout louder than them in promoting the positives of real dairy products, not the substitutes that they consume and have the cheek to call milk like soya, coconut, oat etc etc. While I’m on my soap box, you can apparently get a 'vegan steak'.

The whole thing – or so I thought – is that they are anti-meat, anti-dairy, in fact anti-anything farming, so why in the name of the wee man would they want a steak whether it’s made of meat or some synthetic material? Bit of double standards?

Another hot topic is, of course, Brexit! None of us are entirely sure what will happen post-Brexit. However, one worry would appear to be that we will face a labour crisis for farm vets – so much so that there have been calls for vets to be put on the Home Office’s shortage occupation list.

In Scotland, there are more than 2200 vets, of which 14% are non-UK EU graduates. It’s thought 95% of slaughterhouse vets are from overseas, meaning even a small loss of this workforce could have serious repercussions.

Personally, I think one of the most worrying is the campaign by the British Veterinary Association to end the practice of non-stun slaughter. This battle has yet to be won and while I understand there is no non-stun practice currently happening in Scotland, we need abattoir vets to ensure high standards are maintained and this practice ends altogether.

Another worrying factor – as we go about our daily farming life – is the increasing levels of paperwork. A firm of solicitors, which specialises in agricultural law, has slammed a 'mountain of red tape' for provoking feelings of worry and unhappiness.

Unfortunately, this is nothing new. We have so many bodies to answer to and to adhere to. I find the amount of paperwork involved in who we sell our milk to, unbelievable and it’s getting worse!

I have no problem with red tape surrounding animal welfare, traceability, hygiene, cleanliness, etc, however some of the questions we’re asked (on a monthly basis) have no bearing on producing milk.

Typical of this type of bureaucracy, the rules are made by people who haven’t actually done the job at grass roots level but have seen it from afar, ie sitting in some Ivory Tower dreaming up how much more pain they can inflict.

It’s no surprise that more than one person involved in agriculture died by suicide each week in the UK last year.

As an industry, if we can’t stop the hierarchy from placing more weight on our shoulders, we can do something to stop the stigma attached to mental health. Please speak to someone if you are feeling vulnerable, or if your think someone else is under strain.

On a lighter note, as you read this, the annual Royal Highland Show will be in full swing. Good luck to everyone exhibiting – may your dreams come true and may the weather be kind.

One successful exhibitor doesn’t have time to show this year because they’ll be too busy organising their farm for the 'Premier pedigree herd' open day in conjunction with Holstein Scotland. David, John and the Brewster family will welcome you to the Boclair Herd next Thursday, June 28. The day will include a stock judging and a chance to view this award-winning herd (see pages 38 and 39 for a feature on this herd).

You won’t be disappointed.