Daisy Wood: It’s individual drive keeping UK farming alive
Daisy Wood © Supplied by Daisy Wood For me, it’s usually my noisy alarm and the hope of sunshine on my face – but lately I’ve been wondering what is it that really gets people up in the morning?
Not just out of bed, but out onto the farm, into the cattle shed, back behind the wheel.
Every farmer I meet has a different answer.
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Some are in it to restore the land, bringing life back to hedgerows and soil, watching birds return and encouraging wildflowers to creep into the margins.
Others thrive on the challenge of managing a business with increasingly volatile shifts in weather, markets and policy.
I do wonder, however, if this drive to beat the political system is losing its appeal in the current storms we have all had to negotiate.
A dairy farmer I recently visited – one of many who starts his day at 4am, rain or shine, working tirelessly from dawn till dusk – told me his drive is legacy.
Farming is more than just a job. For some it’s a passion. For others, a purpose. For a few, a puzzle worth solving.
He wants to build a resilient farm that his children, or someone else’s, might one day carry forward.
For him, that means regenerative agriculture: a way to build soil health, boost biodiversity, help mitigate the effects of climate change, build business resilience and ultimately help sustain UK food production.
Maybe you are like my grandfather, who takes great pride in feeding the nation – seeing his work as a way to keep the country’s story alive.
Your reason might feel personal, or even private. But it is what keeps the cogs turning – through dark winters, wet harvests and everything in between.
Farming is more than just a job. For some it’s a passion. For others, a purpose. For a few, a puzzle worth solving.
And while our reasons may differ, we are all working towards the same thing: keeping British farming alive, adapting and evolving and, against the odds, still going.
So what gets you up in the morning?
It might not be something you have put into words before. But it matters.
Whatever it is, hold onto it – especially when the going gets tough.
It’s what keeps the whole show on the road.