Farmer and journalist Oliver Walston is recovering from a severe stroke.

Mr Walston was taken to hospital on Friday (5 November) after being left unable to speak and unable to move his right hand.

The outspoken Cambridgeshire grower, who farms at Thriplow, is perhaps best known for talking openly about the size of his annual subsidy cheque.

“He is doing a lot better than you might think,” his wife Anne told Farmers Weekly on Monday (8 November).

Mr Walston was able to type – albeit very slowly – and could use his iPad, she added.

“His speech is still impaired but he is able to make himself understood – he’s coming along quite well.”

Mr Walston has written numerous articles for national newspapers, often about the amount of money farmers receive from Brussels.

“As a custodian of the landscape and the environment, I am worth every penny of my hefty annual farming subsidy,” he told The Guardian in 2005.

“For those who were wondering, my subsidy cheque last year amounted to £170,523.90p. Merci beaucoup.”

Mr Walston has written an annual report on the state of his farm every year since 1974. The reports were used as the basis for a book, 35 Harvests. He has also appeared on radio and television, presenting the series Against the Grain in the late 1990s.