“We don’t think we’re heroes, but we do want respect”

As we speak on a sunny morning in early April, lambing had recently finished at Rebecca Wilson’s 600-acre family farm in North Yorkshire, and drilling of spring barley and spring wheat was nearly complete.

Having returned to the farm full-time around four years ago – earlier than planned due to family illness – Rebecca is a vocal advocate for the farming sector, amassing over 50,000 followers on Instagram. She was recently named one of the 30 most inspiring people under 30 in the UK, in The Sunday Times Young Power List.

Despite her degree in Human, Social and Political Sciences at Cambridge, the call of a city job didn’t appeal – so took a masters in Rural Land Management and worked as a rural surveyor, then a project manager at a poultry equipment supplier before returning to the farm.

A series of global challenges and ‘anti-rural’ government policies mean the family’s arable and sheep farm is facing more difficult decisions than ever, but Rebecca says she has been surprised by the level of genuine interest from consumers.

In the days of her degree, which brought her into non-rural social circles for the first time, farming was never discussed, but this has changed with the rise of social media influencers and TV shows like Clarkson’s Farm. 

“We’ve had so many conversations about farming – whatever it is that’s piqued their interest it’s brilliant to see… they have loads of questions now,” she comments.

Lack of concern for food security

As well as educating consumers, social media has also become a lifeline for many farmers, reducing isolation but also raising awareness of the impact of recent government policies, in the wake of the Budget.

“I was at market the other day and I’d put out a video about the pulling of SFI and compulsory purchase, and I had several farmers stop me and say thank you for doing that video. 

“You don’t do these things for the thanks or praise or anything like that but to hear that a farmer who perhaps was feeling worried or alone, and still will be feeling worried, knows that I’m trying to speak out on their behalf, it’s quite humbling really,” Rebecca comments.

She has been outspoken about the impact of changes to inheritance tax and the closure of the SFI, and says she is “massively concerned” for the sector.

“The government’s lack of concern for food security and the fact that farmers are also people, let alone the fact they’re working people as well, is very scary. We talk about an anti-farming narrative and it is completely being pushed by the government.”

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“Devastating” for older farmers

She attended the Westminster Hall debate at the end of last year and did a drop in with MPs – noting that even Labour MPs were openly worried about the changes to IHT. 

“If there were facts and figures and the objective numbers to show that this tax policy wouldn’t affect many farmers, and it would raise more revenue than the £500 million the government says it’s going to raise, then we can get on board with it. Farmers do pay tax and contribute relatively as much as other people.”

For older farmers, it’s “beyond devastating” to have had their tax planning “ripped from under their feet”, she adds. 

“We don’t think we’re all heroes, we don’t expect people to be banging pots and pans like for the NHS during covid, but we do want some respect.

“We produce food to such high standards yet our profitability does not reflect the nutritional and environmental value that we deliver – at today’s cereal prices, we’re not even breaking even.”

Caught out by SFI closure

The farm has a block of land a couple of miles away from the ring-fenced farm and yard which is in SFI, but some of the butterfly mixes have struggled due to being on heavier, trickier land. 

Like many farmers, they were planning to apply for the new SFI offer, before it closed unexpectedly in March. 

“Like lots of people, we were just caught out. We’d pretty much got all our all our options sussed out and thought we’ll get lambing out of the way and then we’ll get drilling out of the way and we’ll sit down and do it.”

While the government has said the industry should transition away from government support and become more profitable, Rebecca points out that as long as the sector is subject to a supply chain which doesn’t cover the cost of production, we’re at risk of food price inflation – which is already being seen. 

“Let’s be honest, supermarkets aren’t going to cut their profits. It will have to get handed on to consumers, so it ends up being kind of a lose-lose, particularly in terms of how consumers view farmers.

“I think there’s still a narrative that that farmers are all millionaires and the comments that you see all the time on social media are still very much prevalent among consumers and the public,” she adds.

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Harder decisions than ever 

Rebecca’s North Yorkshire family farm lambs 180 sheep, mainly Suffolk X ewes put to a Beltex tup, and they aim to sell as many lambs as possible through Bentham auction market. 

A slightly later lambing batch of Scotch half-bred ewes is put to a Suffolk tup and for the first time this year they’ve kept the gimmer lambs to return to their breeding flock as replacements. 

On the arable side they work on as long a rotation as possible, incorporating wheat and barley, as well as one field of oilseed rape. Although it’s a risky crop, the OSR looks quite well at the moment – “but I really don’t want to speak too soon,” Rebecca laughs.

“The interaction between the livestock and the arable is really important for us,” she adds. 

“The narratives around farming feel quite anti-livestock, and I like to be able to show that actually having the sheep allows us to incorporate herbal leys, cover crops, temporary clover leys going around the arable rotation as well. Obviously, you’ve got the muck from the sheep as well.”

They also grow stubble turnips to rent out and fodder beet acts as a good break crop which can then be fed to the ewes as a top up after lambing. “They seem to do really well on it, and actually fodder beet for us, gross margin wise, is probably our best crop on the farm in recent years. The wheat price today is absolutely horrendous.”

Whilst not a staunch regenerative farm, the family try to use good farming principles and soil health is very important to them. 

Cover crops help to build the organic matter, and they are currently running a Mzuri strip till drill to minimise soil disturbance as much as possible – plus they are a Helix farm with Hutchinsons. 

But despite being “on it” with reducing their costs, the business is “absolutely stifled” by current prices. “We’re making harder decisions than probably we’ve ever made before and thinking, actually can we do without that application at whichever growth stage and being even more critical on the disease risk.” 

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A post shared by Rebecca Wilson (@rebeccawilsonfarming)

Inspirational women

The family farm, Hundayfield Farm, was handed down on Rebecca’s mother’s side and the next generation consists of Rebecca and her twin sister – and while she agrees that the issue of gender disparity is still a big talking point, and farming is behind other sectors, we can all be responsible for setting our own standards.

“There are plenty of inspirational women in farming who are showing that you can run a farming business,” she adds.

“We need to call it out if we see it, and whether you’re male or female, you can call out prejudice. And it’s not just gender prejudice, we’re not a very diverse sector as a whole, and we’ve all got our role to play in that.

“Some of the stories you hear do worry me. If that is actually going on, then we do have problems.”

However, we should be wary of making assumptions, for example, wagon drivers helping or directing female farmers can be taken in a negative light, but: “A lot of men who we’re dealing with in the farming industry would help anybody out. So it’s important not to have those preconceptions.”

Part of the difficulty in making progress is that many farming businesses don’t have the professional structure of other companies, and when farmers are busy and under pressure financially, survival takes precedence. “That doesn’t excuse it but it’s difficult”. 

However, she adds: “We all can be accountable for pushing our own standards and, therefore, pushing the standards of people around you as well.”

It’s completely irrational to keep farming

Going forward, the difficulties the industry is facing can be a barrier to investment such as diversifications, and many are concerned that investing in new buildings or equipment, for example, could put them even further within the scope of inheritance tax.

The main aims for Hundayfield Farm, Rebecca says, will be to streamline, ensure everything is done as efficiently as possible, and keep up to date on government policy, making sure succession plans are as tight as they can possibly be. 

Though it’s tough across the board for the sector, including for allied businesses like machinery dealers and suppliers, we still need some positivity for the future – because for many farmers, it’s all they know.

“Otherwise what on earth are we doing if there’s not some positivity?” she asks. “[Inheritance tax] has been dubbed the ‘family farm tax’ but I think that’s almost the uniqueness of family farms, in that even when it’s like it is now, we still want to do it.

“It’s crazy, it’s completely irrational to want to keep farming in such a challenging environment, but for many of us it’s all we know.

“You feel like you would be doing your grandparents and great grandparents, or even just the land which you look after, a disservice to not keep farming.”

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