Yorkshire's women in farming reaching out to ease rural isolation in lockdown

There are concerns that with that can come a sense of stoicism, and of bearing a hardship that might otherwise be shared.

Now, as a group form a new virtual support network for Yorkshire Women in Farming, they say it is never been more needed than it is today.

“It’s very easy to find yourself, when you’re rural and isolated, living in your own little bubble,” said mother Jennie Palmer. “There’s a lot of uncertainty now, and maybe it can build a sense of community around the situation.

“We’ve all got something in common, we’ve all dealt with being isolated for years before lockdown.”

Conference calls are interrupted, inevitably, by demands for breakfast. She starts early, trying to navigate an avalanche of emails before the children awake.

Work time is snatched, at lunch as they are occupied, or long into the evening after they’ve gone to bed.

“I try and get the kids outside as much as I can, we do a lot of ‘nature stuff’,” she says wryly. “I’m not a teacher, it’s a steep learning curve.”

Farming business

Mrs Palmer does the marketing for the family businesses, major brands Yorkshire Rapeseed Oil and Charlie and Ivy’s, run by her husband and his father from their farm in Thixendale.

From a work perspective, she’s lost a summer season. The big events, such as the Great Yorkshire Show and the Malton Food Festival, are now cancelled.

But of course North Breckenholme is still a farm, and they’ve just finished lambing.

“There’s been a real boost of support to farm shops and local businesses,” she says. “People are really aware of where their food comes from, at the moment, and that’s amazing.

“A lot of places are thinking outside the box, setting up drive-throughs, home deliveries, click and collects. The farms are still going, people are still going to work.

“Women have just maybe had to adapt that little bit more. It does tend to be a lot of juggling.”

Juggling responsibilities

Anna Longthorp grew up on the family farm in Howden, spending years working abroad and training as a tennis coach before returning to the fold.

Her family hadn’t wanted to pressure her into a farming life, the now 37-year-old says, but it’s always been where her heart is.

She’s proved her worth, in carving out Anna’s Happy Trotters, a brand for the free-range family pig farm, which now has its own butchery, a cafe and farm shop, and sells direct rather than through retailers.

When the virus hit, everything changed. A huge number of their customers were catering companies, now no longer ordering.

Sales to farm shops has risen dramatically instead, by 5,000 per cent in one case. Internet sales have peaked, with the family this week struggling to fully fill a large order to Dubai.

It’s been a challenge, just in setting up the systems to cope with it, says Miss Longthorp, especially as a single mother to six-year-old Richard.

“My family has been absolutely brilliant,” she says. “But one of the things I’ve struggled with is that once my child has gone to bed at night, I’m left with my own thoughts. That isn’t always the best thing.”

Isolation

Miss Longthorpe says she believes herself incredibly fortunate to live where she does, surrounded by empty countryside when so many people don’t have gardens.

There is a price to pay for that, in having no neighbours.

“When we go outside for the eight o’clock clap, we can hear people, but we can’t see them,” she says. “There’s nobody for us to wave to.

“Women in Farming has been fabulous for me. The girls, and I didn’t even know them before this group, have been amazing.”

A few weeks ago, before the lockdown, Miss Longthorp’s home had been broken into. That night, on edge, she had turned to the women for assurance.

“A lot of us are mothers, a lot of us are running our own businesses,” she said. “It’s up to us to be strong, for everybody. We’ve got to protect our kids.

“The group is somewhere I can show a little bit of vulnerability.”

Wedding business

Molly Coombs, from Sherburn in North Yorkshire, has spent the week rearranging weddings at the family farm.

Four generations of her family have farmed this land, with brother Bertie now manager to its 1,800 arable acres, while with her mother, Joan, she runs the luxury holiday cottages in its grounds.

April was fully booked, with 244 guests expected, and this summer was to be their first busy season with 12 weddings planned.

Miss Coombs has been calling brides to rearrange their wedding dates, the cottages gifted for free to NHS workers who are isolating to protect their own families.

And through it all, the 27-year-old has been away from her family, living with her boyfriend an hour’s drive away.

“It’s the ‘not knowing’ that’s the hardest thing,” she says. “It feels very alien to not be there. There’s only me, working from a laptop in Hull.”

The weddings at Westfield Farm are all rearranged and the brides, though tearful, have been incredibly understanding, says Miss Coombs. The diary for 2021, she adds hopefully, is already looking busy.

Self employed

But the Grand Get-Togethers cottages are large, with the smallest housing 14 people. Even if the lockdown was to be lifted, there is no telling how long it could be before they were fully opened for business.

“It’s maybe 12 months of thinking how can we manage our cash flow?” she says. “I took three bookings this week, for next year, which has made me so happy.

“We’ve had to furlough all our staff, one has worked for us for 26 years. It’s hard, being self employed at the moment. There’s so many of us women, that are accountable to others.”

Women in Farming has been a lifeline, she says: “I had a bit of a wobble last week. It’s so lovely to have these virtual friends, with a pointer and a word of wisdom.”

Yorkshire Women in Farming

The launch of the Yorkshire Women in Farming group was planned for this summer but was brought forward amidst the current coronavirus crisis.

Backed by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS) and Women in Farming, the Facebook group’s focus is on a virtual friendship and chat network for those who may suddenly have found themselves juggling more than they could have imagined.

“A lot of women, in my experience, are used to being quite isolated,” said Mrs Palmer, one of the founders.

“It takes confidence to reach out, not everybody likes putting themselves out there.

“The idea is support, for not only women in farming but those in more rural and countryside environments and businesses.

“People are willing to just chat,” she added. “Women are very good, I think, at coming out and supporting each other.”

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