They say a week in politics is a long time. At the moment, 24 hours is an eternity.

Theresa May remains in the hot seat, probably because no one wants to inherit the mess she has created. At best, you could say she was potentially a good MP, but ill-advised.

She has inevitably sacked her two main advisers. Gove has been appointed Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – note, no mention of farming.

My initial hope that a deal with the DUP would mean agriculture would have better representation has faded, as I realise that May (or a replacement) will most likely give Northern Ireland special concessions rather than a blanket deal across the UK, as this would be much more cost effective, and will probably advantage exports across the Irish sea into Britain.

Dairy farming here will only survive on small family farms where those involved are prepared to live on very small drawings, hoping one day to inherit, or the ever-increasing bigger herds who expand to defray costs.

The 200-cow herd is doomed to fall between two stools.

The milk processors have just demonstrated their power over the producer by cutting the price, even though butter price is rising dramatically, to a point where there is fear the consumer will revert back to the vegetable substitute.

Spring flush

The spot price is 30p and rising. This is because there has been no spring flush and buyers are struggling to satisfy contracts.

Guru Ian Potter is concerned that if the price to the producer rises too high, as it inevitably will, it will encourage those who are hanging on by their financial fingertips to carry on, despite having to borrow money to get through the last crisis.

On the farming front, barren cow prices are sky high due to exchange rates and the fact that farmers culled so many cows to get money when the milk price crashed last year.

So, there are no barrens left to sell, coupled with the fact that farmers are retaining cows now as the milk price is likely to rise.

Grass growth

Here at home, the paddocks are bolting to head, necessitating topping after every grazing.

The in-calf and bulling heifers are clearing this up, while the young stock paddocks recover from being trashed during the torrential storms. My friend in Scotland hasn’t made his silage yet and had 5in of rain last week.