Diversified farmers facing 'huge loss of income'

Calls to the Farming Community Network’s helpline from concerned farmers have highlighted a breadth of issues caused by the pandemic - from those struggling to pay bills because they cannot sell their livestock, to diary farmers facing throwing away “thousands of litres” of milk destined for coffee shops, and those running B&Bs facing months’ of cancellations.

Caroline Barker, who has spent 21 years running a bed and breakfast at Cundall Lodge Farm near Boroughbridge, said coronavirus was “far more worrying” for them than at the peak of the foot and mouth crisis.

She has had to cancel three or four bookings a week so far, but the “real issue is that we have no bookings coming in”.

“A lot of farms, especially because of Brexit, have tried to diversify,” Mrs Barker, who is the regional director of the Farmstay UK Network, which promotes holidays on working farms, said.

“It’s a big loss to us not to have this money coming in. Bookings have more or less been wiped out over night - and no one knows when we will be able to resume or how long this will go on for.”

She has also developed a pumpkin patch business, which each autumn sees tourists flock to the farm to pick a pumpkin, and visit a pop-up cafe and play area.

“It’s a lovely thing to do to engage with people,” she said. “In the next few weeks we will be sewing pumpkins and we can only hope that come autumn people will be able to come and get them, and that once all this is over, there will be UK tourism boom.”

The Yorkshire coordinator of the Farming Community Network, Lisa Cardy, said those struggling with loss of income due are seeking advice through the charity’s network of local experts.

“We have had a lot of people who are struggling to pay their bills,” she said. “Those whose meat supplies the restaurant trade, or diary farmers who sell milk to Costa or Starbucks. The closure of restaurants and shops has had a huge knock-on effect.

“A lot of farmers survive by diversifying, with B&Bs, holiday lets or farm shops, which made up a big percentage of the farm’s income.”

Farmers are also struggling to get to grips with the support on offer, Mrs Cardy said, as they do not fit into “neat boxes” that make it easy to apply for a Government grant or welfare benefits.

With staff unable to come to work through illness or self-isolation, just keeping a farm running is difficult, Lisa Cardy said.

“This crisis has come of the back of a bad January when everyone was vegan and farmers were the bad guys,” she said. “They need support.”

With lambing season coming to an end, many farmers have had to rope in their families to help, but many are stretched to the limit with young children at home from school and staff unable to work.

“You can’t just go into a lambing shed and get going if you haven’t done it before,” Mrs Cardy said. “If you have livestock, you can’t just not feed your sheep, and your cows will still need milking.”

However, many are now starting to find a way through.

She said: “Everybody panicked when lockdown first happened, then it was about figuring out how to carry on.”