Batters tells Desert Island Discs of her ‘life’s calling’

Minette Batters discovered her “life’s calling” in farming after ignoring advice from friends and family to pursue an alternative career.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, the NFU president revealed that her friends told her she was “mad to do this” – but she decided to ignore them and insisted “I’d always wanted to farm”.

“I felt very strongly that this was a life’s calling. This was something that I had always wanted to do and I was never, ever not going to do it,” Mrs Batters told host Lauren Laverne.

See also: Minette Batters: Fighting for a fair deal for farmers

Mrs Batters spoke about her life growing up on a tenant family farm in Wiltshire and how her father also discouraged her from following in his footsteps.

In her earlier life, she used to ride racehorses at trainer David Elsworth’s stable and rode 30 winners in National Hunt races.

‘No regrets’

She also followed her mum’s passion and trained as a chef and ran a food catering company for many years. But Mrs Batters put aside a successful career in catering to return to the land more than 20 years ago – and has no regrets.

“Sometimes in life, you find you really want to do something, and everybody you know and respect tells you not to,” she said.

Her passion for farming began as a schoolgirl when she would do calf rearing before and after school. “I was just passionate about it. No calves got sick on my watch,” she said.

From humble beginnings, including 15 suckler cows, a derelict farm, no buildings and no fencing, Mrs Batters has built a successful diversified farming business near Salisbury.

She farms more than 300 head of cattle, including a pedigree herd of Aberdeen Angus and Herefords and a wedding venue. Her friends now tell her she was right to pursue a career in farming.

Eclectic tracks

Mrs Batters, who is mother to 16-year-old twins, Holly and George, selected an eclectic selection of music for her appearance.

She chose Welsh crooner Tom Jones’s Green Green Grass of Home for when she is away with work and staying in hotels.

The Proclaimers’ 500 Miles was chosen, Mrs Batters explained to Laverne, because it “always makes me smile”. It also reminds her of the past and the good times to come at her Tithe Barn when the dancefloor is “packed with people having the time of their life, getting married, celebrating”.

Mrs Batters included Rocky theme tune Eye of the Tiger in her line-up. She said it helped her get over the line when running the last mile of a marathon. She has run three 26.2 milers and raised more than £50,000 for charities, including Farm Africa.

The list included Bette Midler’s Wind Beneath My Wings to pay tribute to her mum for all her support, her NFU work colleagues and her friends “who have kept me in the air”.

Mrs Batters also included Silent Night in recognition of her son, George, being hospitalised aged five in December 2009, having been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

“His body shut had shut down, his veins had collapsed. He was in a very bad way,” she said.

She added: “I look at Christmas now in a very different light to what I have done previously.”