If our governments think that there's been turmoil at the fuel pumps over the past week because of low supplies, then let's just see what happens when there's empty food shelves – they will then find out just what real disorder will be.

Politicians will have to face up to the fact that Brexit has been a disaster zone for exporters, importers, manufacturers and instead of points-scoring, try to make the best of this guddle. That goes for those of all colours in power, in whichever citadel – the damage has been done and now's the time for sticking some plaster on the wounds.

That starts with having a coherent and clear strategy for the future which includes incentivising novel production methods AND carbon mitigation measures. The two are not impossible to reconcile, despite the machinations of the anti-livestock brigade.

The time is ripe for such clarity. There's a real sense of positivity in the farming industry, across all of its genres, that wants to tackle this head on. So far, all the negativity has come from the shilly-shallying and tootsie-footing around making bold decisions by those in Westminster and Holyrood.

At least the London end of this has come out of the closet on gene editing and for Scotland not to go ahead by recognising the many positives that could come out of targetted use of this process would be unthinkable. What's not to like about reducing pesticide use in crops and having healthier animals that will have a reduced reliance on drugs? That said, unlike releasing another Monsanto monster, this must be tightly controlled by people who know what it can do for good, not for money only.

It's not rocket science. Decide what you want out of this, and ask the scientists to research whether it is possible or not ... and if it is, get on with it. It might take many years, but as the Chinese say ... 'Every long journey begins with a single step...'

The problem is, politics is increasingly being swayed by a well-organised, holier than thou minority who know which buttons to push and knobs to pull. The fact is, the silent majority remain the single most important factor and it's up to agriculture to conjure up a way of swaying their opinion. We have many positives that can be shared, like the quality of produce that comes independently assured; general high animal welfare; and a much reduced reliance on chemical fertilisers, pesticides and better targetted animal health processes.

If it weren't so serious, the news this week that water courses around Glastonbury had been so polluted by heavy duty hallucinogenic drugs because of festival goers relieving themselves willy-nilly (pun intended) when attending that famous music jamboree, should be a wake up call that this was created by the very generations that are demanding higher welfare and cleaner drinking water standards from farmers. It's also the same kind of people that criticise farming methods, while throwing the McDonalds wrappers and cartons, bedsteads and fridge/freezers into fields.

The hypocrisy of it all would make you weep and no wonder farmers feel increasingly isolated as a result. Time to fight back.