Family of farming-mad kid strike gold on tractor hunt
© Charles Goadby
With the school summer holidays in full swing, parents of farm and tractor-mad children have appealed on social media to find local farmers and contractors at work in the fields, in the hope of catching some of the action for their little ones to observe safely from afar.
One mum took to local community group Norfolk Countryside Photos on Facebook and asked: “Does anyone know where there’s going to be some farming action today please? Before my five-year-old makes me drive around Norfolk looking for a combine!”
Farming near Nuneaton, North Warwickshire, dairy and arable farmer Charles Goadby also regularly encounters families with tractor-mad children, and whenever possible, makes time to welcome them onto his farm.
See also: How farmers are helping to educate school children about agriculture
“We’ve had this a couple of times, so it’s not unusual for us,” he explains. “Our farm is quite open to a very busy main road, and people often stop to look at the cows.
“If I’m not overly busy, I’ll invite them into the yard to see the cows up close.”
On this occasion, Charles was returning from bale carting, and spoke to the young family that had stopped.
“They said that they had promised to take their son out to see a tractor because he was just tractor obsessed.
“My nephew had just come in from ploughing and was power washing the tractor, so I said ‘come on, do you want to come and sit in it?’ and his face just lit up.
“You could see the pure excitement, not just from him, but from his parents too.”
Explaining that backing British farming is a two-way relationship, Charles said the industry should do more to engage with the public.
“It cost us five minutes, but will give them memories that will last for years.
“As far as I’m concerned, without the public buying our goods, I’d be unemployed, homeless and bankrupt! We’ve all got to work together.
“It’s down to us as individuals all to do our own little bit – it can actually make a really big difference.”