Did you ever hear of a cattle dealer going on social media to undermine, ridicule or scoff at what another cattle dealer was doing or paying for cattle? No, because they know how to deal and where to do it. It’s around the ring or it’s in the field putting their money where their mouth is.

Isn’t it amazing that nowadays every politician seems to want to jump on social media channels to tell everybody what they think of policies, or of fellow political colleagues, before they even go to talk about a deal. It’s like an advance party. Send this message over the hill before we get there so they know what we are thinking.

It’s a funny world we are living in amid the global trade spat and the impact rests on individuals the world over.

That probably is one of the biggest risks to Irish agri food companies – a depressed consumer confidence. If an Irish business dealing in food or agri seems to have escaped a direct hit, they must now anticipate an indirect hit of reduced spending coming around the corner.

Some businesses are more vulnerable than others. All will get hit one way or the other. We can adapt. We will adapt.

However, as a food and agri nation dependent on export markets, it’s worth all businesses standing back from the fire to take time out to plan, anticipate, react and do.