Month: March 2023

We are asked this question from a very young age, and we give our answers – mine included a ballet dancer (I was slimmer then), lorry driver, and chef amongst others that I have long since forgotten. Now I find myself asking my nephews the same thing. I also find myself wanting a certain answer from them – a little unfair maybe, but I kind of want them to be interested in the same as me. Very selfish or a sub conscious attempt at proof of being a role model? Who knows?!

The careers calculator (JIIG cal) we did in Year 11 (now that was quite a laugh – I challenge you all to review this experience, and tell me you followed the result) suggested I could be an officer in the Marines or a social worker amongst other ideas – non of which appealed and all of which seemed slightly ridiculous. I said to the careers guidance man (Nick) in sixth form that I like agriculture – it was laughed off and like many, he suggested teaching as a profession. Not for me thank you.

In all honesty I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up, not definitively. At the age of 41 and 7/8s I see no need to rush into big decisions like this either – I don’t want to close any options down before I know what they might be. I know the areas I enjoy working in, Agriculture and Food (quelle surprise?!) and I am doing that so I am very happy. I am actually settling in well to my new role, still learning (which is good) and loving being a part of a small yet ambitious team. At this moment in time I am sat in our main office, and I can hear people talking a bit, but I can also hear ewes and lambs just outside – heaven!

I am learning a lot in my new role, and one topic seems to be highlighting itself quite regularly, and that is succession. It may be because we have discussions at home, it may be my age that makes me think about what comes next, whatever it is, I know it is important.

I recently did a podcast on succession with Dr Nerys Llywelyn Jones (old school friend and now my boss…a very inspirational lady) and this sparked my interest, and emphasised the importance of it all, although I didn’t then appreciate the size of the topic. It is big. It is about changes in generations, it is about making life decisions long and short term, it is about planning for the inevitable, it is about having difficult conversations now to make it easier when when life throws those difficult challenges at you.

The practicalities of succession in a farm business, actually, let me correct myself, in any family business, can be hard. Granted. However, it is so vitally important that we do talk about eventualities. It is also important to talk to everybody involved in the business, about what they want to do, what they want from life. Referring to above – we should also listen to them and not impose our own wishes upon them.

In fairness, I am stating all these things above, but I don’t find it that easy to talk myself, not because I don’t want to share what I think. My problem is that I find it hard to really think and discuss without getting emotional (not always as tough as I look:-)). The thought of why we need to discuss succession can be upsetting.

You may think this topic isn’t relevant to you because there is no obvious succession, but with so many young people eager to be a part of our super industry- and the difficulties they face in gaining an opportunity – it might be more relevant than you think. It isn’t a topic limited to those with children who want to farm (or carry on with any- other family business).

When we are discussing succession we have to have respect for each other. We often hear the younger generations frustrations about the older ones not allowing any change. Here I actually feel the younger generation need to be respectful of the achievements the previous generations have gained. In agriculture at the moment is particularly difficult, because everything that those previous generations have strived for is changing. Their aims were to produce more food, to make land more efficient, to clear land, to pull out hedges so we can produce more food because there was a food shortage, it was all done for good reason, with clear direction, albeit long time ago.

Now what are told is almost the opposite. I’m hearing stories of the younger generation putting back wetlands, rewetting land that the previous generations have drained, to make it more productive. Consider that it is not just the the emotional side of passing on land and thinking about people moving on and coming in. It’s also about the current climate and the massive change element of it and that can be very difficult to deal with as well.

Back to respect, in the same way – the older generation need to respect the ideas and energy of the younger ones coming in. They are part of your legacy, and a legacy that is able to adapt to change is probably just about the best thing that could happen.

This is turning to be a long blog for me today – you can probably tell that it is a topic I am really starting to get passionate about.

With all the difficulties and challenges of this aside, it is something that we can do. We can choose to be pro-active about it, and get on with it sooner rather than later. Plans can change as well, but best to start talking, start planning and if we get the hard topics sorted out we then have more time to enjoy the rest without that niggle in the back of our minds because we haven’t.

So go out, get yourselves organised and get on with life, and as Bob Hoskins used to say “It’s good to talk”

Thank you for reading 🙂