Happy Monday, folks. Most of us woke up last Wednesday to the welcome news that the US Congress has gone Democrat in both houses, and up and down the state ballots too, from governor on down. In very cheesy state Wisconsin, the governor is now a Democrat, and in similar dairy strongholds, California has elected a Democrat and New York has retained its Democrat governor.

I am happy that the current occupant of the White House’s powers will be controlled as a lame duck president. That for me is a very good thing – and for people such as farmers, who have been hard hit by tariffs implemented (or not) by the regime. Not to mention the persecution by ICE of the people who actually do the milking on farms, their employees the immigrants.

Over on this side of the Atlantic, there has also been some welcome news on the UK-EU front, where the UK and EU have agreed a draft deal on removing post-Brexit checks from food and agriculture exports, ahead of the UK-EU summit later this month, according to the BBC.

The BBC understands the 200-page draft text for this so called “SPS” [sanitary and phytosanitary] agreement has been circulated to EU nations in Brussels for consideration at a meeting last week. Similar texts for deals on emissions trading and a youth travel and work scheme have also been circulated alongside a 15-page draft joint statement for UK and EU top leaders.

So, British producers may be filling out less paperwork soon, and as Richard Clothier, managing director of Wyke Farms notes, “A well-designed UK-EU SPS agreement could reduce the cost and complexity of selling British food to our nearest neighbours. For dairy businesses like ours, simpler, more predictable access to European markets would give us greater confidence to invest and grow, supporting the British farmers who supply our milk.”

At the end of the day, people just want to make their products and sell them to consumers. Government should help them to do that.