I have been trying to decrease my commitments with the many organisations I am involved with.
The expression ‘the perfect storm’ seems to be a phrase used more and more recently. Unfortunately for farmers, it sums up what many of us are going through in 2022. Whichever way you look at the outlook, economic or weather-related, the picture does not appear to be hugely rosy.
Dairy farmer Andy Venables farms in partnership with his family, milking 330 cows in Cheshire, selling milk on a Co-op contract. He is also managing director of Hillsgreen, a marketing agency dedicated to agriculture with many high-profile clients, including NFU and Cereals.
Ben Gratton, 18, is from a dairy, beef and sheep farm outside of Buxton in Derbyshire. He is currently working on a dairy and arable farm in Shropshire as part of his level 3 advanced technical extended diploma in agriculture at Reaseheath College.