Farming

Cost of Change

All four of the farmers we interviewed are members of Environmental or Countryside Stewardship schemes and two are in receipt of woodland based grants. For the most part they displayed genuine enthusiasm for the schemes and the Sussex landscape in waiting. On tours of the farms they keenly showed us the woodlands, ponds, hedgerows and wildflowers, and the slow transformation of their land. The environmental schemes and building conversions tend to provide a more secure and reliable income than traditional farming did in 1990, because of the regular income attached to them.

Unfortunately, while this is all positive news, adaptation has come at a cost; involving the sale of land, abandoning traditional farming methods and seeing a higher number of people come and go than farm animals. When asked what their ideal farm would be, three out of the four farmers interviewed stated that they would like the farms to remain as they are now, but with more livestock. They would like to farm environmentally, but still provide local produce. "We are not farmers anymore, we are stewards of the land", one farmer told us with frustration.

While environmental schemes, niche markets and diversification offer a means to continue, in the long-term the future of Sussex farms remains uncertain. The quantity of locally produced food is likely to further decline, and more farmers are likely to experience 'burn-out' or move out of farming altogether. Subsidies provided by the Single Payment Scheme are expected to reduce significantly in 2015. Most environmental schemes have a five-to-fifteen year lifespan; and some are already close to their end. Most diversification projects are inadequate income generators to maintain a farm alone. Farmers must innovate to stay in business, but innovation alone may not save our working farms.

Without adequate support from the public and the government, Sussex farmers may have insufficient funds to stay on the land; either as environmental stewards or, as most farmers would prefer, as farmers that respect the environment but grow food, rear livestock and feed our nation. The future of farming in Sussex is not secure.

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