Knob throttlers form an orderly queue at Blossom Hill Cottage! Discuss the Archers on the Official Thread

[PseudoBadger]

Do you know that I was 3 months pregnant when the first thread started - DD was 2 yesterday

That must also mean that Poppy Grundy's 2nd birthday has passed by unremarked upon...

And 'saved man from goring'

"Brian’s next scheme. In September 2011, Debbie proposed setting up a large-scale dairy operation. 1500 cattle would be kept permanently indoors, and their slurry would feed an anaerobic digester supplying power to the grid.

Brian put the plans to the board. But when Adam learned of them, he refused to cooperate, as it was anathema to his philosophy of farming. Brian was forced to tread a difficult path, contracting other farmers to supply feed and silage for the cattle."

From beeb BL background.

It later says one contract pulled out so Home farm provides some (much to Adam's annoyance).

So silage comes from HF and other contracts. Don't think any is produced on Berrow land as such. Does Berrow even have any land that isn't under a cattle shed? But I am still betting banking on Rob having brought in a new cheap supply to save on margins.

I do hope it isn't HF silage that is to blame.

Is the maize they grow also feed? Or fuel?

And could the flood have contaminated it?

Something nice for Ed?

If Rob has tens of thousands it doesn't sound as if Helen has ever seen it. Soon as she stopped work she was wandering around penniless.

And really, if he did why would he have been so thrilled about Peggy's wedding present? It's not as if the wedding/honeymoon could have made a dent in his riches.

That was painful listening tonight. Adam being all manly, rescuing the damsel in distress Charlie from the nasty botulism. Charlie has spent his whole career being a micromanager, berating others for being a nano-percentage below optimum output, yet the moment he has to actually do something himself under pressure he falls apart. Pah!
I did a scroll back. Rob left on 17th August, that's nine weeks ago. Why hasn't Charlie yet found a replacement or, at least, an interim manager?

The organism's spores are often found in the silt at the bottom of lakes (as well as soil), and could well have been spread by the flood.

Also I found this from the Irish agricultural board's website:

Prevention
This requires minimising animal contact with carrion and decaying matter and preventing ingestion of feedstuffs contaminated with decaying materials where possible such as:
(i) Decaying grasses or spoiled silage, hay, or grains
N.B. Be aware of the potential for small quantities of contaminated feed (e.g. one loader scoop) to reach larger numbers of animals when using feeder/mixer wagons.
(ii) Decaying animal/ bird carcasses in feedstuffs e.g. silage pits/bales, grain stores, or on grassland,
Wildlife and poultry carcasses can produce particularly high levels of toxins and inappropriate storage or disposal of poultry litter or poultry carcasses can pose a risk of Botulism for animals.

I think I might be the only TA listener who wants Adam and Charlie to have a thing

I just hate it when the basics don't make sense. Why has Charlie not been talking to Justin? Why no interim manager? How the hell can people spare enough silage to feed the mega herd?

What happened to the forensic accountants (or whoever) that Charlie was going to call in as Rob left?

Also, if Stefan lives, wouldn't he be following the fortunes of Berrow Farm online? It really is time for him to reappear.

I won't mind if Adam gives Charlie a hug from me.

Charlie is supposed to be savvy - too savvy to not have a paper trail re rob. First lesson in business is always cover your arse! Plot over character yet again

Of course they will have enough silage - they'll only be 3 cows left by tomorrow!

I think the botulism spores will have been hiding in the decaying corpse of Scruff .

Scruff might be the source but I want the blame laid at Rob's door.

Can we pin Scruff's murder on him?

Well yes, of course it is all Knob's fault for blocking up the culvert thingy, thereby murdering Scruff and Freda Froi

I posted a while back about the Hellhound of Ambridge* (aka Ghost of Scruff) wreaking it's vengeance on murdering Knob.

And lo! It is coming to pass.

Starting with plagues - for which Knob will eventually, and rightly, get the blame.

*Jill's bees keep the HHofA up to date with what's occurring in the village

Oh dear.
So, alphabetically speaking, is it Stefan or Scruff in the Silage?

I think I'd be more upset if it's Scruff.

Dunno kitties but Charlie is in cack: cows are carking because Berrow has botulism and Justin will be judgmental. Adam is aghast.
Meanwhile Ian is in ignorant bliss, as usual.

So Adam's almost been pressured by the FFFs or Fakey Foolish Fairbrothers
Don't Do It Adam. The word is NOOO to a partnership with them.

Let alone comforting poor wee Charlie who hasn't slept properly for days, (and reckons he's for the sack) so would be a bit tired and emotional. Put him down Adam

Personally if I was an evil SW (script writer) I would be tempted to have Adam "comfort" Charlie, just once.
Then them both to "forget it" (just like Pawl).

But then bring Debbie back, her and Charlie to get on and get together.
And years of awkwardness to crop up whenever things get dull.

I suppose it's a variation on the usual 'one woman, two brothers' routine.

I can't see any conceivable reason why Adam would consider for one moment going into partnership with the Fairbrethren on the sole basis of their assurances that they will be fine and a couple of CVs inflating their experience of dealing with cattle. Surely you wouldn't commit to something like that without, at the very least, a reference from the cattle farms they claim to have been virtually running?

The trouble is, I have a sinking feeling that absolutely none of that is going to weigh with the SWs, and they're determined to go ahead with it so as to get the FBs entrenched as characters. So we're either going to have months of tedious crises and arguments while they totally mess up, or they're going to go running to Pip who will miraculously turn out to be a beef cattle expert and sort everything out. If that happens I really won't be listening.

Pip will have had quite a lot of involvement with the Herefords, won't she? (More experience than TRex anyway)

Flora and Gruach - I am Team Chadam all the way. Ian gets on my nerves. But I'd also love it if he eventually ends up with Debbie.

What's going to be interesting is Helen attempting to take Rob to task over spilling the baby news and him coming right back at her about the silage - Badly Done, Helen, Badly Done.

Her chat with Fallon was so poignant. Speak to Rob about the shop (because I'm too scared to tell you the truth). Also clearly comparing her relationship to Fallon and Plod's.

So, just to clarify, no one has examined Helen? And she didn't want anyone to know about SOK? Does this mean the "she's made it up" theory is still in play?

Or are we waiting to see what she does with an actual pregnancy?

Come on Kirsty! Helen won't tell the truth to anyone else.

Oh we were so close to Charlie spilling the beans about Rob in that episode...

I think the trouble with the BCP for the MegaDairy is that everyone in Ambridge talks about it as if it's part of some huge multinational conglomorate when actually it's a relatively modest sized enterprise - there are plenty bigger companies out there with minimal risk assessments, contingency plans etc because you never think you'll need one...

Are Ruth and David not now strapped for cash precisely because they've given Kenton all their money? Pip coming back hasn't helped but the issue is more that they've got a lot less ready cash and also they've all had their eye off the ball while Ruth fannyed around up North all summer.

I foresee a huge showdown between Ruth and David at some point where they both shout a lot of home truths at each other in anger...possibly dealing a fatal blow to their marriage. Ruth will blame David for HP's demise and them having no money, David will point out that she was the one with the stupid plan to move North (doubling down in my fantasy that it wouldn't have been worth it in anycase as HP would have died not long after they got their making the whole thing pointless) and the farm started slipping while she wasn't there to support him. Ruth will go 'ooooh David how could you' and hustle off to live in Pruddah never to be heard of again...

Wishful thinking, alas RNRN, I think. Though that would be an episode I would hate to miss. Rather like listening to the radio when Geoffrey Howe was doing his savaging Margaret Thatcher bit

Pip will probably save the farm through some sort of scheme involving harnessing all that hot air produced by the Fairbrethren.

I was hoping that Charlie had caught whatever the cows have got- didn't Adam say "you're ill!"

Anthrax? Can humans catch botulism from animals? Something else- he did say the tests were coming back clear...........