I have done a lot of thinking over the past couple of days about the state of farming after reading 'English Pastoral' (my post a couple of days ago.)
Really what it is all about is Caring for our beautiful Countryside versus Money isn't it? The small farmers (in acreage not height), certainly in the past, have always seen themselves as Custodians of the Countryside - even if they have never put it into words. They needed - and wanted - to make a decent living, they hoped for a son to carry on after them, and they wanted - and expected- to work all day every day. The very word 'holiday' was anathema to them. Who would want to leave the beautiful fields with their constantly changing wild flowers, their nesting curlews, hearing the first cuckoo, watching a new calf/lamb/foal take its first steps in the grass and within a couple of minutes see it as 'home'?
But then 'progress' intervened. (Sadly wars always make us take giant leaps forward 'technically' - machinery gets more efficient and less liable to break downs. Everything takes a giant leap forward.) I think we got our first tractor in 1947 - a grey Fergie of course and it stayed in the barn, covered in dust and cobwebs when I came on the scene in 1993. We by then had another Fergie (by this time in use as the 'Mucker-outer) and an up to date tractor (for 'best').
We still made a couple of fields into hay (for old-times sake) and anyone in the neighbourhood who kept a horse knew they could come to us for their winter feed. When the farmer had cut, the sun had dried and the farmer had baled and led to the barn, my father in law, well into his eighties, would go round the two fields with his old wooden hay rake and 'scratch' every last blade/stalk of hay from the hedge bottoms.* He would spread it out on the field in the sun for the day and then collect it up (perhaps a couple of bales worth) to feed to some animal/s he thought would enjoy it (an off colour or newly calved cow?). Nothing was ever wasted.
Then along came the big contractors with their massive, expensive machinery and did the silaging - done in a day - or two at the most weather permitting (the one thing that doesn't change) and all the farmer had to do was lead in the bales and pay the bill.
Auction Mart (a mile down the road) every Friday to keep a keen eye on calf, cow, sheep prices and calculate the optimum time to take stock in to sell, talk to all the other countrymen, have your dinner with them in the canteen (run for years by the same woman who knew them all by their Christian names) and never a sign of anything other than a roast joint, a good stew or a beef pie (words like risotto, paella and the like were never heard in the canteen - they would have been seen as swear words).
And so it has gone on, year after year - small farmers dying, their farms sold usually to other bigger farmers to increase their acreage and usually in this area to increase the size of their milking herd.Bigger farms, bigger and more modern machinery, large sums borrowed from banks, increased production, diversification necessary in order to pay the bank each month, every single inch of the land used for increased production. And what of the wild flowers and the bees that need them? What of the becks and streams which used to have trout - and otters? Like every other industry - because yes, that is what farming has become, no longer just a way of life.
Yellow rattle, the scourge of grassland for every farmer, weakens grass so that wild flowers can increase and also the perfect flower for a particular butterfly to use to lay its eggs. Killed -farmers need every blade of grass.
It all boils down to money and it saddens me. No one is to blame - it seems to be the way of the world. Not just in farming - village shops have been replaced by supermarket delivery vehicles - a steady stream past my window every day. The day of the 'small' man - his own boss - working hard seems to be passing. We still have good, trustworthy plumbers, joiners, electricians, briklayers and the like. But no apprentices - I don't think there is such a thing officially. Now and then here lads pop up fresh from school working with established tradesmen. But I don't think the official word 'apprentice' exists (perhaps someone will correct me here).
Sorry to be moaning but I feel that progress (so called) has overtaken me - maybe it's my age- maybe I have become an anachronism. Can't we somehow find a middle way?
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19 comments:
It all sounds sad, but my Permaculture magazine came through the letterbox yesterday. And the message is don't give up. There are small farms going back to diverse farming Planting the hedgerows back again, sowing strips of wild flowers. It's all a question of education and speaking out. Just don't rely on the governments to sort it, it will be people who eventually will bring about change.
Amen. May mindful preservation of the landscapes and small creatures become a way of living once again.
We have 4 skinny acres that is mostly wooded and we feel like we're the custodians but we're now both 72.
Hugs!
A lot of families here in the United States keep the land in the family and lease it to farmers/farm managers. The are usually people they know well and not a corporate situation. Does that not happen in the UK? Amy
A few of my elderly farming relatives pulled out when the dairies stopped collecting milk churns and used tankers instead. There was the financial outlay for the refigerated storage tanks that the farmers has to install, and I understand that these now have to cope with two or even three-day collection, so the tanks have got bigger and bigger - more expense. But there was another reason too. There was no turning room for the huge tankers to turn into farm lanes, or do a complete turn on some of the farmyards. Some friends of mine have an access lane which has a bridge going over a single track railway, still in use. The bridge was too narrow for the proopsed tankers. With a son about to take over the farm, they took the decision to pay for a wider bridge rather than stop producing milk. A very long-term investment!!
There are still "apprentices" here for plumbing, electric, and other trades.
You're right to say not to rely on government, my observations over the past half century indicate that all the government will do is make life increasingly difficult for farmers. They appear to be ignorant of where food comes from with their headlong rush to either rewild everywhere or cover it with solar panels - either way will take land out of food production, and all of the noise coming out of the Netherlands seems to spell massive attacks on farmers there.
One thing that I do recall from the 1950s/60s was the tax dodge farm - there were ways of reducing tax bills if you owned/farmed land, and a number of wealthy individuals did this, with the farms more as a hobby than a profitable enterprise. What came of them when rules changed I have no idea - bought up for the larger holdings we see today probably.
I sometimes think that the Government is out of touch with rural life and what goes on in the countryside, as well as what many farmers have to cope with. They don't seem to understand how important it is to protect our woodlands, hedgerows, bees etc. No money is obtained from any of them and it costs too much to protect them. Green spaces are being built on at an alarming rate just adding to the problems.
It struck me both with this and the last post how your words have parallels in small businesses too, not only supermarkets. When I first went to work in Leeds in 1968 there were little businesses of all kinds everywhere, and most of them looked after the people that worked in them. They were little communities. Now central Leeds seems to be mainly about legal and financial services and drive their employees very hard.
Your post today reminds me of how much I loved watching Yorkshire Vet episodes. The farmers really love their animals and there was much talk of "the way it used to be" with small dairy and sheep farms. Having a small-town, non-farming background, I have been fascinated with the care of these "great and small" animals. I can't even imagine the scale near me in the US.
Many farms here now have fields full of solar panels, which I can't fault, if it makes them extra revenue.
My dad was an owner/grower at a greenhouse in our small northern town. Every day, he was a grower, bookkeeper, builder, retailer, wholesaler, fixer, and flower arranger, among any other task that popped up. I remember it fondly, but it wasn't an easy job, for sure.
Bonnie in Minneapolis
It may hearten you to know that apprenticeships have been making a comeback of late Weave. I still have my father's London indenture papers (as a printer in Longacre) but I am not sure indenture still exists. We train doctors for 6 or 7 years, but I don't think we can force them to stay in the UK and NHS after qualification, especially since they spend so much of their own money in training. Even nurses leave college in debt.
I think you mentioned a couple of times that it's all about money. When I was a child there were many farmers in the district. Now it's one farmer and a few other bigs with land in the district.
This is an excellent post, Weave, and the comments just as good.
Where i live, the small fsrms still thrive, simply because the terrain is not conducive to large machinery and agribusiness practices. But these small farms are dying too. People can't make their living from a small farm now, or at least the kind of living most people expect these days. There are some hopeful signs though. There are more CSA operations, for example, more farms being turned into fun destinations, more local greenhouses, things like that.
We subsistence farmed our very hilly land, and it was far harder work than most want to do today. I finally accepted that we too had to throw in the towel and find jobs that would supply some income later in life. Our free help(4 sons) grew up and went to college or the military and there was no way to carry on without them. So now we have chickens and gardens and a small hayfield that the neighbors cut. Most of our land has reverted to forest, which is probably what it should have been all along, given the slope.
Germany's education system knows a wide range of apprenticeships. In fact, there is hardly any profession or trade a person can pick up without going through an apprenticeship, passing numerous exams and getting a certificate at the end. "Higher" listed professions require university, and then there are many so-called low-qualified jobs, that almost anyone can do. Problem is - in spite of the country being one of the most densely populated ones in Europe, there is shortage of staff in each and every industry, qualified or not. One truly wonders where everyone is.
I read your post with great interest and at the same time, I felt very angry at how, as a human race, we don’t really progress!
Yesterday, I did battle with my local council. In its wisdom, it decided to mow all the grass verges around the area in which I live; verges that were full of daisies, dandelions, insects, and all sorts. On further investigation, I found out that my council, had recently promoted a ‘Wild about Devon Campaign’. Oh the hypocrisy! And this is going on all over the place! Double standards are most definitely the thing, it seems! No wonder we have a problem with our pollinators being unable to thrive. It’s wicked.
As you say, money is the all important factor nowadays and I guess that, in the case that I’ve stated, if the verges were left to their own devices, a few council employees would be out of a job.
I find it all very sad though.
And also Sal, if the verges were left there would no doubt be a number of people complaining about how untidy it would all look and why can't the council mow the verges like they should be.
Round my way people complain if the grass isn't cut because they get their feet and trousers wet in the long grass when walking their dogs!
There are some interesting - and diverse - comments here - thank you so much for putting as much thought into your comments as I put into my blog. The overall me=ssage seems to be that good will win in the end - even if I shalln't be here to witness it.
Many apprenticeships abound in all occupations including farming. I think you are overthinking it. They exist in spite of poor schooing and careers advice. Parents and local businesses step in now to bridge the gap and to respect trades.
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