Review of the decade

Gordon Halling: battling through the decade but still smiling

20 December 2009

ROSEMARY Halling laughs when I outline why I want to interview her husband about their experiences over the last 10 years. As she puts it: “You have to laugh, otherwise you’d cry.”

It is a good job the Hallings have a sense of humour. Their story is farming’s tale of the 2000s, encapsulating both the incredible run of bad luck hitting the industry, but also the indomitable spirit of farming families in the face of adversity.

The nightmare began in April 2001 when the farm was targeted as part of the draconian 3km cull surrounding foot-and-mouth outbreaks.

“We lost 600 sheep. We were 20 days into lambing and it hurt. It really hurt,” says Gordon Halling.

“We didn’t even have a problem. At 7.45pm on Good Friday, the Ministry rang saying they were coming to take our sheep tomorrow. I said: ‘Like hell you are’.

“They said there was nothing we could do about it. They wiped out the entire village, 3,000 sheep and 500 cattle,” he says.

Mr Halling felt ‘empty’ afterwards. “It was as though our family went,” he says.

The compensation, with wages and overheads still to pay, only lasted 18 months. The Hallings never replaced their sheep, but ploughed on with their 130-strong herd of cattle, which survived the slaughter.

But in 2003, Mr Halling had a massive heart attack. “It was all the worry over what had happened. But I got through,” he says.

Next up was the Single Payment fiasco. The Hallings own 60 hectares (150 acres), but also have grazing rights on common land around their village of Twyning, Gloucestershire.

Complex system

This proved to be beyond the Rural Payments Agency when it came to calculating what the family were owed under the complex new system in 2005.

Four years on, and although the Hallings have been paid on the land they own, the problem is still not resolved. “We have had one hell of a battle with it, but I think they may now have cracked it,” he says.

Then, in 2007, the floods came. “It was absolutely horrendous. We were surrounded by a great lake. The fields were under seven feet of water and we lost almost everything - 150 acres of hay and about 50 tonnes of barley,” he says.

The farming community rallied round. Local NFU chairman, Carl Gray, brought a water tank, a lifeline for the cattle, as supplies had, ironically, been cut. The Hallings even received a visit from Farming Minster, Jeff Rooker.

They suffered thousands of pounds worth of damage and only survived due to the ‘absolutely fantastic’ ARC-Addington Fund, which supplied them with feed over the following months.

“I am the first to admit the farming community are a funny lot - until you get to know them. We pull together when there’s a crisis,” Mr Halling says.

It was then bovine TB first reared its head. The 170-head beef herd went clear after an inconclusive test in 2007.

But in April 2009, a pre-movement test disclosed a reactor and an inconclusive. Thirteen have gone since, including five in-calf heifers.

“It is emotional. We brought 99 per cent of them into the world and it is like more of the family going,” he says.

Mr Halling had just come in from a 60-day test when we spoke. He would know the results in three days time.

“We need two clear tests before we can do anything. You think every next one will be clear, but you can never tell. You have to live with the uncertainty,” he says.

But despite this, and all that has gone before, Gordon, who is 66, and Rosemary, have every intention of carrying on.

Love of farming

It is not the money that drives them - Mr Halling admits the farm has only survived financially due to the sale of farm buildings to be turned into a business park.

It is simply the love of farming and the support of his ‘fantastic’ family and farming neighbour and friend, Derek Roberts, that has got him through.

“We have helped each other,” he says. We want to continue because we enjoy doing it. It is as easy as that. We are actually very lucky.”

“My father wanted to see his grandsons carry on and, even though they both have full-time jobs, I would like to think one of them will. It’s what you work for.

“I have managed to smile through it all. I am a smiling sort of person. I am still going, I am still me.”