Tuesday, 02 May 2023 10:25

A right royal cow

Written by Rural News Group

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OPINION: The late Quee Elizabeth II was the proud owner of 200 or so well-bred Jersey cows, some from Don Ferguson's Ferdon stud in Otorohanga.

With young Charlie about to ascend to the throne, will the known tree-hugger keep the Queen's beloved farm animals, which as well as the Jerseys, include a Sussex beef herd, 140 breeding sows and 1,500 Lohmann Brown hens?

Charles recently gifted seven heifers, given to the Queen to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee, to a Jersey farmer who lost 100 cows to botulism. A nice gesture. Milking It just hopes King Charles III will resist pressure from anti-cow ramblers and badger enablers for him to join the fad of blaming cows for every gram of greenhouse gas. His published opinions on livestock farming don't seem to indicate a problem: he promotes regenerative farming, advocated for small-scale farmers, and is partron of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

We can but hope Charles keeps calm and carries on the Queen's farming legacy and earns the plaudit "a champion of farming" - bestowed on him recently at Darlington Farmers Auction, UK.

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