This section provides information on farming for people outside the industry, such as journalists and marketing professionals.
If you would like to use any of the photographs from the gallery or ask us a farming-related question, send an email to: info@britishagriculturemarketing.co.uk.
Farmers are our heroes
But very few people get to meet farmers, or speak to them at length, as farmers are often busy working on the farm, driving tractors, rounding up stock, feeding animals or checking on crops.
We have added some farmer profiles in this section so that visitors to the site can get an insight into the lives of ordinary farming families.
Alistair owns an 1,800-acre hill farm in Dumfriesshire. The land was bought by his father in 1966 and supports 900 Cheviot ewes, 30 Galloway cows and a full-time shepherd.
Favourite jobs:
"Selecting the ewes' lambs to keep for stock, closely followed by seeing cows and calves heading out to the hills for the summer."
Least favourite jobs:
"Facing a freezing rain driven in on the east wind when you have hundreds of ewes lambing outdoors." And:
"Selling what you know to be an exceptional product at a mass-commodity price."
"Unthank Farm, as the name suggests, is a hard place with only 70 acres flat enough to take a tractor. The farm lies across the main valley giving access from Dumfriesshire to the Borders and covers both sides of the river Ewes for two miles. The river is an important spawning ground for sea trout and salmon running the river Esk up to the town of Langholm, and in recent years has been repopulated by otters.
"The Cheviot sheep, which had lived tied to the land for uncounted generations, were culled in the foot-and-mouth epidemic, leaving us to restock. We maintained some links with the past by repurchasing 90 of our ewe lambs sold to a lowland farm the previous year. From these we have slowly regained our previous numbers.
"The land rises to 1,600 feet and supports growing numbers of roe deer, and regularly welcomes visits from a herd of wild goats that move between five or six of the neighbouring farms. We have attempted to increase heather cover and bird populations by managing the farm in a Countryside Premium Scheme for the last five years and are gradually seeing both increase.
"Our shepherd, Willie Moffat, has been with us for over 30 years and saw his stock reach the highest levels of success at the annual breed ram sale before foot-and-mouth. His skill has seen us make real progress in rehefting the sheep back onto the hill ground; a task that many said would be impossible."
"A reflection of the changing importance of farming is that the full-time workforce on the farm has dropped from three or four in 1966 to only one today. The traditional system of livestock being bred on the hill and passed down the chain towards the consumer through other farmers, auctioneers, butchers and retailers depended on the consumer paying a price that they would find unacceptable today. A system where everyone apart from the producer takes profit cannot be sustained and has forced us to try to sell our product direct to the consumer. The surprise is that doing so is immensely rewarding, genuinely profitable and brings pleasure not only to us, but also to our customers.
"Our way of life has always been based on producing the very best we can from what we have. The future will demand that we take that product to the customer who is prepared to pay for it and we change in response to their needs, not those of a bureaucrat wrapped up in a quango jammed in the pocket of a supermarket."
Footnote: Unthank Farm has its own website at Busbylamb
John Cresswell is a tenant farmer looking after 2,200 acres of land under cereal crops and grazed by 1,085 sheep and 80 cattle. He lives with his wife and two children on the farm.
Favourite jobs:
“Turning out ewes and young lambs on a warm spring day.” And:
“Seeing healthy crops emerge from the ground.”
Least favourite jobs:
“Picking boulders out of the front of the combine.” And:
“Selling crops or animals at a loss.”
"Newlands Farm extends to about 2,200 acres in the Bamburgh area of Northumberland, with most of the land rented. It is a beautiful and diverse landscape supporting 122 acres of mature deciduous woodland, with a further 33 acres of trees planted over the last 10 years, mainly in small pockets. Around 1,180 acres are cropped for cereals (400 of which are in organic conversion) and about 865 acres are grazed by sheep and beef cattle (mainly under bird-friendly Countryside Stewardship arrangements).
"There are 29km of mature thorn hedges, with a further 4,900 metres planted over the last 10 years, which support a wide variety of wildlife. The farm maintains nearly 19km of traditional drystone walling, while the farm boundaries contain an incredible 21km of watercourses from ditches to rivers. Some of these watercourses are capable of supporting large sea trout, and are home to an increasing otter population. The farm is crossed by 9km of public footpaths and bridleways.
"Graham, our stockman, lives with his family in one of the farm cottages and helps us to look after the 1,085 Scottish mules and Texel cross sheep, and 80 suckler cattle."
"Farming is a marathon and not a sprint. For example, a decision to change a breed of bull taken today will probably not result in saleable beef on the shop shelf for nearly two-and-a-half years. Very few make quick money and those that try usually fail. This is probably why by far the biggest majority of those in and around farming are such a pleasure to work with – and may perhaps in part explain why there is such a gulf between the attitudes of growers and supermarkets.
"Farming is increasingly controlled by bureaucrats and politicians who not only know very little about the management of land, but frequently have very little interest in learning about it. This makes the administration of farms increasingly difficult and unrewarding.
"We work within one of the most prosperous societies in the world, among an increasingly affluent population showing much more interest in the food that they eat. Successfully supplying food to meet people's needs and desires is both challenging and rewarding."
Judie is a third-generation tenant farmer. She looks after 120 Holstein dairy cows, 100 beef cattle and 300 acres of arable crops. The family farming roots go back to the 1500s.
Favourite jobs:
“Seeing a sick animal nursed back to health – cows or calves.” And:
“Harvesting when you get no machinery breakdowns.”
Least favourite jobs:
“Milking on a wet, winter Sunday afternoon. I have a love-hate relationship with cows because they are so time-consuming, but love working with them.” And:
“Paperwork and bureaucracy.”
"Oakley Bank Farm, on the Northamptonshire/ Oxfordshire border, is a traditional 650-acre mixed farm. My grandfather took over the tenancy of two farms, Manor and Oakley Bank Farm, in 1952. A well-known breeder of shire horses in Lancashire, he moved all his livestock and machinery on a train from Lancaster to Northampton after the Second World War. For many years, my father and mother lived at Oakley Bank, while my grandparents lived at Manor Farm.
"Oakley Bank Farm is part of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme. Strips of land round the edges of fields are sown with a pollen-and-nectar mix to provide rich wildlife habitats.
"As a result, there have been large increases in the number of brown hares, skylarks, barn owls, insects and butterflies. Muntjac deer have visited the farm for many years, but more recently fallow deer have started grazing the field margins. Unusually, the farm has seen an increase in the number of buzzards as well.
"In addition, the farm is home to over half a dozen badger setts; one covering half an acre of land. The badgers are nice to see on the farm, but live right in the middle of the dairy cow grazing area, which is worrying. These are healthy badgers, but with TB creeping closer and closer to the area, and since badgers don't understand the concept of boundaries, I feel like I'm sitting on a time bomb. I worry that our long-established herd of dairy cows might soon be destroyed. These cows are descended from the original dairy stock brought to the farm by grandfather.
"Oakley Bank has very heavy clay soils. Over 300 years ago there was even a clay pit on the farm to make bricks. The heavy soil type makes it very difficult land to farm. If the weather is against us, particularly heavy rain, it makes the ground very wet. Three years ago we should have been putting in rice.”
"Historically, farmers in the open rolling Northamptonshire and Leicestershire countryside planted their crops in rows on long ridges where the soil was dryer. The remains of these ridges and furrows can still be seen today. One of these areas has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) to protect the diverse plant habitat of rare orchids.
"The farm already has several freshwater springs and ponds that support frogs, toads and grassnakes. Three years ago, I dug a half-an-acre pond for wildlife and stocked it with trout. This is now used by tufted ducks, mallards, Mandarin ducks, Canada geese and swans.
"A local lady runs a llama trekking business, which brings visitors right through the middle of the farm. The llamas carry the picnic tables, chairs and food for the guests to their chosen picnic site and the trekkers often stop to hear news about the dairy cows.
"Johnny, the tractor driver and stockman, has worked at Oakley Bank for over 20 years. He lives in one of the farm cottages. Stephen, the herdsman, also lives with his wife on the farm, while their two grown-up sons have moved away.
"The farm also employs temporary labour to help with the harvesting of the wheat, which goes for milling to make bread flour. There are also 40 acres of maize for winter cattle feed. The rest of the farm is all grass.
"Dad is semi-retired and is now the farm ‘go-for’. He helps to sort out problems and generally provides extra help, while her mum does calf feeding in the mornings."
"I am passionate about the industry I work in, but am incensed by the hypocrisy of politicians and supermarket bosses who tie us up so tightly in bureaucracy and then waffle on about ‘sustainability’. There is nothing sustainable about getting 16p for a litre of milk or £50 for a ton of wheat. At the same time, the costs of running our farms are rising, due in part to the increasing amount of regulation we have to comply with.
"As far as the markets are concerned, I don't have a problem with world prices if all our input costs are the same.
"Healthy competition and the recent CAP reform (despite Margaret Beckett’s and the Rural Payment Agency’s incompetence in paying the subsidy) is a good thing. The removal of subsidies linked to production has helped farmers to think about the direction they take their businesses in and will bring some stability to the market. But the EU’s ideology behind the CAP reform - that enough farmers will get out of farming and use their subsidy to invest and diversify into other forms of income and therefore prices will rise for farmers who stay in - is a very risky strategy. An enormous amount of farmers will have to move away from farming for it to make a difference to prices, and only a small percentage can diversify into something else.
"Eventually, they hope to be able to abolish subsidies completely, but in order to survive we have to be able to farm intensively, which is not good for farmers, the environment or consumers. So, the politicians cannot have it both ways: high-quality, safe food produced on the doorstep, or a healthy environment. If they want both, they will have to continue to support us."
Peter Lundgren lives with his wife and two children on a 100-acre arable farm in Lincolnshire. Growing mainly wheat, sugar beet and potatoes, Peter sees himself as a first-generation farmer, as his father was a 'dairy' farmer from Sussex.
Favourite jobs:
"Producing potatoes and pork - especially undertaking the butchering and marketing of my produce and supplying it to enthusiastic customers."
Least favourite jobs:
(Peter hasn’t told us this yet!)
"White Home Farm is situated in Branston Fen, on the northernmost reaches of the Fens, close to Lincoln. The soil is black peat and capable of growing a wide range of crops. Wheat, sugar beet and potatoes are traditional crops grown by farms in the area.
"Typically for the fens, the farm has no hedges and few trees. But it does have an extensive network of drainage ditches and dykes that support a surprising amount of wildlife, including marsh and hen harriers, and breeding lapwings. The farm is also home to barn owls.
"At just 100 acres, White Home Farm is nowadays considered ‘too small’ to be viable for producing commodity crops. So to counter this lack of scale, we have developed local markets with restaurants and individuals for the produce. We grow Pink Fir Apple potatoes, an old-fashioned variety of potato that is renowned for its flavour but is incredibly knobbly. This causes problems with mechanical harvesting, so it is not commonly grown anymore.
"We have recently established a herd of Gloucester Old Spot pigs in response to enquiries from local restaurants for pork of superior taste and texture. While not an organic farm, White Home Farm maintains high levels of animal welfare and crop husbandry that customers have confidence in through their personal relationship with us."
“Farming leaders are quick to repeat the mantra that 'the public doesn’t care as long as it’s cheap'. This is patently false, and in my experience, the public has a surprising depth of understanding of agricultural issues and sympathy for the pressures on farmers and the countryside. They understand that there is more to 'good value' than just cheapness.
"I see the increasing public interest in where their food has come from and how it has been produced as a very positive development. British farmers should be in a position to capitalise on this public awareness, but sadly our Government and farming leaders see the future of farming as producers of low-cost anonymous raw materials so that others in the food chain can 'add value' and reap enormous profits.
"It seems to me that some farming leaders and agribusinesses are using the food chain to keep farmers and consumers apart. Every link in the chain forces us further apart until now there are farmers who wouldn’t recognise a consumer if they fell over one; and there are consumers who believe that farmers are subsidy junkies who drive around in Range Rovers yelling 'Gerroff my land!', both images are desperately wrong and I think we, both farmers and consumers, need to question who propagated this propaganda and who gains from keeping farmers and consumers apart.
"I’m convinced that, if only farmers and consumers could join forces, there is little that governments, supermarkets or international trade organisations could do in the face of such concerted public opposition.
"The pressures on family farmers and the rural communities they support from forces outside their control are bad. Our government has consistently failed to recognise the damage being caused by globalisation of the food market, and our farming leaders have failed to sanction those perpetrating this.
"I hate the word 'efficiency' when applied to farming. Government and economists see efficient farming solely as the production of raw materials at low cost. I see efficient farmers as producers of safe, healthy food with high animal welfare and environmental standards that support the rural economy and communities, and enhance the environment.
"So, it saddens me that when my children (or any young people from whatever background) are ready to start a career in farming, there may not be a viable industry left for them. Having said this, there are a lot of good, committed people from farming and urban backgrounds who are campaigning for a future for farming and the countryside. It is this alliance of parties with a common interest that gives the best chance of creating a viable sustainable future. Gradually, I detect a shift in public attitudes and a growing awareness that not all farmers are subsidy junkies. Indeed, many people are beginning to recognise that farmers and the countryside, like consumers themselves, are victims of the greed of the industry giants."
Teddy Maufe is a second-generation tenant farmer growing malting barley, wheat, oats, sugar beet, oil-seed rape and potatoes. The arable farm covers 1,100 acres of land in a truly beautiful part of Norfolk, just off the North coast. He lives in the farmhouse with his wife Sally and their four children.
Favourite jobs:
"Seeing a year’s farming work come to fruition as the barley pours off the grain trailer into the barn." And:
"A fine spring day on the farm when all the crops have a fresh green hue full of hope."
Least favourite jobs:
"Clearing a blockage in the sugar beet harvester on my hands and knees in the mud with a cold November drizzle trickling down my back." And:
"Continually growing crops at break-even point or below."
Branthill Farm covers 1,100 acres of mainly light land on the Holkham Estate. Neighbouring Holkham Park has extensive woodland, so many of the farm’s fields have wonderful vista out to sea. Unlike some parts of Norfolk, the area is not flat, but has a gently rolling landscape of hills and valleys formed from the past ice ages.
Malting barley has been grown in the region since Shakespeare’s times. The light, sandy soil over chalk, combined with the coastal microclimate, makes it one of the best places on the planet for growing the crop. Winter malting barley goes for brewing fine ales, while the spring barley goes to produce whiskey. The wheat is sent to the feed mill up the road, and the conservation-grade oats are grown for Jordans cereals and crunch bars. The sugar beet is processed by British Sugar for the ‘Silver Spoon’ brand and the oil-seed rape provides an alternative-energy fuel. The potatoes are grown on Branthill Farm for crisps by Teddy's neighbour. This mixture of crops provides a good varied rotation - vital for successful crops on the light land.
In addition, Branthill has several wood-copses across the farm - a legacy from the 19th-century marl pits. Marl is the chalk-like subsoil that was spread over the light topsoil to give it some 'body'. These disused pits have been planted with trees to form special wildlife habitats. All the fields are around 30 acres in size and are surrounded by mature hedges. Tragically, the predominant hedgerow elm trees were lost to Dutch elm disease in the 1970s, so hardwood leaders are now being grown above the hedge-line to provide future 'big' trees.
The farm has a high population of hares, English and French partridges and other birds. Last season, three pairs of marsh harriers bred successfully, much to everyone's satisfaction. In the winter, literally thousands of migrating pink footed geese eat on the harvested sugar beet tops during the day, retiring to the nearby salt marshes at dusk.
“Farming has taught me to respect nature and work in harmony with it. Over the years, I have learnt that patience really is a virtue during a 'period of wet weather'.
"Since 1997, UK farming has been suffering from a huge depression, following many years of comparative prosperity. The pendulum has swung far too far in a negative direction now. It is soul destroying to nurture a crop over the farming year only to see it sold for a loss. And yet - and here’s the rub - know it will help make some big retailer a big profit.
"The present Government has very laudable ambitions to increase the biodiversity of our countryside and generally raise environmental standards. The point they miss along the way is that if the core farming business is no longer profitable, how can we hope to deliver these 'environmental goodies'. I sum this up by saying: 'Bankrupt farmers make poor environmentalists.' In the future, I believe that farmers, aided by de-coupled subsidy payments, will only put seed in the ground when there’s a viable contract to make it all worthwhile. At Branthill, we knew that we had to do something to keep the ship afloat, but were determined that any new venture must be linked in some way to our core business, farming.
"Observing how the great wine-producing countries of the world show and promote their produce to the public at source, this gave us the idea of doing the same thing with beer. So, after much work and effort, we opened a Real Ale Shop on the farm. Our malting barley is sold to nine Norfolk micro-brewers who produce bottle-conditioned real ale. By using the local floor maltings we can provide total traceability (one of the brewers even quotes the field grid reference on the bottle label).
"The Real Ale Shop has been a great success and now stocks more than 40 different local ales, and helps to rejoin the public with British agriculture, but this venture alone is not the answer the farms' deep-rooted problems."
Rare Breeds Survival Trust
This is the leading charity protecting Britain's native breeds of rare and endangered farm animals.
Big Barn
A company promoting local food direct to consumers. 100% good news.
Farm Crisis Network
Farm Crisis Network runs a helpline and support network for farmers suffering from stress or farm pressures. The staff operate at the coalface in rural communities.
National Farmers Union Scotland
Country Land and Business Association
Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers
National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs
Women's Food and Farming Union
Small and Family Farms Alliance (SFFA)
email - mhart@fsbusiness.co.uk
Phone 07859 075151
National Farmers Union (NFU)...if you really need to speak to someone, try directory enquiries.
We recommend that farmers and local producers steer clear of quangoes and Government-run agencies. They have the usual suspects sitting on their committees or advisory boards (i.e. supermarkets or multinational food processors).
Food Standards Agency (pro-GM)
Food From Britain (Unilever)
English Farming and Food Partnerships (supermarket supply chain)
Food Chain Centre (supermarket supply chain)
Red Meat Industry Forum
Meat and Livestock Commission
Milk Development Council
British Potato Council
Home Grown Cereals Authority
Natural England (formerly The Countryside Agency and English Nature)
The Environment Agency
English Heritage
Visit Britain (British Airways)
England:
East Midlands Fine Foods
North West Fine Foods
Northumbria Larder
www.northumbria-larder.co.uk
South East Food Group Partnership
www.buylocalfood.co.uk
Heart of England Fine Foods
www.heff.co.uk
Taste of the West
www.tasteofwest.co.uk
Tastes of Anglia
www.tasteofanglia.com
The Regional Food Group of Yorkshire and Humber
www.foodyorkshire.com
Scotland:
Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise
Scottish Food and Drink
www.scottishfoodanddrink.com
Wales:
Wales The True Taste
Things that people have said that have amused, saddened or amazed us (its our small way of digging at the ghastly officials too!).
"DEFRA is like a wobbley stool with three spindly legs supporting the rural economy, environment and farming. But now the legs have all fallen off and its like a demented pogo stick crashing around on farmers and rural businesses".
- Farmer after the Single Farm Payment fiasco
“I’ve only got 30 sheep but I had two lambings this year. The trouble was a helicopter flew over and put the ram off. So I had to get another ram to finish off.”
- Devon farmer
"The Government does not have a 'lower threshold of the number of dairy farmers or beef farmers' that it is prepared to see go out of business."
- Brian Bender, Permanent Secretary at DEFRA, Committee of Public Accounts, Oct 2004.
Damien Hurst has nothing on me!
I create ghostly pictures of death, offically sanctioned.
I have to believe this mass sacrifice of animals I love is worth it.
Or is it the farmers who are the real sacrifice?
Like the animals, they take it meekly and obediently often thanking me for doing it.
After I killed 356 cattle in one family's dairy herd they sent flowers to my wife.
These are the people who are giving up all, in the hope it will save others.
- Vetinary inspector, Fields of Fire, warmwell.com
"I am not a farmer or landowner but the Foot and Mouth outbreak here in Devon affected my family and me more than most. How many farmers had less than 24 hours to vacate their homes possibly never to return? How many landowners gave their children an hour to pack one small cardboard box of toys before being forced to leave their home like World War II refugees? The hell that my wife, children and I had to endure can only be imagined. The misery was down solely to the arrogance, rudeness, thoughtlessness and sheer bullying of one organisation - MAFF. On the evening of 5th April a representative of the MOD phoned me and asked if I would be available the following morning to speak to regarding some roadsworks on the lane that runs outside the house. This needless to say seemed strange, so I contacted some of my neighbours who joined my wife and me at our house the following day. As we sat in our sitting room, we were told that MAFF and the MOD were to tarmac 'our private lane' for a distance of approximatley 600 metres. From right through a field gate to an area of 100 acres, dig 18 burial pits each the size of a football pitch, slaughter animals on site and then bury up to 400,000 animals there. These animals would be transported to the Ash Moor burial site in upwards of 10,000 lorries, each passing within 6 ft of our front door. The MOD officer strongly advised us to leave as soon as possible as life would not be 'worth living' and that work would start the next morning - less than 24 hrs hence. In a direct line these pits were to be and three are within 200 metres of our house. All this information, given in such an unexpected manner, was met by stunned silence. I am an ex-Metropolitan Police Officer. It takes a lot to upset me. In the room with me was an ex-Army Officer who had spent many years in Northern Ireland, two farmers, a nurse and a couple more of our neighbours. Not a group of people to be easily shocked but we were. The Army Officer (who through the next few weeks of upset and mayhem we were forced to endure was the only honourable person we dealt with) did not know that the lane that it intended to tarmac was private. He organised at our request a public meeting the following morning, the 7th at Petrockstowe Village Hall. At the meeting, attended by many hundreds of people and the media, I tried to speak on three occasions but burst into tears of sadness, frustration, helplessness and anger each time. After the meeting, I had an appointment at our house with a surveyor. He told me point blank that our 130-year-old lodge house would not stand the vibration of 10,000 lorries. And that was hoping that one did not hit the house. The house would not be habitable again - ever. Once this ill-conceived, panic driven, dangerous experiment was revaled to the general public in all its horror a tide of opposition began. Meetings started with MAFF and Imerys, the French company that own the local clay works (upon which the land covered by Ash Moor stands) to try to find an alternative access route that did not necessitate coming past our house in the middle of the night. The company sold MAFF the land, and if they had also given them access to the clay works in the first place instead of making them try to come down the private lane, I would not have had to cuddle my three children nightly as they cried themselves to sleep. Negotiations lasted for over a week during which time my wife and I had to find a house to move to. MAFF didn't prepare our children to not only move but possibly never to return or to take turns sleeping as the lack of trust we had in MAFF led us strongly to believe they would just steamroller a road past our house in the middle of the night. At 8am one morning the week following our first notification of this whole project, my two sons ran into our bedroom crying that there were lorries and workmen outside our house. There were in fact steamrollers, a JCB, a tarmac machine, lorries, vans and lots of people. Before I could stop them, the JCB took the top six inches off the lane. I was told point blank they were to turn our un-metalled lane into a tarmac road. Our solictor was quickly on the scene and work ceased, though calming a distraught 13, 10 and 6 year old took a lot longer. To now cut a very long, frightening, upsetting story short. MAFF finally gained access to the clay works but at what cost? Emotionally, we know. My children have never seen me cry before April 2001. They have now. Lots. If it were not for the fact that my wife and I love each other so very much and support one another to be good parents, I dread to think how this could have affected my family. Short-term, my children didn't eat, sleep, learn, play or do anything 'normally'. I sympathise with every refugee I see on the news now; like them I was living in fear for my family and home. Long-term, I don't know what effect it will have on any of us but like the 'Sword of Damacles' the Ash Moor pit is still hanging over us ready to be used at the whim of politicians. No-one knows what we have been through. To lose your animals must be soul destroying but to have your home ripped out from under you at a moment's notice is mind, body and soul destroying. Many, many farmers, some unknown to me, phoned to give me support and for that we will be eternally grateful".
- Voices of Devon, warmwell.com
"This is so quite dreadful, I can hardly bear it. It does not affect me personally as I have no animals susceptible to the disease, but only two minutes down the road they are tonight burning the animals which were slaughtered yesterday. The fire is at least 200 yards in length and lighting up the sky for miles around. A nightmare scenario."
- Fields of Fire, wamwell.com
"The 'Forest' sheep have gone from our village. I don't know if they have been rounded up or slaughtered. It seems so very strange and deserted without them. They are still running free in Yorkley and most other villages round and about. John went to Coleford this afternoon and he noticed a marked decrease in the number of sheep wondering free, except actually in our village.
- Fields of Fire, warmwell.com
"My neighbour is an elderly widower who lives alone and has no family. He doesn't relate well to people, prefering to 'keep himself to himself' and has few, if any, friends (of the human kind that is). His friends are the sheep. He doesn't own any, but he has befriended all the ones that wander about the village. He feeds them and talks to them and fusses with them. They all tend to hang about his gate. He only has to go outside for them all to come running. I can't imagine what his life will be like now that he will lose his only friends in the world."
- Fields of Fire, wamwell.com
If you are a journalist and want to speak to a real farmer, feel free to call the farmers below. We have put up a list of farmers who are happy speaking to the media. If they can't answer all your questions, they will put you in touch with someone else who may be able to help.
John Cresswell: 01668 213310
Lamb, beef and cereal farmer, Northumberland. Very well informed on latest thinking from pea-brained ministers.
Judie Allen: 01327 860 213 or 07967 024 031
Dairy, beef and arable tenant farmer, Northamptonshire. Former editor of British Dairying magazine, so knows everything there is to know about cows.
Peter Lundgren: 07751 112303
Arable farmer, Lincolnshire. Helps run FARM and campaigns for GM-free food.
Derek Mead: 07768 232236
Dairy farmer, Somerset. Sits on the NFU Council, so knows what is going on. Is passionate about 'saving' the tradiational family-run dairy farms.
Michael Hart: 01726 843210 or 07859 075151.
Farms a small family farm in Cornwall. Michael has lots of contacts with other family farmers from India to Africa and America, so can give a global perspective.
Chris Jones: 01788 510866
Farms in Northamptonshire. Helps run Farm Crisis Network and is on the front line of helping farming families in the UK. Has earlier experience working with African farmers.