Live from the field...
Welcome to the home of The Grumpy Ol' Farmer, also known as Farmer Fred. A real life farmer from Dorset. Read about the real problems, real views and day to day experiences hot from the field.
Welcome to the home of The Grumpy Ol' Farmer, also known as Farmer Fred. A real life farmer from Dorset. Read about the real problems, real views and day to day experiences hot from the field.
Hi there and firstly may I welcome you all to this my first blog entry.
I don’t really want to go on about my background too much at this stage as there will be ample opportunities to do so in the future I’m sure, albeit to say I was born and brought up on a small tenanted
farm in west Dorset, and have continued to be actively involved within the industry right up until the present day.
I have loads of stories and tales both good bad and indifferent to share with you over time, about how my life has been affected by the changes and challenges forced upon the business I’m so passionate about, but I will make a strong point at the outset to say I will NOT defend what I consider to be bad practises within agriculture, In fact totally the opposite.
I suppose to begin with I should give you a little insight into why I decided on my blogs title, well I do happen to be one of those unfortunate person’s who was born with a face which refused to portray how I was really feeling to the extent that on so many occasions I would be greeted with the old ” cheer up mate, it might never happen” phrase, despite me being perfectly happy in whatever I was up to at the time. Even one of my best mates nick named me “the miserable old B******!” some decades ago despite knowing ( I hope!!) that in general I do like to make light of any situation and have a laugh, make no mistake though where work is concerned I am deadly serious. The other explanation to the title is in my view to do with the the unfortunate public persona of the typical farmer, and I have to say in some cases they are are dead right! but in general I think we feel under appreciated for the incredible service we provide the public not only in providing them a choice of top quality food, but also in the way we care for, manage and steward the countryside, yet are continuenly being bombarded by red tape from Official’s who quite frankly haven’t a clue, together with trying to cope with the added pressures of continuenly attempting to find ways of reducing costs further and further just to in many cases draw even let alone profit from producing a first class product, so it’s no wonder at times we feel somewhat Grumpy!!
Just before I go I would like go a little off piste as it we’re, and say a very big well done to team GB at the Olympics, doesn’t it make you feel proud! Unfortunately as is normal nowadays it would seem the party poopers are sticking their noses in and complaining about the money it is costing the country to gain a few medals, well I say when you listen to the news and hear about all the government funded projects or organization’s which are losing shed loads of money through inefficiency and mismanagement, then those wonderful athletes represent an incredible return on investment, they have the bulk of the country smiling with pride and admiration for there tremendous dedication and effort in achieving what they have. Now all we need is for all of those negative know all’s who are full of doom and gloom after the brexit vote to show some of the same spirit the Olympians have, and I’m in no doubt this country could be GREAT again!
Until the next time, thanks for your time.
Cheers.
19th August 2016
