Taking the temperature at New Year

The day that Environment Secretary Hilary Benn was outlining a food strategy for the next 20 years at the Oxford Farming Conference, the curtain was about to go up on the first of Yorkshire's annual big events at a snowbound Great Yorkshire Showground.

Mr Benn told the conference that a rising population and climate change meant food could not be taken for granted and the big idea he laid out was to grow more food and do it sustainably with a target

date of 2030.

Far-reaching strategies and grand schemes hatched in Whitehall take time to filter through. Farm machinery open days on the other hand are more about the here and now. They provide the agricultural community with an opportunity not just to run their eyes over the latest in countryside technology, but also an ideal time to catch up on where their business is heading.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

After nearly two years of better times for beef and sheep, along with a welcome uplift last year in pig prices, there had been increased confidence in the livestock market in 2009. This was counteracted, for those with mixed farming enterprises, by the reduction in crop prices, plus a double whammy in the huge increases seen in fertiliser costs. Dairy farmers didn't fare too well last year either.

But there were smiles among many of the farmers on the first of Ripon Farm Services two-day event. One was on the face of Ben Dale who farms near Boroughbridge, running a mixed farm of cereals and livestock. He believes that farming is in a better position than it was back in 2005.

"I think there's more confidence than there was five years ago, but I don't know that we're necessarily any more confident in the industry than we have been in the recent past," he said. "We've had two good years, but it just isn't quite as good at the moment as it was last year.

"A year since is when we had the big lift in livestock prices, and the year before that was when we had the big lift in cereal prices. The cereal prices were coming down again last year so the two years probably averaged out about the same. This current year, since last harvest, probably won't be as good as last. Beef prices have been good, so have sheep prices, but cereals have gone completely the other way. This last harvest my wheat came out at about 100 per tonne. We sold quite a bit early."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

There often a feeling that farming does well when the rest of the country is in recession. Ben believes that may be the case, but that there are other factors that bring it about. "At the end of the day the public only has so much money to spend, but we all have to eat. Imports can't come in that cheaply at the moment with the pound being where it is. We've just got to hope that it plays a little bit in our favour."

Martin Wilson farms at Beckwithshaw, near Harrogate with his father Michael and brother David. They run a livestock enterprise of sheep and beef. Martin is quick to point out that the success is relative to where prices were.

"If you compare the prices we are getting now to five years ago, then there has been a definite improvement. But if those prices had carried on that trend I don't think we would be farming now. We are in a better place than we were even two years ago, but with farming you can't stand still. You have to reinvest and keep pushing forwards. You certainly feel a bit more like carrying on and laying a bit more of a foundation when prices are better.

"Where we are all a bit uncertain is with the strength of the euro. We're living off that at the moment. We could do with having a bit more of a secure footing than relying on the exchange rates. There's no doubt that the weakness of the pound is keeping our exports of red meat up and that is keeping our market buoyant."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Father and son, Jim and Tony Barton, farm at Sicklinghall, near Wetherby where they run an arable, sheep and turkey enterprise. Tony doesn't believe there is too much to shout about. 'We're slightly up on last year on wheat but we've still a lot of it in the shed, barley is down a lot and rape is averaging about the same as last year. The sheep are good, but they are a smaller proportion of our business.

"The good news is that the fertiliser that we have bought this time, for this coming season, has come down quite a bit. I'd say we have a moderate feeling about this year. It could go either way. I wouldn't say we're in for a boom."

Jim Barton, who has farmed at Sicklinghall for many years, puts it succinctly. "I don't see us making any more than we were 10 years ago. We're still just about keeping our heads above the water."

Among the farm machinery manufacturers showing their latest lines was Charles Bedforth, sales manager for Opico, who sell grassland maintenance and arable equipment as well as grain dryers. He tells of a difficult market place for farm machinery. "Last year was tough mainly because of the euro. The feeling this year is that it could be even harder on the arable side, but with fertiliser prices coming down there has at least been some good news."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Geoff Brown, managing director of Ripon Farm Services, has a good feeling about 2010.

"We had a very good year in 2009. We were slightly down on the year before but all in all it was still a good one. Some farm sectors are struggling a bit, but on the whole there is quite a bit of confidence in farming at the moment. It's a bit early to say how 2010 might go, but judging on what we saw at the back end of last year I can see farming doing well."

The Great Yorkshire Showground, covered in snow, made a picturesque setting, but the farmers attending the day were phlegmatic about how this hard weather, which looks exceptionally severe and disruptive to most urbanites, is going to affect making a living from the land.

Martin Wilson said: "It makes life a bit tricky but it's a normal British winter. If it goes on another fortnight we might be in trouble. We're feeding a lot of sheep outside at the moment and we are getting through the winter forage stocks a bit quicker than we should be doing."