Charlie Beaty: You’re never far from a farmer

Is it just me, or do farmers seem to get everywhere?

I’m just home from a little post-lambing break up in the amazing city of Glasgow (my first visit and I highly recommend – not one of the infamous “kisses” witnessed). I was there for the Country 2 Country festival with my best pal.

We arrived on a Friday evening, climbed up to our spot into the “nosebleed seats”, shuffling past others to get there.

About the author

Charlie Beaty

Harper Adams University graduate Charlie has a keen interest in the livestock sector, being heavily involved in the beef and sheep enterprises at home, as well as the arable and contracting side of things. The 25-year-old is an active member of Warwickshire YFC and loves travelling the world.

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Being a little uncomfortable with heights (the man-cage is not my favourite place to be), I chose to face the poor people we were squeezing past, rather than look out over the stomach-churningly steep seats in front of us.

As I tried not to tread on the toes of the gent and his daughter in the seats next to ours (while precariously holding my beer, too), I realised I was in the company of my own kind.

See also: Charlie Beaty – grab opportunities while you’re young

Fear not, it wasn’t a potent dairy aroma or a Schoffel fleece, merely a subtly checked shirt, round-necked jumper and a well-loved farm cap – you just know your own, don’t you?

It didn’t take long for us to make friends and introduce ourselves. Not wanting to sound like a complete weirdo by asking: “So, what do you farm?” (come on, imagine if my gut instinct had been wrong), I mentioned in passing my beloved career and was thrilled to have my instincts affirmed when I got the reply of: “Oh, us too!”.

It’s something I’ve always been told – whether as a 14-year-old heading off to the local YFC party, or as a 22-year-old getting on a plane to Australia for the first time – “Be good; whatever you get up to there will be somebody that knows somebody that knows you!”.

It seems mad, but it’s not far wrong. I worked in outback Australia with a dealership manager that was at university with my cousin, and in New Zealand, I worked with a farmer that knew one of my best friends.

And now here, in inner-city Glasgow, at a concert with more than 14,000 people in attendance, I was sat next to a farmer.

So, heed the advice my grandmother gave me, and mind your manners wherever you are.