Blogs

Being handed the baton by fellow Dorset farmer and longstanding Farmers Guardian contributor, Jon Stanley, is rather a daunting task, but, as this is my first article, I thought I would write a little bit about about my background and a general introduction to our farm.

What a difference a few days of sunshine can make. In the east, October was the second dullest of all time, and one of the rainiest too. But November has dawned, skies are blue and the fields are fit.

As the UK heads into a second lockdown I felt very lucky, if a little guilty, to be heading for Iceland.

This week, I want to talk about something which has been in the back of my mind for quite some time, even more so since I started farming in my own right and probably since I grew up on a farm where my desire to be like my father and uncle first started.

Not only do I trade on farmers’ markets, I am a director of the community interest company which runs our village market.

Well, the back end of the year is definitely here and it is cold and wet. We are currently trying to finish off tailing and dipping the ewes, but the weather here is playing havoc with our plans by bringing what must be the wettest stretch we have seen since February.

I am a naturally optimistic person. I can usually find some sort of silver lining to most clouds and, currently, the livestock sector is feeling pretty good.

I do wonder if ‘Cheshire maize’ isn’t a perfect illustration of the eternal optimism of farmers.

The full effect of Covid-19 hit us hard when Jim’s mum had a nasty fall and we were not allowed to travel in the ambulance or visit her in hospital over the next week or so.

With this week’s critical Parliamentary vote against the Agriculture Bill amendment, a challenging growing season and harvest, plus a global pandemic influencing shoppers and their buying habits alongside the continued debate around climate instability and biodiversity loss, farm businesses are in a potentially precarious position economically and ecologically.