AT LEAST I know some of you actually read what I write on this page! Following my last ‘opinion’ I would like to thank those of you who kindly asked after my son’s welfare, after he dared to suggest that feeding calves and ‘sitting at a computer’ doing paperwork doesn’t constitute real work. He is still here to tell the tale!

I also reported the birth of month early twin calves; one of which died shortly after birth. The other – named Titch – isn’t so titchy now. She has doubled in size and has probably got the most attitude amongst her fellow calves.

The Scottish Holstein club held its annual Calf Show at Castle Douglas last weekend and what a show it was. In the first showmanship class, no fewer than 15 juniors came under the watchful eye of our judge Gary Jones. Not an enviable task.

Each and every one of those youngsters gave it their all and what we must remember is that they are our future. Their dedication, ability and professionalism shone through, as each one did their absolute utmost to be the best. Kyle Scott was the youngest in the class, while his brother Rory was the eldest.

I always like to wind Robbie up that the Scott’s are ‘just getting too damn greedy’ in the show ring. Joking apart though, what a show season those boys and their mum and dad have had. Rory added another string to his bow, winning the class, fresh from being reserve overall at the West of Scotland calf show the week before.

Again…not happy with one win…they had to have another! Nethervalley King Pin Sara won her class and went on to lift the championship title.

And another talented individual – who is no stranger to success in the handling ring, is Alison Hunter, who lifted the championship cup for best showman. Good luck to all the handlers and their calves who travel to the All Breeds All Britain Calf show next month. The Scottish team have the stock and the ability to knock ‘em dead.

I daresay – like me – a lot of you are utterly fed up hearing about Brexit. I wonder what all these newsrooms will do for stories once it has come to pass. At least there is some good news amongst all the bad stuff.

Gavin Williamson, the new education secretary, has confirmed funding for school milk will continue whether the UK leaves the European Union with, or without a deal. Mr Williamson says his priority is to drive up standards and give pupils between the ages of five and 11 ‘the best start in life’.

Dairy products, such as milk, has all the essential nutrients for growing children. Milk, a rich source of energy, is a ‘superfood’ and should be marketed as such.

Better still, the chancellor, Sajid Javid, allocated £160m convergence cash to Scottish farmers in his first ever spending review. The offer of the money fulfils a promise Prime Minister Boris Johnson made to ‘address the historic injustice’ while he was campaigning for leadership of the Tory Party.

The cash, returned by the EU to bump up Scottish payments which had been too low, became the subject of a long-running row between Westminster and Holyrood after the UK Government distributed it to farmers across all the home nations. The burning question though, is how it will be passed on to farmers.

As many of you will know the review has become known as the Bew Review because it was undertaken by Lord Bew of Donegore. The PM appointed four representatives nominated by Defra and each of the devolved administrations. We are ably represented by fellow columnist, former NFU Scotland and Quality Meat Scotland chairman, Jim Walker.

Much of the controversy over this issue stems as far back as 2013, when the money was allocated by the EU to the UK, to bring farm payments up to the average across all member states.

Scottish farming leaders and the Scottish government expected it all to come here, where area payments are considerably lower than anywhere else in Europe. Instead, the funds were spread thinly across the whole of the UK. Naturally, this injustice produced bad feeling and a burning sense of grievance.

I doubt very much that Jim will let the past slip into obscurity while he argues for a fairer allocation of the funds going forward. I’m sure he will remind them that this money was intended to provide financial support to our farmers by creating a more level playing field across the EU.

It was because of Scotland’s farmers that the UK received the money in the first place, therefore it is only right it is returned to its rightful home.

Once we have left the EU, it will be the complete responsibility of the Scottish Parliament to make decisions on how best we support our farmers. We now have an opportunity to draw a line under concerns associated with how decisions were made in the past and agree a sustainable solution on the way forward. The final Review report, published a couple of weeks ago drew various conclusions, made many recommendations and observations.

I could rabbit on about this all day but in part, the independent Allocations Review has provided recommendations on how the convergence component of the farm support budget can be divided fairly to the devolved administrations for the period 2020-2022.

In addition, the government will provide additional funding to Scottish farmers to draw a line under the long-running concern about the 2014-2020 allocation of CAP funding, enabling the government to move forward and work with the devolved administrations to find a sustainable solution for a long-term agricultural funding settlement.

This means Scotland – for the years 2020 to 2022 – will receive 63.7% of the notional convergence funding budget, more than three times the amount of the other home nations put together.

Leaving the Common Agricultural Policy gives Defra and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland more flexibility to decide how money should be used to support the individual needs of our farming sectors in the future. It also presents the UK government with the opportunity to ensure that future funding allocations to the devolved administrations for agriculture are fair. For once common sense has prevailed! Rant over.