In your field: Dan Hawes – "This last month, I was also fortunate to travel to South Africa to tour some fruit farms"

Dan Hawes grew up on an arable farm in Suffolk and now produces strawberry and raspberry plants for the UK fruit market with Blaise Plants, sister company to Hugh Lowe Farms, Kent. The business grows outside, under tunnels and in glasshouses and produces more than four million plants a year. The arable side includes environmental schemes, with a mix of wheat, oilseed rape, beans and barley crops

clock • 3 min read
Dan Hawes
Image:

Dan Hawes

Hurrah, finally some dry weather has arrived in the South East – and doesn't it make you feel better? We even got the ride-on mower out and tidied up the grass on some headlands around the tunnels I...

To continue reading...

Already a member? Login for full access.

Login

New to Farmers Guardian? Register for 1 free article per week or become a member for unlimited access to essential farming news and insights.

article-img-580x358
Register for free Join Now

 

More on In your field

In your field: Alan Carter – "Calf prices still seem very good, which shows there must be confidence in beef production"
In your field

In your field: Alan Carter – "Calf prices still seem very good, which shows there must be confidence in beef production"

Alan Carter farms in partnership with his parents, Paul and Christine, on a 162-hectare (400-acre), 400-cow dairy unit at Constantine, Cornwall, with 130 milking cows, supplying Saputo. Alan, also a Parish Councillor, and his wife Sarah, have two children, Ross and Dana

Alan Carter
clock 15 March 2026 • 3 min read
In your field: Dan Jones – "This is a reminder that farming doesn't operate in isolation. Our businesses are tied into a global system"
In your field

In your field: Dan Jones – "This is a reminder that farming doesn't operate in isolation. Our businesses are tied into a global system"

Dan Jones farms 650 ewes at the National Trust-owned Parc Farm, which sits on the Great Orme, a limestone headland which rises up 208 metres (682 feet) on the North Wales coast near Llandudno. His Farm Business Tenancy covers the 58 hectares (143 acres) at Parc Farm, plus 364ha (900 acres) of grazing rights on the hill

Dan Jones
clock 09 March 2026 • 3 min read
In your field: James Wright – "Bovine TB re-tests are a truly depressing reminder of how hard farming can be sometimes"
In your field

In your field: James Wright – "Bovine TB re-tests are a truly depressing reminder of how hard farming can be sometimes"

James, along with his wife Isobel and their two young children, recently bought their first farm, and plan to run beef and sheep over 13.8 hectares (34 acres), renting a further 44.5ha (110 acres). James works for tech firm Breedr as UK country manager. You can follow them on Twitter @jpbwfarm

James and Isobel Wright
clock 08 March 2026 • 2 min read