Farmer Focus: Good nutrition is key to finding happiness

The farm was covered in snow last week, making for a truly wonderful winter scene. It is so enjoyable seeing a typical winter for once. Or is it?

We still have a fair way to go and the novelty of snow can soon disappear. Crops under the snow should be well insulated and should come out looking vibrant.

I was lucky enough to be asked to speak at the Oxford Real Farming Conference, which is always a favourite of mine. I relish mixing with people – we all share the hunger of producing food. 

The vibe at the conference is permanently positive, with many people attending not just from farming, but simply passionate about the food they eat and where it comes from.

See also: Advice on fungicide choice to slow wheat disease resistance

About the author

Tim Parton

Tim Parton manages 300ha in South Staffordshire growing winter wheat, OSR, spring barley, beans, oats, lupins and wild flowers as part of a biological farming system. He grows cover crops and grass for haylage across sandy clay loam soils.

Read more articles by Tim Parton

I wish every consumer was properly educated about their food choices. Cheap processed food has come with so many consequences for the planet and human health.

In my opinion, our society has lost its way in the importance of food to their health, both physically and mentally.

Many people spend incomes on luxuries, searching for happiness when in reality, paying more attention to the nutrients their bodies need would make inner happiness shine through.

Family expenditure on food has dropped significantly since the 1950s (from 40% to 10% now). Yet are people healthier now?

The announcement of the Sustainable Farming Incentive return is great, but with the focus on smaller farms, do they feel big farms are not also struggling?

When will they realise how degraded many soils are after constantly pushing for cheap food?

When will they realise you cannot have food security without healthy soils and farmers to farm it? The clock is ticking.

Agriculture is the core industry of all industries. Without it, the world will grind to a halt very quickly.

We have no real idea of the damage cheap food is doing to ourselves or the planet. Everything that people supposedly demand in cheap, overprocessed food has consequences.

We need to keep educating ourselves and others with the positive results that regenerative farming can bring to nourish both our species and planet.