WHEELY ANGRY
been rich but what do I care?
“Farmers today have a lot more land and animals than me, but they’re not necessarily happier. They face a lot of constraints.”
In the last decade, he’s made some concessions to comfort. He switched from work horses to oxen that are more docile. More recently, as age imposes its own limits on his activities, he invested in two tractors for the heavy-lifting of hay.
His earthy existence resonates at a time when intensive farming is increasingly criticised and local, organic food supply is in vogue.
While his production is effectively organic, he refuses to use the label to market his goods and has eschewed distribution trends like farmers’ markets.
Huon hopes to find a successor to preserve the traditional spirit of the farm, which he plans to donate rather than sell. Nonetheless, he recognises that whoever follows will have to make changes as regulatory pressures become ever tougher.
“I lived in a time when you could set up easily, you just had to have some land and you could produce,” he said.
“People like us shouldn’t exist any more, but as long as we’re around they have to put up with us.”