Farmer Focus: Pumpkin picking and classic politician style

October meant pumpkin picking season for us. It was a slightly different arrangement this year, as we were only open on the weekends. I can safely say that was the correct decision.

We had a successful season, but every November we discuss whether to do it again the following year.

I had pretty much made my mind up during the summer that this year would be our last, but within the first morning of opening it became obvious that we would have to do it again.

See also: How a Somerset farmer grows cereals without plough or herbicides

About the author

Annabel Hamilton

Annabel Hamilton farms 1,030ha of arable in the Scottish Borders with her parents. The arable area grows 65% winter and 35% spring crops. She is Basis and Facts qualified and runs a pick-your-own pumpkin patch. The farm finishes more than 300 Limousin cattle a year.  Follow Annabel on Twitter @annabelhami11

Read more articles by Annabel Hamilton

There were so many returning families meeting friends, picking pumpkins and enjoying the countryside. When visitors say, “see you next year”, it makes you sit back and be pretty proud of what we have achieved.

Since baby Arthur arrived in January, I sat on my first panel at the Nature Friendly Farming Network Summit, which was held in Edinburgh in October. It was an event bringing farmers, policymakers and environmental organisations together to shape a nature-friendly future for Scottish agriculture.

This is something I wouldn’t have attended a few years ago, but I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed my day. I was on the panel at the end summarising what we had heard and our thoughts on the subject.

We know that in Scotland the future of our support payments are only going one way – and that is down the environmental path.

This is a slippery slope when we consider where grain prices are currently sitting. Agriculture minister Jim Fairlie popped by to give us some updates.

In a classic politician style, he arrived late, talked for 10 minutes, answered a couple of questions and left again. But are we really surprised by this? No.

Winter ploughing has begun, with ground conditions allowing us to get on. Dad has been busy filling the sheds back up with store cattle and I have recently taken delivery of some steel for a new grain shed.

It’s been more than 10 years since we built a shed at home, so I am beyond excited to get this one up. It’s going to be a game changer at harvest.