The dissenting voices are never far away, even though our agriculture industry is going through one of the toughest periods in living memory, writes Rural Affairs Editor Nathan Rous.
For despite the metronomic onslaught of BSE, foot-and-mouth, bovine TB, foot-and-mouth again, bluetongue, sky-high feed costs and, on top of it all, terrible weather, there is always someone who comes out with ‘that old chestnut’.

You know, the one that goes “I’ve never seen a poor farmer” before comparing them to the skeletal workers in Eritrea who are tilling the arid soil with their bare hands.

The two are obviously incomparable, otherwise by the same token we could say the Eritreans are lucky because they have had the sort of summer our farmers would have killed for. Or that at least they are not afflicted by the most dreadful of rural diseases – the farmer tan.

Farmers have long borne the brunt of Britain’s displeasure at the countryside. Those who fail to understand it see only the sprawling farmhouses, or the fleet of 4´4s, or the vast tracts of land in their ownership. And then they imagine the boiler suits or tweed pockets overflowing with EU subsidies, and compensation payments and Defra grants.

To those on the inside, the reality is a sea of red-tape, a lifetime of struggle and dedication to a job which repays them with gnarled hands, lack of sleep and financial heartache. Land they might have, and vehicles are clearly a must (try taking a Citroen Berlingo over a field and see how far you get in the summer, let alone the winter) – and I’ve yet to visit a farmhouse which doesn’t need Sarah Beeny’s guidance.

Of course there have been halcyon periods for farmers; times when they have reaped the rewards for their hard work. But this is the same in any other profession.

The last 15 years, however, have been the leanest on record. Reinvestment, which is always the key to survival, is non-existent in all sectors.

Remember also that many farmers have had little choice in their careers: a line of duty as regimented as the Royal Family. Abdication, as rare as it is, brings shame as much to the Gileses as it does to the Windsors.

So perhaps it is time for the saying to change. After all, have you ever seen a poor GP? Britain’s healthcare system is in just as much a crisis, yet none of the bile is being directed at the general practitioners regularly coining in salaries over £100,000.

Or have you ever seen a poor headteacher? They are just as likely to shoot from the hip when it comes to the dismantling of the educational establishment and yet they get a sizeable whack – along with those much-envied 13 weeks’ holiday a year.

Perhaps farmers should moan more than they do? Maybe the very fact of turning the other cheek when it comes to the criticism makes them a regular target.

But beware the fallout. Given that virulent nasties such as foot-and-mouth can be spread as easily by the boot of a tourist as they can by a government research facility with a negligent attitude to maintenance, will farmers soon lose their patience with the British public and shut their gates to the outside world?

That would teach you.