Farm Life

March was a very productive month all round on the farm.

The British Farming Awards are back for 2021.

Tasked with turning around the 12,000 acre farming operation on a highland estate is no mean feat, but it’s one 25-year-old farm manager Chloe Malcolm has grasped by the horns.

As I write, the tourists are back in the village and the streets and footpaths are once again teeming with day trippers making the most of the spring sunshine.

British Saanen and Toggenburg milking goats may not be a typical enterprise associated with the Cumbrian uplands, but that has not stopped it becoming the mainstay of a direct sales venture on one farm. Wendy Short reports.

Ben Mycock, 29, works on his family dairy farm in Earl Sterndale, Derbyshire.

In a bid to protect farmers from repeat crime, NFU Mutual has launched a pilot scheme with manufacturers Honda and Yamaha to install free tracking devices and immobilisers on replacement quad bikes and all-terrain vehicles.

A refreshed Countryside Code has been launched by Natural England (NE) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) for its 70 year anniversary to help the public enjoy the countryside in a safe and respectful way.

Farmers have already started planting young saplings as part of the National Trust’s commitment to establishing 20 million new trees by 2030.

The Food, Farming and Countryside Commission (FFCC) has called on Government to establish an Agroecology Development Bank to kickstart a ‘rural transformation’.