Blogs

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.

After a truly fantastic September that felt more like May, the seasons have definitely changed here in Dorset.

This month’s column takes the the form of an open letter to MP Lucy Frazer, who represents south east Cambridgeshire.

A useful discipline to maximise the probability of your farm business surviving the next 10 years is to make some safe, though unpalatable, assumptions, then plan accordingly.

Autumn is always busy for a sheep farm and with the onset of some very heavy rain and strong winds the season has definitely arrived in a hurry.