What next for British farmers?

Farming has a future – let’s not waste it, says Fen Tiger

Much of my time over recent months has been spent thinking or writing about farming families and their struggle to keep their chins and bank balance above water.

With an ageing and declining farming population, we overlook the need to attract new entrants to farming at our peril. They are the life blood for the future of farming and we need to welcome them with open arms.

Industry links

It is unusual for rank outsiders to join the farming world. Nearly all new entrants to farming come from established farming backgrounds – or have at least some link or connection with the industry.

As new generations of farmers arrive, some of these potential new entrants may well be questioning whether the farming lifestyle is for them. It can be an extremely rewarding life – but it can also be isolating and is certainly not for everyone.

The phrase my family kept repeating during my early years was the well-worn refrain that farming is “not just a job, it is a way of life”. That may be so, but there are certainly easier ways of earning a living.

Non-farming people I speak to are amazed at the low rate of return from capital employed in farming. It’s certainly possible to earn more money stacking shelves in a local supermarket with hours to suit than working a 15-hour day during busy times.

New money

It’s similar with youngsters with banking/accountancy and media backgrounds. Many of them can earn considerably more money than new farming entrants can ever dream of having.

I have no doubt that the TV series Clarkson’s Farm has had a huge impact in attracting youngsters into agriculture. It has also played a big part in breaking down the stereotypical view of farmers as straw-chewing yokels leaning on a farm gate.

It’s a high-tech sector – whether arable or livestock production. And technology attracts younger people. Pushing buttons on a tractor seat or helping agronomists control diseases in cereal crops will create perhaps more farm scientists than farm workers.

In the past, the government has played a role in attracting new entrants to farming whether from a young school age or direct funding. Unfortunately, this government as we know encourages the exact opposite.

Inheritance saga

Many are lucky enough to have a farming background will no doubt be asset-rich and cash-poor. And with the inheritance tax saga rumbling on, early tax advice will vital for most of us who want to keep the farm on.

Access to land remains the big challenge for people wanting to get into farming. There are no easy answers. But one solution could be to look “outside the box” to alternative business models.

Hydroponics, for example, is gaining ground and traditional methods of farming could come under pressure. Today’s generation face a battle to make food production profitable and technology must surely help.

I have no doubt my generation had the best of the farming years in the 1980s and 1990s but failed to recognise this at the time. So good luck to all the new farmers out there. Aim to thrive, not just survive – and do make farming profitable, not just popular.