Opinion: "I have no idea if I can walk for 24 hours, but Farm24 feels like a good reason to try"

Writing from his family’s farm in Cumbria, Farmers Guardian online content specialist Tom Ryder explains why he and the FG team are taking on a 24-hour walk for farm24 and two important farming charities

Tom Ryder
clock • 2 min read
Opinion: "I have no idea if I can walk for 24 hours, but Farm24 feels like a good reason to try"

I have no idea if I can walk for 24 hours. But tomorrow, the Farmers Guardian team will be covering more than 40 miles across the Cotswolds over 24 hours, with only brief breaks to refuel along the way.

I might have grown up on a farm and played rugby for many years, but I do not think anything is going to prepare me for it.

And, if I am honest, I am nervous about whether my legs will actually keep going.

But there is something quite fitting about taking on a relentless task like this as part of Farm24.

Read more from this year's #farm24 ambassadors: "Farmers are not destroying the planet"

The whole point of the campaign, which is back on July 30, is to show the public what 24 hours in British farming actually looks like.

Farmers do not clock off at 5pm. Calvings happen in the middle of the night and, when crops need to come in, you work until the job is done.

Animals still need looking after whether you are tired, ill, feeling low or the weather is completely against you.

The idea of needing to carry on when you feel like you cannot feels like a very fitting way to raise money for the industry I care about most.

Giving something back to farming

This is not just a publicity stunt.

This is the first Farm24 charity walk and we genuinely want it to raise money for people doing good in our industry.

At Farmers Guardian, we speak a lot about supporting farming and rural communities. But this is an opportunity for the team to do something real, to physically do something and give back.

Farms For City Children and Len's Light are two charities which do really meaningful, important work.

Connecting children to this industry is vital, and Farms for City Children gives young people the chance to spend time on farms and connect with food, farming and nature.

That is crucial if we want our industry to survive.

Len's Light was set up after Len Eadon took his own life, aged just 22.

Since then, his parents, Lynda and Andy, have dedicated themselves to raising awareness and support for mental health in agriculture. It is an emotional story, turned into an incredibly meaningful cause and one I am proud to support.

I do not know if I can walk for 24 hours, but I know farming means a hell of a lot to me and, when my legs want to give up, I will have plenty of reasons to keep moving.

If you would like to donate, please click here.  

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Opinion: "I have no idea if I can walk for 24 hours, but Farm24 feels like a good reason to try"

Opinion: "I have no idea if I can walk for 24 hours, but Farm24 feels like a good reason to try"

Writing from his family’s farm in Cumbria, Farmers Guardian online content specialist Tom Ryder explains why he and the FG team are taking on a 24-hour walk for farm24 and two important farming charities

Tom Ryder
clock 06 July 2026 • 2 min read