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As someone who has been farming for over 40 years, it seems feasible that other 50-somethings may share my thoughts and opinions on our agricultural world.
And in the current climate of online information bombardment and never-ending features on highly efficient farmers, should someone put their hand up and say: “Please Sir, I’m getting older and have lost interest”?
Are you allowed to admit that some of your intense zest for farming has declined over the decades? Does that make you an inadequate farmer? Is it acceptable to farm in a quietly efficient manner without trying to set the world on fire?
I think these are relevant and necessary questions, because a lot of farming folk (like me) are getting older, have no sons or daughters pushing us out of the way, but are not yet ready for retirement.
The salient point here is a far bigger issue than merely being a progressive farmer. It is a coming together of decades of experience and knowledge, blended with a growing awareness and acceptance that mental and physical health must be nurtured and cared for.
In other words, it is a recognition that as we get older, there may be far more important concerns than maximising profit on individual farms.
These sentiments must not be taken in the wrong context – if either my son or daughter were at home farming, I would be advocating a far more intense and progressive approach for this farm.
And I know my attitude would be completely different if you wound the clock back 40 years.
Prophetic
About 10 years ago, a wise old head told me that after the age of 40, I would notice a lot of my long-held farming beliefs changing every few years. I listened, nodded in agreement, and secretly thought he was bonkers.
However, his words have been prophetic and that is exactly what has happened.
In practical terms, this has manifested itself gradually, and I am working fewer hours. Undoubtedly, that is in part due to operating in the comfort zone, with both youngsters now finished university and in full-time employment. That has lowered the financial requirements, but along with this lessening of monetary demand comes a definite easing of the desire to work at a high intensity.
While I have lost some interest in the latest innovative farming techniques and tend to get bored rigid with all these webinar things that we are asked to participate in, I remain committed to efficient farming.
The trouble is my interpretation of efficiency may not be the same as others in the industry.
For example, far from seeing the necessity of adopting the latest fashionable methods, I continue to believe that doing the basics correctly means your farm is 90% efficient anyway. A lot of these new ideas are merely fine-tuning and tweaking an already effective farm.
Satisfaction
I should also point out that farming (thank goodness) can still provide moments of satisfaction that very few other jobs can match.
We baled 9ac of second-cut grass in mid-August in near-perfect conditions. I didn’t know that 60mm of rain would arrive the following week, and viewing those 55 wrapped bales while the rain was bouncing off them in the yard made me feel indescribably content.
However, the best example I can offer to highlight my changing attitude occurred three weeks ago. I was working in the poultry house when my sister phoned (she lives about five miles away) to say a pair of woodpeckers had been spotted in their garden.
A few years ago, this bombshell of avian information would have been greeted with mild interest, followed by a resumption of the work in hand. But not now. Squeaking with excitement, I downed tools, jumped into the pickup, and raced round the roads to catch a glimpse of these stunning birds.
Sure enough, there they were – hammering loudly at a dead tree across the garden. I can remember the time when videos of shiny machinery would have caught my interest, but at this stage in my farming career, I’ll happily settle for some blurry footage of these gorgeous creatures.
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