Aldridges Assemble! Await the return of the prodigal daughter to Ambridge with the rest of The Archers audience

[PseudoBadger]

I can't resist alliteration

Oddfodd Yes Shula was a bit wet with Kenton, deliberately IMO to not have him go for her throat as well, he's like a rottweiler atm ffs!

I'm surprised Jolene hasn't told him to stop being such a muppet - she's generally fairly sensible.

Where did Kate get the money from to go drinking all afternoon?

She did try in a rather low key way. He's unstoppable like a runaway steam roller. Maybe he did feel left out as a child, I remember his dad Phil used to moan about him a lot. He obviously has large chips on his shoulder

Potatoes more like!
I thought Kate was drinking with Kenton so maybe he was paying?

Jenny being the mum phoebe would rather have...

Not sure we needed that history lesson followed by a sex ed lesson

Is Charlie going to blackmail Adam?

Sounds like Charlie is trying to make his voice more distinctive but must work harder!!

Jenny handled that very well - so pleased that Phoebe is OK again with Alex. The coming upstairs with tea and brownies suggests to me that one of the scriptwriters has had to deal with their own teenage daughter...

BOOP for Jenny being a total sweetiepie

We might not have needed the history lesson but I bet there are a lot of listeners who have never heard about paddy and Jenny's scandalous past (as it was back then).

Anyway, good for her.

I'm missing something with Charlie and Adam - surely A losing the estate contract to RB was a bigger deal than C having to source maize from elsewhere? I thought Adam had been upfront about it. So I don't quite get why C feels so betrayed.

Likewise, Errol. Surely in that business you don't put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to essential supplies? And it's not as if Adam is threatening to cut off supplies tomorrow, presumably he will still want to sell all this year's crop and there will be time to find alternatives before next year.

Caveat: I know bugger all about farming, if what I'm saying is nonsense in farming terms, feel free to say so.

BYOS, if Kenton had had decent insurance it would have included business interruption cover, and presumably his money troubles would be considerably less serious.

I thought it was about the contract. I would have thought Borchester Land have Home Farm in a 5 year or something (possibly rolling) contract for Maize. Charlie was warning that even though he is Adam's friend etc. he will still play hard ball if they try to break that contract.

I do think Adam is being hasty - yes to thinking more about the land, but he does need to think about profit margins. They were talking about making people redundant not that long ago, and the farm does need to support several people.

The adam / Charlie thing is confusing me too. Isn't it all a bit Dallas but with Maize?

Plus Charlie cut Adam off and still expected him to be (very chummy). Where was the 'but we are friends' thing then.

icimoi you have it bang on. Maize is planted in April/May and harvested in Sept/Oct so Charlie has almost 12 months to find someone who will grow maize and over 12 months to buy from someone who has grown on spec or has surplus. Unless they spell out that Adam is breaking a five year contract or something then it all seems a bit melodramatic.

Pip is annoying me with her breathless teenager act, she's in her twenties fgs!

Certainly the big hole in the maize storyline so far is that Adam doesn't seem to have said what he will do with the land instead that will bring in at least equal profits. After all, having a guaranteed buyer for one of your main crops is quite a major security blanket.

"I found his speech about david being manipulative and devious a bit unlikely. Like there's been simmering resentment for 50 years which is not something I've ever felt there has been."

Agreed. It's this sort of rewriting of history that really pisses me off- you can't do that, script writers!

dairyfarmerswife I need a farming lesson here, on the radio just now they had a doctor saying how different for your health grass fed beef is to corn fed , would that apply to milk too?

I'm actually not struggling with that side of the storyline. David has always patronised Kenton, as indeed the whole family have, because they all see him, with some reason, as an immature wastrel who has repeatedly needed to be bailed out of trouble. Kenton has spent decades needling David in return. Kenton always calls him 'Dave', for example. Nobody else does and it's pretty clear David doesn't like it much.

In other circumstances, that might be a survival from childhood betokening a special bond. My husband and I call our son by his full length name; nobody else does (not even his sister). It was his idea to go by a short name, but he never asked us to use it and we just carried on with the full version. He seems to accept it because it's us.

However, I would put money on Kenton doing it not as a mark of affection but to annoy. He and Elizabeth were really nasty at the time of the great Brookfield inheritance row. Elizabeth seems to have got over that but then she's extremely wealthy. Kenton isn't, and never seems to have grasped that this is the direct result of a long series of stupid life choices.

Yeah I think it's a long standing thing that Kenton envies David the stability of his life while simultaneously taking the piss out of him for being an old stick in the mud.

Someone pointed out recently how much David sighs and I can't unhear it now! It's every other sentence.

ppeat there is some evidence that cows fed a high proportion of forage produce milk that is higher in omega 3s than milk from more intensive systems. It gets a bit clouded by the organic vs conventional debate too, and there are ethical and welfare reasons why some consider pasture based systems to be preferable.www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/25/why-free-range-milk-is-good-for-you and freerangedairy.org give some information.

For us the attraction of a pasture based system is in it's simplicity and low cost structure in comparison to a Berrow Farm type setup, as well as happy cows and a more pleasant working environment!

Off at a tangent but the discussion about Kenton and Lizzie got me thinking about the roof at LL. They got grants and assistance for that. Do we think the Bull is listed? Will they be forced into high-spec, costly repairs at some stage.
Oh, and while I'm at it: why on earth is Oliver suggesting an extended holiday (abroad!) while they have the builders in. That must be a recipe for disaster.

And I don't get the Adam / Charlie dynamic. I cannot believe that whizkid Charlie has left the company vulnerable to one supplier (especially after he has done the dirty on said supplier), he must have contingency plans. In fact, didn't he make contingency plans after the flood because that might have jeopardised Adam's crop? And why did Adam feel the need to tell him now? - I'd leave until this year's harvest was in and paid for! It doesn't make sense. As per usual.

Thanks I saw a prog. showing corn fed cows with horrible runny faces in America they looked so unhappy,so would the cows at
Berrow would look the same? , (I noticed that Adam said he would still grow lucerne for Berrow do we reckon that was a dig at the unnatural corn fed cows ? ) The S.W.s should emphasise it in their plot.

To maybe make people (who can afford it) think more about buying the cheapest milk and beef possible !