Sarah Todd: Tackle the red tape blighting countryside and you'll get my vote

The task of finding a replacement has been taken over by you-know-who and he's currently finding out which ones are still British made. He was on good form last weekend as we'd managed to get our hands on a free car park pass for the point-to-point. He had great plans of sneaking home early to finish the chain harrowing and rolling of the fields, but the enthusiasm was nipped in the bud by a breakdown. Or rather an embarrassing lack of diesel in the tractor tank. "Don't you have a dip-stick?" this armchair expert couldn't resist asking as he prodded about with a piece of wood.

We now have a little barrel at the gate for post and here's hoping any parliamentary hopefuls will simply deposit their literature inside rather than negotiating the dog

and giving us the hard sell.

Maybe it's just me, but enthusiasm for any political debate is hard to muster. A party that cuts down on the number of cushy jobs financed by the public purse could be pretty sure of my vote. Same for anybody who pledged to tackle the amount of rules and red tape blighting the countryside.

It was so upsetting to read, when we returned home from holiday, of the farmer trampled to death while fastening identity tags on to calves. I'd like to pass on how much we feel for his grieving family. It can't only have been me who was struck by the irony of reports that the tragedy is being investigated by one Government body – the Health and Safety Inspectorate – when the farmer had been carrying out the requirements (tagging) of another, namely Defra. As a young girl, I watched in horror as a cow attacked somebody handling its calf. It's something I'll never forget and, for me, there will never be another creature on this earth as dangerous as a cow and her newborn calf. Maybe the next Minister for Agriculture should have a go at tagging calves and see whether he or she still thinks it's such a good idea.

Once we're over the tonsils, there are questions to ask about how much of our children's school dinners come from British suppliers. This has been prompted by figures showing that only just over half of all food served in Whitehall and in public institutions, such as prisons, is from our own country. There have also been question marks over the origin and quality of the food served to soldiers. Surely if they are risking their lives for their country, they should be fed properly? Fruit is also interesting. It may be easier to find a British-made washing machine than a home-grown apple in an NHS hospital.