Farm Life

In October I stood in a room full of 800 farmers and rural businesses at Farmers Guardian’s British Farming Awards and watched Sheena Horner step onto the stage and accept the Farming Hero honour.

British farming’s contribution to one of the most magical times of the year is front and centre of Morrisons’ festive television advert, which sees two young friends discover the ‘other’ hero of the season – Farmer Christmas.

Today marks the launch of the fourth, and potentially most important, year of our #ThisIsAgriculture campaign, at a moment in time when showcasing careers throughout the industry has never been more crucial.

The weather the last two weeks has been just what we needed. With being half down on of our normal shed space, we needed to sell a group of calves before we could bring the cows in.

Abbie Bryant, 26, lives in Chelmsford, Essex. A first generation farmer, she runs A & A Livestock with her partner Andy as well as working a full-time job.

Farm fires have left the industry with a bill of more than £69 million in 2020, a rise of 40 per cent, sparking calls for farmers to put new fire prevention and control plans in place.

Spiralling costs are another headache most farmers could simply do without. With some sectors facing a real squeeze on the availability of labour, this will add another layer of anxiety after a period of good prices.

Cuts to police budgets could leave forces unable to enforce the Government’s crackdown on livestock worrying, according to Labour’s Shadow Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner.

Farmers Guardian is one of the weekly publications which north-west based Galloways Society for the Blind offers within its free, ‘Talking Newspapers’ service for blind and partially sighted people.

Climate change and biodiversity loss are recognised as the two existential threats to our civilisation and the next few years will see a major transformation in how we use land so as to tackle these crises.