We are conscious that we need to maintain our mixed arable, vegetable and livestock enterprises to promote good soil health and ecological diversity, as these will become driving factors in our industry.
With this approach extra benefits will come, as well as greater access promised by the government. Selling direct from the farm is an important part of maintaining this system, so we must work hard to get our message across, as the wider population increasingly loses the connection between food and how and where it is produced.
The idea that cheap is good, fostered by the multiples is causing big headaches for the industry, and the never ending bid to drive costs down will prove unsustainable and harmful to the environment in the long term.
