'Land of milk and honey' and 'The seasons with Cindy and Lucy'

By Jamie Blackett

(Publisher, Quiller Publishing and available from Waterstones, and other book stores for around £20).

Well-known Dumfries-shire farmer, Jamie Blackett's sequel to his popular 'Red rag to a bull' chronicle, the 'Land of milk and honey – digressions of a rural dissident', is an emotionally charged and totally honest account of his radical switch in farming and political policy. All of it complicated by Covid lockdowns.

He had found himself increasingly worried that the poor returns from his beef herd had put himself in danger of losing the multi-generation family estate of Arbigland. The bright idea was to re-invent the famously special grass-growing abilities of its acres as a milk from grass unit.

And, always good for political comment, Jamie's big surprise in this book is not his expected condemnation of 'national' politics in Scotland, but the story of how he 'got into bed' with super radical politician, George Galloway, to form a new party to contest the 2021 Scottish election.

He also gives a good account of himself regarding the threat that extreme environmentalists pose by attacking the very concept of livestock farming in Scotland and their Utopian dreams for re-wilding. You can tell by the arguments he puts forward that he is a true lover of wildlife and of conservation, deploring the armchair experts that so often seek to shape the countryside of Scotland, with little wit or experience.

The book is the honest and forthright account of how he copes with a Brexit-complicated crisis by following the example of New Zealand farmers in similar circumstances by successfully embracing the new creed of regenerative agriculture and switching the farm into pasture-based dairying. In it, he recounts the sleepless nights brought on by money worries and whether the 'bank' would eventually back his plans for a such a radical move.

In the end, it all came through, and Arbigland is now a 'New Zealand-style' milk production unit which arrived in reality to face the many complex farming dilemmas brought on by Brexit and a re-positioning following 80 years of following the CAP agricultural subsidies.

The complexities and sometimes illogical arguments that are guiding the industry towards its 'Net Zero carbon' quest also get a fair going over by Jamie and it's hard to find fault with at least some of his assessments.

But it is his unlikely alliance – appropriately for the Alliance for Unity Party – with George Galloway, who is as 'red' as Jamie is 'blue' in his politics, that comes out as an interesting side-track to the farming and wildlife threads that form the backbone of the book.

Ultimately, the attempt to break the stalemate in Scottish politics and defeat Nicola Sturgeon's SNP in the Holyrood election, fails but not before he makes a decent argument that, had it been better publicised at the time, might have been better understood.

For those interested in the countryside and the country matters associated with modern farming, then it's a great read – whatever your political persuasion. Jamie writes with a passion that can only have been fuelled by in-depth knowledge and that will strike a chord with many readers of The Scottish Farmer.

The seasons with Cindy and Lucy – the old farming ways on Islay

By Mary MacGregor

(available from publishers www.ailsapress.com RRP £7.99; and from retail outlets on Islay)

A trip through the decades with Mary McGregor in The seasons with Cindy and Lucy - Old farming ways on Islay'

This is a fascinating study of life how it used to be on Islay's crofts and farms, told through the eyes and voice of Mary MacGregor and her childhood friends, Cindy (a pet lamb) and Lucy (an orphan Highland pony foal).

From feeding the livestock, to harvest, to school time, the story unfolds of a hard but cheery life on the croft, with, she remembers, her dad having his 'nose poked' in The Scottish Farmer.

This is a book for all ages. The older generation will find many memory nuggets in between the pages, while children will be taken back to a time when crofting people of their age would be expected to be very much part of the 'work force' and usually willingly too.

It chronicles, too, many of the local characters who helped shape Mary's life when she eventually took on helping out her brother, Donald, on the croft of Gartacharra, as well as working first selling Islay cheese and butter (now long since gone unfortunately) before becoming the 'Queen bee' of Bruichladdich Distillery as the private client manager for whisky cask owners.

A book not just for the Ileachs, but one which resonates throughout the West Coast of Scotland and its islands.