Chris Bennett: Return to UK marks start of exciting chapter

The first piece I ever wrote for Farmers Weekly back in 2021 was about my ambition to return from New Zealand to my family’s farm.

Those plans had already been put back a year by the pandemic, and since then had been further delayed by the birth of our daughter.

But now we can say it has finally happened, October 2022 will forever be the month we returned to the family farm.

See also: Chris Bennett – high-yell heroes should be championed

About the author

Chris Bennett

Chris Bennett manages the arable and beef family farm he grew up on in Louth, Lincolnshire. He returned to the farm in 2022 after spending several years farming in the South Island of New Zealand.

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Having a farm to come home to is an incredible privilege.

I realise some tenant farmers and others without access to land can only dream of that kind of opportunity, but the transition from farm child to farmer comes with its own set of challenges.

It is a big leap and one that many readers will have experience of.

Before now, I have only worked on the family farm for short periods, filling gaps around education and working elsewhere.

This makes for the strange situation where I feel like I know the farm I worked on overseas better than the farm I grew up on.

While I’ve been away the business has taken on new land that I’ve never visited and bought new machinery that I have never operated. 

New Zealand felt like home and the process of dismantling our lives over recent weeks has been tough. It will take time for England to once again feel like our home, but we will get there.

There is a mental shift, both personally and in others’ eyes, that needs to happen as I take on a more managerial role.

The change from being the boy who rogues wild oats and cleans the grainstore to somebody who makes decisions is a big one, but is something I now feel equipped for.

I went overseas to learn how others farm and have come back with a new perspective and new opinions. The hard part is going to be putting those learnings into practice.

While the challenges of succession will undoubtedly be tough at times, I am sure that if we can cope with a five-month-old baby on 30 hours of flights, we can cope with anything.