Bexhill and Battle constituency is particularly reliant on the farming community for both employment and management of the vast rural expanse of our beautiful part of East Sussex. Huw spent a day with farmers in the area to better understand the current issues facing farming and get a feel for how the future feels to the farming community. Here is a summary of Huw’s day in his own words.
“My host for the day is Peter Ellin who has farmed for many years in Crowhurst and Ninfield. Peter’s son has followed in his footsteps. Peter and I first visit Pashley Farm in Ninfield which is run by Tim Pilbeam and acts as a good example of how farmers have had to diversify beyond traditional food production. The most recent addition to the farm is the development of a solar farm which will provide a guaranteed return to the farm over the next 25 years. We visit the fields containing the solar panels and I am able to see for myself that there is little impact on the eye due to the lack of reflection and the seclusion of the site upon which it has been built. We speak to Tim who explains that farmers have to stay open to change and new possibilities due to the falling prices of arable and livestock. This is demonstrated by the price of wheat, which, unlike the expenditure to produce it, fell in the UK last year due to record global harvest levels.
After bidding farewell we head over to Nut Brown Farm in Hooe which is farmed by Neil Smith. The farm is mixed, with cattle and sheep as well as arable crops. Neil shows me his supply of wheat and barley which he can dry and blend to a standard which allows him to get a better yield. Neil explains to me that, with the EU Common Agricultural Policy requiring farmers to devote land to environmental protection and conservation, as opposed to food production, he has diversified parts of his land situated towards the Pevensey levels to encourage plovers and other wading birds. This brings home to me the challenges that we currently face when prioritising food production with environmental protection. British farming now only provides 60% of the food we eat with the rest being imported. Unless subsidies are directed back towards food production, this figure will continue to slide. On the animal husbandry front, Neil has had to invest significantly to ensure that his cattle can be safely tested for TB and he shows me his new testing area. TB in cattle has caused 250,000 animals to be destroyed since 2008 and it is vital that we work to eradicate this disease from our farms. With TB having affected herds near Eastbourne, farmers in Bexhill and Battle are subject to more controls and testing and are under alert to ensure that their herds remain TB free. This year, farmers across East Sussex have participated in a badger vaccination project, this being the only means currently available to tackle the disease directly in our county.
The last farmer I meet during my day is Anne Bourner whose family farm at New Barn Farm, Hooe. Anne is 81 years of age and farming runs through her veins. Anne embodies the passion which drives farmers through good times and the bad. It is no surprise to me to hear that Anne had to miss her Parish Council meeting the day after our meeting as she had been up lambing until 4am that morning!
I am incredibly grateful to Peter, Tim, Neil and Anne for giving me their vast, and differing, experience of farming and setting out their vision of the future. This day has set me up well for the NFU breakfast meeting I am holding on 27 March. My time spent on the farms has demonstrated to me yet again that farming is not just a profession but a vocation. The perils of unpredictability in our weather, climate, foreign exchange markets, consumer fashions and political trends make farming the most uncertain profession to make a living from. This of itself demonstrates that farmers have a stoic ability to ride with the challenges and a determination to manage their land no matter what challenges are thrown up. Without farmers, our national security and environment would be under threat and my abiding thoughts as I conclude my day is one of thanks and gratitude and a determination, if elected, to stand up for this most resolute of our community when times are tough.”