Blogs

On our first date Isobel told me I was the first farmer she had ever met. Our second date was a trip to see my sheep and we ended up dagging out some fly strike and she didn’t balk then and hasn’t since.

After four and a half tortuous years, we have now left the EU and are trading under different terms. Some would say, though, the journey has only just begun when it comes to Brexit.

As we head into the new year, it is clear what is on the menu - more of the same. The pandemic is moving at a sobering pace and keeping us all doing what we’ve been getting used to; staying home and getting on with it.

As we enter the New Year with trepidation and a little hope, farming life continues in its usual pattern and we are thankful for it.

I am sure that we have all seen the usual ‘new year, new you’ adverts, slogans and promises littered all over the media and social media.

Congratulations to fellow columnist Kate Beavan on her New Year Honour. It is great to see her efforts for agriculture being acknowledged in this way.

Happy New Year to you all and what a start to the new year it has been.

While agricultural support and subsidies are of personal interest and importance to me looking to the future of our family farm, it also makes up a large proportion of my working life as a chartered surveyor and land agent.

Christmas has come and gone once again and, like many families, it was very quiet this year, with family celebrations put on hold.

James Lacey is managing director of a Lincolnshire-based horticultural and agricultural business. A specialist in growing and packing flowers, James also grows potatoes, winter wheat and sugar beet. The farm covers about 1,000 hectares of rented land in South Lincolnshire. Follow him on Twitter @hortijames