Opinion: Farming’s main ingredients? Family and cake

For future reference, if you arrive on our farm and it takes you more than 30 seconds to put your wellies on, I’ve already made a full judgement of you and it’s not looking great.

In his prime, my father could manage it without even breaking step. Not only that, his flat cap, coat and overalls were all donned quicker than you could say “the cows are out”.

It was quite the sight – agricultural ballet at its finest. Only matched by the “stone-in-the-boot quickstep”, or the “I-accidently-just-jabbed-myself-with-local-anaesthetic-and-my-hand-is-numb freestyle”.

However, time takes its toll on us all, and in agriculture it can be fairly brutal.

Nowadays, with a back twisted like the stanchion of our tractor shed from bouncing around on unsprung tractor seats most of his life, watching my father move can be a slightly less enjoyable sight.

In fact, it’s best to leave the immediate vicinity.

After a few minutes of fighting a dodgy zip “designed by people with baby fingers” and failing to successfully match up the corresponding poppers on his overalls, he then realises he’s left his phone on the kitchen table and the tension in the air hits cumulonimbus levels.

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Farming is family

He’s adamant I’d get on quicker without him, which might sometimes be true, but in my eyes farming is family. Having my parents on the doorstep is the way an agricultural life should be lived.

I’m not just talking about free childcare, free roast dinners, free dog kennels, free organic vegetables and an intravenous drip of sponge cakes.

Farming is a lonely business and having your loved ones to share the lows and the mediums makes the long days worthwhile.

This year brings with it some hefty changes to our business. Our grazing approved finishing unit is being torn from us, along with our Basic Payment Scheme safety net.

The weight is now firmly on my shoulders to weather the next storm.

It’s at moments like these you realise just how much you rely on the previous generation’s knowledge and understanding.

While my father grows ever more frustrated with his reduced physical prowess, his ability to carry a 15ft gate single-handed isn’t going to make or break our business. His decades of experience, however, are now needed more than ever.

As long as the cricket isn’t on, the door is always open and I can offload some of my endless issues on my parents.

A problem shared is most definitely a problem halved, and if shared with a slice of cake, you can knock off another 25% to boot. 

I once read your brain uses more than 20% of your daily energy.

It’s safe to assume that increases dramatically when you are trying to understand why the Rural Payments Agency has decided to remap half your farm, or how you can justify buying the field next door when you seem to only be able to afford own-brand baked beans.

Experience and energy – a powerful combination

Therefore I see keeping those calories up as a critical part of my management strategy.

Apparently life is made up of three resources: time, money and energy.

When you’re young, you’ve got bucketloads of energy and time to kill, but no money.

As you reach middle age, hopefully the bank balance looks a little healthier and there is still some fuel in the tank, but squeezing work and family life into 24 hours seems almost impossible.

Finally, as you reach full maturity, you can reap the financial rewards of the past and have time to rest, but just having the energy to get up off your reclining chair with integrated heating and massage functions can be a real challenge. Maybe this is why family businesses can work so well?

I’m lucky enough to be part of a larger family partnership. With about 200 years of farming know-how sat around the table at meetings, we aren’t short of experience.

As the next generation, full of ideas and enthusiasm, gain the confidence to steer the business in new directions, the more senior members of the family are quietly sat in the passenger seat, full of encouragement and advice, with a palm hovering over the handbrake, just in case.

The combination of experience and energy is incredibly powerful and is a pleasure to witness.

Knowledge exchange

As an industry, we are constantly talking about the importance of the next generation and how to encourage new entrants, with their ideas and drive.

But we should be just as focused on how to ensure they get access to the incredible knowledge and experience that already exists.

As I sit here with the computer at arm’s length so it remains in focus, it’s dawning on me just how quickly the years fly by.

I already feel a slight disconnect with modern technology, and it’s a minor victory if I’ve navigated the night without needing a wee.

I just hope I can give my children the encouragement and opportunities I’ve been blessed with.

My three-year-old announced last week she was going to become an astronaut clown.

I naively questioned whether she meant an astronaut and a clown, but I was rapidly put in my place with complete confidence. “No, Dad, I want to be a clown in space”.

I suppose life on the International Space Station must get pretty boring, so maybe she’s on to something.

Whatever she chooses, the door will always be open and there’ll be a slice of cake waiting.