Farmer plans to buy fertiliser with £30,000 lottery win

A lucky livestock farmer who scooped £30,000 on the lottery plans to spend his winnings on… bags of fertiliser for his fields.

Bob Atkinson, 77, and his wife Margaret were gobsmacked when they found out their BB12 postcode had been drawn in the People’s Postcode Lottery.

The couple plan to spend the windfall on fertiliser to spread across 40ha of grassland in Padiham, Lancashire.

See also: Dairy adviser warns against reducing fertiliser to balance books

When People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Judie McCourt knocked on the door and presented them with the golden envelope, Mr Atkinson was lost for words.

His wife said: “Oh lovely, great. Wow, that’s a lot.”

But Mr Atkinson’s thoughts turned to the soaring input costs for fertilisers and fuels.

Nearly £1,000/t

He said: “We need some fertiliser for spring and that’s gone up to nearly £1,000 a tonne. So that’s one of the first things we’ll need to buy.”

The farmer went on to talk about his concerns around growing enough grass for his livestock this year.

“We were thinking we might have to manage without the fertiliser,” he said.

“It would have been a bit of a worry whether we could get enough grass without it. But with this bit of help, we’ll probably be able to buy some.

“The area of grass we cut is around 100 acres [40ha]. We need it to keep these animals going.”

“We have about 50 cattle, 150 sheep and a number of horses on livery. That’s our life, that’s what we do.”

‘He’ll buy some sheep’

Mrs Atkinson admitted she “did not feel so good” about her husband’s spending plans and joked: “I know what he will do with it – he’ll buy some sheep.”

Mr Atkinson has been farming all his life. He was raised on the farm next door, and the couple moved to their current property more than 50 years ago.

Ms McCourt congratulated the couple on their win. “I’m delighted for Bob and Margaret,” she said.

“It was amazing to get a glimpse of the life they lead on the farm. On top of getting the fertiliser, I hope they enjoy spending the win and treat themselves to something special.”