Farmer Focus: Jersey ice cream gets the green light
Adrian Harrison ©Tim Scrivener Having looked back at last year’s diary, it is nearly 12 months since we switched milk buyers. A lot has happened since then.
This time last year we were all hopeful and receiving a decent return for our efforts. Well, thanks to Mr Putin and several other factors, our milk price was 8p/litre less for January 2015 than it was in January 2014. That is a serious price cut.
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In order to cope with such drastic drops, we have had to take a hit with farm help and it is taking its toll.
I wonder how many non-farmer 70-year-olds out there get up at 5.30am every other day and work a 12-hour day. I think we know the answer to that.
However, we are looking to a bright future and are all but there with our planning application for an ice cream parlour in an old stone barn.
We have the signed planning document and it is now up to us to bring it to life. Finally we will be able to do what they tell us to do – which is to diversify and use what assets we have to our advantage.
I reported in March last year that we had hit a stone wall. Well, thanks to our local councillor and the local authority, the serious outflow of young people from the area has been highlighted and this desperate plight has ensured those who make decisions sit up and listen.
A friend of mine was travelling through the Dales on his way back from a break in the Lakes. He said: “How on earth do you make a living in the Dales?”
Now being a rich arable farmer in the Vale of Mowbray that is a statement I would expect. But dear friend, my question is this, would a tourist rather look at the beautiful valley of Wensleydale or a flat field in the Vale of Mowbray with only a hedge in the distance to focus on?
There is no right or wrong place to be, just make sure you use your best asset and for us, that is the view…
Adrian Harrison
Adrian Harrison farms 81ha in partnership with his father Maurice in Wensleydale, Yorkshire. He runs 130 pedigree Jersey cows with 70 followers.