Like many other growers I hosted an Open Farm Sunday event last weekend. This initiative, started by Leaf last year has caught the imagination of both industry and the public alike and certainly in my case I felt was worth the time and effort involved.

Unlike some I only advertised around my local village and through local parish magazines as I wanted to keep visitors to a manageable number. In the end some 40 or so turned up for a leisurely stroll around the farm talking about why and how I do what I do.

One particular highlight was during a discussion on the virtues of our particular pea crop, when a vole was spotted sitting happily on the edge of one my grass margins taking it all in. A real example of how as growers we are both producing intensive crops but at the same time are acutely aware of our responsibilities to the wildlife that share the farm as well.

The issue of seasonal labour availability is moving up the agenda and has had an increasing amount of media time. Although there are some growers that are not affected by this problem we are aware of a number of growers who have not had the numbers of workers arrive that they were expecting, particularly from the A8 accession states.

This problem can only get worse for 2008 unless the Home Office takes notice of the problem and change their minds on the decision to only allow SAWS permits to be fulfilled from Romania and Bulgaria next year, and also increases the numbers of permits.

We are lobbying hard on this and have the full support of Defra who fully understand the problem. If anyone is meeting with MPs at local shows or any other event please make it a priority for lobbying as the implications on our sector of a lack of seasonal labour are potentially devastating.

At the time of writing this the debate on the reform of the EU Fruit and Vegetable Regime should be reaching a conclusion in the Council of Ministers.

I hope that the outcomes, which at present look promising, are the removal of the negative list and thus the requirement for FVP authorisations in England, the opportunity for payment entitlements for top fruit growers and the continuation of the PO scheme with modifications which will mean the regime is more flexible and more closely reflects the co-operative structure in the UK.

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