Tractor Tuesday-Triple Claas

Had been planning to pop over to Erkheim and the agricultural suppliers "EVG" a cooperative run business and above all a top flight classed New Holland dealer. The whole year they have been struggling to stay alive but it now seems new investors can't be found and they will close at the end of the month. A great loss for the area but one must admit that much had to do with bad management and trying to be all things to everyone - get your brand new combine harvester for a few hundred thousand Euros while the wife chooses a new replacement toilet seat from the 20 on the shelf. Added of course to the milk price problem in a predominantly dairy area and the requirements manufacturers (New Holland) put on dealers to have demonstration units on stock.

Will no doubt make the few farmers who can afford a new machine think twice about New Holland and possibly go for the other brands with local agents. The biggest around here will then be Claas and their have been a very notable increase in these machines. Last year I even made a comment on Blip as to how rare they were.

The Blip is taken between our village and the parish's "capital" Sontheim, close to yesterdays caravan Blip. So I abandoned the run to catch a New Holland. I think the Claas Jaguar harvester is from a farmer in the nearby village of Markt Rettenbach who probably does contract work alongside his own farm. He has his nickname "Pitt Bull" alongside his mobile number, embazoned on the machine. The Claas Arion 540 probably belongs to the farmer and field owner. There is even a very young child in the cab but difficult to see.

This evening on Bavarian TV the documentary about dying villages and ruined countryside was broadcast tonight. Farmer Andreas form our village utters the opening words and later on his Claas tractor takes us on a tour of some of the monstrous industrial units that have been built in the area in the last few years.

Video wont be of interest I suspect unless German speaking but in summary, it shows a town in north Bavaria which had about 2200 inhabitants 10 years ago and now 1700 and trend is continuing with about 40 less a year. The town mayor is fighting to draw back business and life and wants to demolish old unoccupied, unsightly housing.

Then comes Farmer Andreas and our parish & directly bordering areas which show in particular two buildings both of which I have Bliped in the past. Here the parishes are giving planning permission for industrial parks, taking away the beauty of the countryside, useful farming land and also destroying things like the natural soak up capability of the ground. His older Deutz Intrac and newer Claas both Bliped are also shown.

The third area shown is more in Tochterpleach country just south of here at the foot of the Alps and discussing the concreting of unspoilt nature. In a referendum last month, two villages at the foot of a hill voted on building a new ski lift to join up the two skiing areas. The two villages voted nearly 70% and 85% for the lift in a protected natural area which now means a battle between the popular wish and the rules governing building in such areas. Apart from the fact that the area has little chance of remaining a skiing area in these days of global warming, the environmentalists say the tourism driven population are shooting themselves in the foot as it is exactly the unspoilt character of the area which draws people. (PS - that is what I call a "clear" referendum result)

One needs to know that local parish and town councils have a lot of say in local development and also get to keep a local business tax which funds the local amenities - more business, more tax income. Then we have the Bavarian state laws which cover such things as nature reserves and the finance minister is also the Bavarian "Homeland" minister, a cross between protecting the traditions and developing the growth to maintain the countryside areas.

These conflicts of interest arise when you want both Laptop and Lederhosen.I think on balance I go for the environmentalists view of we need to think in "Generations" and not in the 4 year election periods and Bank statements.

Carpe Diem Mrs May. Sadly it will be rather longer than one day now that the UKIP manifesto is embedded in the Conservative's. I don't buy the opening line of your email to me this afternoon "my vision of a country that works for everyone"  and simply reaffirms you are bending in the breeze hoping Brexit will be your equivalent of what the Falklands was for Mrs Thatcher just as David Cameron thought agreeing to the referendum would be his saviour in the last election ( I guess it was at least for a few months). Shame the Tory party didn't put as much effort in to making the EU a place that works for everyone, a role most of the other states would dearly have wanted.