Just when you think the sun has come out and the worst of the bad news has passed, rural businesses are bracing themselves for more trouble with the outbreak of Foot and Mouth in Surrey.

The story falls into the ‘watch and wait’ category for horticultural growers at the moment, but anything that brings negative publicity to the countryside and food chain in general represents a real blow right now.

Let’s hope that this is as bad as it gets and growers are not tarnished with an all-encompassing food-scare brush.

On a more positive note, now that the names of all the representatives of the new horticultural levy company are finally known, the new board can turn its attention to formulating a strategy that maintains growers’ voice within the wider agricultural framwork.

There are a number of well-known figures on the board, and plenty of experience.

With work starting almost immediately on developing a strategy and setting budgets, growers should soon have a much clearer idea of how things will shape up going forward.

Following so much speculation over how this new structure will appear in practice, that has to be a good thing.