We are proud to be farmers
OVER the past week I have been sitting in my tractor cab whilst raking grass wondering what to write about this month.
I could go delving into the dire state of the world, both politically and agriculturally, and make myself and you thoroughly depressed, but on reflection felt that something a little more nearer to home would be more agreeable to us all.
I got to thinking about my role as farmer and all that it entails. My family has always been in farming, it is bred in the bone as they say. Connection to the land as an ninth-generation farmer is deep and powerful thing, an all-encompassing and emotional tie. It is what makes us who we are and defines our lives.
To hold a piece of land whether it be 10 or a 100 acres, creates a bond, or some might say a bondage, that cannot be ignored. For many people to own a piece of land is a goal to be striven for and when, or if, that goal is achieved there is a satisfaction even if the harsh reality of having to nuture and manage the land can prove to be more of a nightmare than the dreamy, bucolic idyll once imagined. It may be fair to say that, having observed in my lifetime, the dreams of aspirant landownership of the many ‘life-stylers’ coming into our valley, that in every case the dream faded followed by disillusionment and the realisation that owning land involves toil. All too often this has resulted in fragmentation of holdings and the loss of the principle that one should leave land in better heart than when you took it over. To qualify this statement I mean the encroachment of brambles, bracken and scrub trees onto what was once cultivatable and productive land, hiding behind the now fashionable banner of ‘rewilding’ or ‘giving it back to nature’ but often just seems to be the result of neglect and ignorance of good land management.
We are farmers and proud to be so and even prouder to be able to say that we now have the fourth generation of our family working on this particular piece of land.
Five generations back the long connection was to land elsewhere but circumstances dictated that 60-odd years ago that land was exchanged for our beautiful acres in Wales. A new connection was forged here in Carmarthenshire in an area of much greater rainfall, different soil, a landscape and community very different to what had been known before. Each generation has learned to absorb the character of the farm.
As well as the natural world there is the man-made. The farmhouse and buildings, all built by labouring men over the past 400 years or so, tell their own stories.
We are farmers producing food, which, after all, is the whole point of tilling land and keeping livestock. We are no longer able to be hunter-gatherers getting sustenance from what grows or roams in the wild.
Without farmers there is no food and the role of farming needs to be recognised as the base on which everything depends. It is a huge responsibility and one that is not fully recognised by the powers that be. Even the worst ‘junk food’ will have come about as the result of a farmer somewhere in the world producing the raw ingredients. No Farmers No Food!
On a lighter note we have been enjoying the summer weather and it is certainly good for the grass with excellent crops of hay and silage coming in.
We keep a dozen or so hens for eggs for the house. Every evening they get shut into their house for obvious reasons, but a month ago I noticed one was missing, and after a search we gave up. However, yesterday she turned up in the orchard with a brood of ten chicks and she and they are now safely ensconced in a safe enclosure. This is rather fortuitous because my incubator failed earlier in the year resulting in no replacement chickens. This brood may be bit late in the season but with a little nurturing all should be well.
On the first Saturday of September (3rd) Llandysul & District Show is due to take place. The show committee has been meeting throughout the year so it is only the weather that is not under our control. It is easy to become complacent about these events but every chair, table and tent has had to be booked and brought to the field and the complex organising of the entries in the multitude of classes, the prize winners rosettes, prize money and stewarding of these things take months of arranging.
My role on the committee is rather peripheral, but it has given me an insight and great admiration for the treasurer, secretary and others who without their huge commitment the show would not happen. Hope to see you there!