Is farming a business or a way of life?

The old adage ‘Where there’s muck there’s brass’ is not necessarily true, especially in these unsettling times. Uncertainty about the future, bureaucracy, and prices failing to cover the cost of production conspire to thwart efforts to make money out of farming.

But a young farmer, writing in a recent edition of a farming paper, didn’t pull any punches. Farming is a lifestyle choice, she declared. We farm because we choose to farm. No point complaining. Nobody forces us to do it, so we all need to shut up and get on with it, and use the tools available to make the business pay and if it doesn’t, get another job.

But why work 100-hour weeks with no guarantee of making money?

‘It’s a way of life’ is the excuse that farmers use to justify why they do what they do, whether or not they’re making money doing it.

It’s reported that Londoners work 100 hours more per year than the rest of the UK. Presumably they are paid well to do so.

Some farmers often work 100-hour weeks with little or no reward, but hard work and long hours is what farmers do, it’s ‘aye been’ and they cannot imagine themselves doing anything else. It’s inefficient and plain bonkers, but it’s their way of life and for two generations the EU has supported it.

Nothing stays the same and each generation sees things differently. The opinion-formers who now influence government policy were born decades after the Second World War and have no knowledge of food shortages or rationing. Food can be imported cheaper than UK farmers can produce it, and they see no benefit from spending resources to support its production.

Food security is not an issue for them and if neglecting it comes back to bite their bum sometime in the future, then so be it.

In the minds of the urban opinion-formers, the countryside could and should be put to far better use as a nature reserve, as flood defence, as a playground for city folk.

Even Europe, which saw starvation in the 1940s, is no different. Brussels decided almost two decades ago to switch support from production to land ownership and projects which benefit nature and the environment.

Despite all the right noises coming from Holyrood about the importance of farming to Scottish food and drink, the reality is that trees, wildlife and the natural environment have priority and it’s their advocates who have the Government’s ear.

Agriculture won’t feature on any party’s election manifesto.

There are no clues as to where farming will fit into the post-Brexit scheme of things and the writing seems to be on the wall for farm support.

Nevertheless, many are optimistic about the future, especially the younger generation who are more businessfocused than previous generations and they’re choosing farming in an era where taxpayer subsidies might be as scarce as hen’s teeth.

So, farming as a business rather than a way of life? I wonder if that concept will catch on?

The younger generation... are more businessfocused than previous generations