So, I am not usually an asteroid promoter, and I don't expect any responses from the traditionalists here, but this is worth at least a bit of consideration.

While talking to someone about the foot and mouth chart that Deb posted it occurred to me that the discovery of Ceres on the date of the 1801 union may have something to say about the global agricultural situation and the focus on the UK in this regard.

Basically the UK seems to have been a focal point for both Mad Cow disease and Foot and Mouth as well as for arguments over genetic crop production and is also in the forefront of the global organic farming movement. The correspondence of the 1801 dates seems to suggest that the Uk is being the mouthpiece of Ceres in the world.