Is there a way forward for family farms?

For many people, the future vision for the traditional family farm looks bleak. I am included in these numbers, and outside of some unforeseen situation I can only see a sustainable way ahead for large-scale production, or part-time farming.

I have written before about my concern at the ability of part-time farms to move an industry forward, and therefore have arrived at the conclusion that we are fighting a long-term battle for the essence of what it means to be called a farmer. Another way of describing this would be to say we are struggling to save the soul of our industry.

I have nothing against large-scale farming, whether it is vegetable, milk, beef, lamb or pork. Actually, I would go further and argue that factory farming is the most direct method of establishing the rock-bottom cost of production. This then illuminates the road ahead for other producers and gives them something to aim for.

But that doesn’t hide the fact that what we recognise as a family farm has irrevocably changed over the past few decades.

Unless something happens, it is hard to remain optimistic. Of course, there will be keen young men and women who are perfectly happy to go and get a job off farm, then spend their leisure time at their favourite hobby, whether it is sheep, cattle or growing a few crops.

But the real question remains – is it possible to regain a sustainable model for a medium-sized family unit, without merely subsidising a working farm through an injection of outside money?

There is a tiny glimmer of light somewhere ahead, but if this ray is to become any brighter, it will involve everyone in the supply chain starting to tell the whole truth. Let’s assume that the customer is king (we hear this often enough).

Consumers’ concerns

Using that as a starting point, we must also imagine that a large percentage of these consumers are concerned about their food, and are discerning in how they choose to shop (we are also told this pretty often too).

Therefore, the way ahead must surely be to appeal to our end users, and offer them a choice. At the moment, we sell milk, beef, vegetables, chicken and pork under a broad, smiling image that I am not comfortable with.

Walk into any supermarket and you will see large posters of farmers standing in front of whatever they produce and the general image conjured up is one of benign rural tranquillity. But what if labelling demanded no misleading publicity? What if that same picture said: ‘‘some of our milk may be from cows that never grazed green grass’’? Or ‘‘this tender, tasty chicken may not have wandered any open space, and probably lived for six weeks in a house with 35,000 others’’? Or, even, ‘‘forget about greenfield, pasture-fed beef – these boys haven’t seen a green field since they were weaned’’? Those pictures of spud growers leaning on the bonnet of a wee grey Fergie are surely designed to make the shopper believe that five or six acres are being grown just for them. A more appropriate photo would include the 300hp monster thundering up the field just out of shot.

Again, I am not against the intensification of our industry. What I am all for (as some sort of lifeline for family farming) is a multi-tiered pricing structure that allows the housewife (or husband) to make an informed choice about what that family eats. At the moment, any concerned shopper only has organic food as an option if they aren’t happy with standard methods of production.

Truth

So, what is needed is the absolute truth to be told so that, for example, a dairy farmer could go back to milking the type of cow that isn’t burnt out after two lactations, grazes for seven months of the year, and forms part of a small, efficient herd.

Or a pig producer needn’t feel the necessity of having 2,000 sows in order to achieve economy of scale.

It would be lovely to think that someone could keep 40 sows, run them outside when the weather was suitable, and get some sort of financial package that proved encouraging and sustainable in equal measure.

Of course, this dream may be no more than fanciful nonsense, and honest labelling and pricing at the retail (and wholesale) end would be vital.

However, it would be fantastic to see identical products on a supermarket shelf, produced in completely different circumstances, and standing side by side with differing price stickers attached.

Then the much-lauded claim that shoppers prefer a wholesome product from an aesthetically pleasing source would be put to the test.

Fri 31 July

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