Farmer Focus: Succession plan to secure future
Matt Smith © Jim Wileman As we write this week’s article, we are actually having a holiday. Yes, it is a rarity – most of our trips away from the farm involve sheep.
Pip and I and son Dusty have gone to Austria to ski with friends. Although we have a lot on, we needed to reboot our systems as we were both mentally exhausted from such a hectic year.
In the past few months we have been sorting out succession and applying for my next visa to stay in the UK.
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We are fortunate we are sorting our succession now as we know so many of you reading this probably don’t have a clue what the future holds for you or the implications it will have.
We could not afford to be in that position, as we have to invest so much money into new infrastructure in order to be able to move away from my sister-in-law’s business.
Lengthy process
On the visa front we are facing a long process. Many people can’t believe I didn’t instantly become a resident by marrying Pip.
We had to get a visa originally to get married, then applied for one once we got married that lasted two-and-a-half years.
This has just run out, so I have applied for an extension, which lasts for another two-and-a-half years. After this I can then apply for residency, which lasts a year, then finally citizenship, for which I have to sit the “Life in the UK” test.
It’s a very expensive and frustrating road. We have to supply varying evidence that we are still a couple and meet the financial requirements, but we are getting there.
Back on the farm
A mild winter so far means grass is still growing, although slowly. We are still flat-out with the deer fencing project, with more deer now arriving.
Upon our return from holiday we will scan our ewes. We are hoping for a sensible percentage as it’s been a character-building year for our ewes. Spring was demanding because the grass came so late and we had a busy summer preparing for the shearing record.
I’m really relieved my Huntaway pup, Sue, seems to have made a full recovery after her run-in with the stag. Let’s hope she turns out to be worth the money and effort.
Matt and Pip Smith run 1,085 breeding Romneys and Romney cross Lleyn ewes across 121ha. Matt is also a shearing contractor and train sheepdogs.