Opinion: Cattle breeders in upbeat mood

The positive mindset at the recent British Cattle Breeding Conference left conference chairman and AHDB senior knowledge exchange manager Amy Fawcett-Hughes feeling optimistic about the future.

Where do you go after you’ve had the best week of your career and one of the most enjoyable of your life?

This was the thought running through my head as I drove back from Scotland to Shropshire after a week away from home.

I’d been chairman of the 75^th British Cattle Breeding Conference for three days and then driven the length of the country, to deliver two on-farm events with a huge crowd of suckler farmers from across England, Scotland and Wales.

See also: Opinion – why I’m bucking the trend and expanding my suckler herd

The experience has been amazing. I have pushed myself way out of my comfort zone by chairing the conference. The 12 months of hard graft beforehand felt like the easy bit!

From addressing a room full of industry members, farmers and academics, to having to wear a dress and look presentable, the three conference days had been a bit of a struggle. But I loved every minute.

The relief of getting back out to my happy place (on farm), however, was something else – and the highs just kept coming.

I was accompanied by my wing man, Arron Nerbas, who had joined us from Canada for the week to speak at both the conference and the events.

We enjoyed discussing, debating and looking at some amazing English suckler farms.

The troops of farmers that attended the events welcomed us with open arms. They were incredibly honest, humble and frequently hilarious about their businesses.

The events were everything that I wish my job could be every day. Happy farmers, asking loads of questions and genuinely being interested in the answers.

All were keen to do things differently in their own businesses and passionate about their industry.

I felt as if the fuss had been taken out of our events. There was no researcher or consultant or expert talking to us about best practice or what the textbook said.

Instead, we had one incredibly inspiring farmer from Canada and another equally inspiring one from England.

And do you know what we did? We just listened to them.

We listened to how they ran their businesses, we listened to how they managed their grazing, we listened to what they thought of their cows.

We listened to how they had a simple, systems-based approach to beef production – something that I haven’t heard for a long, long time.

And when we’d finished listening, we went and saw it with our own eyes, and discussed, asked questions and debated.

And one of the things that struck me the most about these events, was that there was zero negativity. No moaning about the industry, no criticising how other people farm. Just learning from each other and bouncing ideas around.

I spent some time thinking about why all of the above had been the case and why these events had been so successful and so different from the ones I’d been involved with previously.

The answer was mindset. I’m not sure why it took me so long to get the answer.

I’d invited Arron over to speak mainly about his mindset. Mindset had also been a huge factor in me choosing the host farmers.

So it shouldn’t have been a surprise that the farmers who wanted to come and listen to these inspiring people were also of a similar mindset.

Then I realised what had happened.… I, one of the most passionate people you will ever meet when it comes to British agriculture, had lost a bit of faith in it.

I had been influenced by the constant negative press and incredibly loud, moaning voices that we have within our industry, and I had forgotten that all these amazing farmers existed.

I knew some did, because I’m very lucky to be able to work with them in various discussion groups, but I’d genuinely come to believe they were in the minority. What an idiot.

The other thing that struck me as being a factor in the success of the events was how simple the messages were. Farmers were talking about low inputs, systems-based approaches and herd-first mentality.

Again, something I absolutely believed in, but had been talked out of by listening to the noise of the industry and all the “experts I came into contact with on a regular basis.

In my opening speech at conference, I had spoken about “challenging traditions” and I asked the delegates to think about what our traditions were now.

And that’s exactly what the farmers at these events were doing.

Challenging the traditions of high inputs and cows that don’t fit the system. Challenging the traditions of putting cows on a pedestal instead of remembering what they are there to do.

And, more importantly, realising that they are more than capable and happy to do all of that outside throughout the winter.

Thank goodness these farmers had given me a metaphorical kick up the backside.

So, where do you go after you have had the best week of your career and one of the most enjoyable of your life?

Well, you start by feeling incredibly proud of what you’ve achieved. Something that I’m not sure our industry allows us to do very often.

Then you cry a bit because you’re sad that it’s all over and you just want to do it again.

And then you feel more pride  – but, this time, towards the farmers you are so incredibly lucky to work with, both at home and abroad.

You feel pride that you get to be part of British agriculture. And then you feel thankful for all the support you have had from colleagues and friends, and thankful for the new friends you have made.

And last but not least, you screw your head back on, pull out the key learnings, vow to never lose faith again, and get your teeth stuck into something new in the hope that you get to feel like this again someday.