Have a coffee, find a friend | BV podcast

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9 April 2025

Buses, beans and baby groups – March’s second BV Podcast has it all
This one’s a quietly powerful listen – tackling public transport failures and the remarkable transformation of a warehouse into a buzzing family hub. We have three very different conversations, all rooted in the same thing: Dorset community.

Pop it on in the background – between the chocolate and the chaos, you might just find yourself unexpectedly inspired.

No Bus for 10 Years – and No Plan Yet

Jes Hughes of Dorset CPRE explains why Dorset’s public transport system is one of the worst in the UK – and why it’s dragging down everything from job opportunities to mental health.

“If public transport were a species, it would be classed as highly endangered.” – Jes Hughes
“Without a car, living in rural Dorset is well nigh impossible – and the system is quietly eroding community life.”

He calls for shared car schemes, stronger government investment and a joined-up council approach that takes rural needs seriously.

“Public transport returns four times more value than investing in roads alone – so why aren’t we funding it?”

The Vale Family Hub – More Than Just a Food Pantry

Cllr Carole Jones shares the inspiring story of how a modest food pantry in Sturminster Newton became the main Family Hub for North Dorset – now supporting over 360 families with affordable food, mental health help, and everything from homework corners to domestic abuse support.

“If someone’s in food poverty, that’s not the problem – it’s a symptom of something else going wrong.”
– Carole Jones
“Come in. Have a coffee. Watch the kids play. Find a friend. We’re here for everyone.”

It’s an extraordinary achievement – 24 vital services, open six days a week, funded almost entirely by local donations and grant-writing graft.

Chocolate, Climate and Cocoa Chaos

As cocoa prices soar, local chocolatier Johnny Baxter of Dorset Chocolate reflects on why quality chocolate is under threat – and why some small makers are already disappearing.

🍫 “We’ve seen the price of cocoa quadruple – and it’s not just the weather. It’s traders, plantations and fear.” – Johnny Baxter
⚙️ “We’re not cutting quality – we’re creating new things instead. Fudge, caramels, local cream. We’re makers. That’s what we do.”

Despite market chaos, Johnny remains determined to keep Dorset’s chocolate-making tradition alive – and maybe even reimagine it.

These interviews were based on articles from March’s BV, which you can read for free online here. People, politics, farming, food, wildlife and plenty of Dorset spirit – all packed into one beautiful magazine.

The BV: Best Regional Publication in the UK (ACE Awards) and Regional News Site of the Year (Press Gazette) 2024. If it matters to Dorset, it’s in here.

Barry Cuff’s allotment: March diary

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Editorial team

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9 April 2025

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The purple sprouting broccoli is still cropping well.
All images: Barry Cuff

BBC Radio 4’s excellent Food Programme has been on air every week since 1979. On 21st March, the audience was asked: “Are we prepared? Could we (Britain) feed ourselves in a crisis? Can our food supply withstand another shock to the system? Is there resilience to face another pandemic or even war?” Speaking on the programme, Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, said he believed there was a high risk of outright food shortages in the UK within the next few years. In his report Just In Case: Narrowing The UK Civil Food Resilience Gap he lists 13 different types of growing theoretically available to citizens. At the top of the list is allotments – plots of land for gardening in a large space. The report makes interesting reading.

Red dead nettle is a good source of pollen for hungry bees

March diary
The recent dry spell has allowed us to carry out many jobs on the plot after such a wet winter. Any frosts were short lived, and despite some cold winds it was good to catch up. On the 28th we saw our first flush of weed seedlings: always a good sign of warming soil.

1st: Picked carrots, parsnips, sprouts, winter radish, salad leaves, sprouting broccoli, cauliflower and rhubarb.
2nd: Checked seed spuds for chitting and disease. Received our annual invoice for rent and insurance.
3rd: Dug the ground for potatoes.
5th: Dug the ground for potatoes.
6th: Pumped water for the site (first time this year). Planted out from trays a double row of broad beans – Witkiem Manita and Masterpiece Green Longpod. Planted first row of potatoes (Maris Bard).
7th: Paid rent.
8th: Picked leeks, parsnips, sprouting broccoli and salad leaves.
9th: Weeded the raspberry canes and mulched them with manure.
10th: Planted two rows of potatoes (Charlotte and Sagitta).
11th: Sowed 17 varieties of tomatoes in a propagator on the bedroom window sill.
12th: Sowed plugs consisting of two to three seeds – 150 of Bonus onion, and 60 of Red Baron onion – all in the greenhouse.
13th: Filled the large tomato pots with our homemade compost.
14th: Picked parsnips, carrots and the last of this season’s sprouts.
16th: Removed the Brussels sprouts stalks, gave any good buttons to friends on the allotment and gave the tops to our neighbour’s chickens! Dug the potato ground.
17th: Rehomed the parsnips as they were in the way (the ground is needed for spuds!).
19th: Planted two lines of Jazzy potatoes.
20th: Planted one mixed line of potatoes – Java, Harry and Harmony – which are all new to us.
21st: Planted three lines of Caledonian Rose potatoes. Moved the sweet peppers from the bedroom window to the greenhouse.
22nd: Put the Red Drumhead cabbage plants outside in order to harden.
23rd: Pricked out 96 tomato seedlings and potted on to 7cm pots.
24th: Picked parsnips, cauliflower and leeks. Sowed a unit of Little Gem lettuce.
25th: Planted one line of Caledonian Rose potato, and did some more digging.
26th: Planted one line of Desiree potato. More digging. Planted out a part line of Witkiem Manita broad bean, and also 15 Little Gem lettuce in the greenhouse from the 12th February sowing.
28th: Sowed 60 more plugs with Bonus onion. Picked parsnips, cauliflower, carrots (these were sown early August 2024), leeks, sprouting broccoli and the last of salad leaves.
Any weeds flowering now are a good source of pollen for the bees and we leave them alone – mostly dandelion and red dead nettle.

Rolling fields, raising dreams

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8 April 2025

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Spring brings dry fields, quiet sunrises and the patter of new hooves – for Lucy Procter, it’s the season of hope for the futures that may lie ahead

Glanvilles Stud is amid foaling season
All images © Courtenay Hitchcock

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”

Charles Dickens

Having watched the foaling cameras all night, Himself is now asleep – I’m watching the sunrise through the window, visible behind the stables on the screen … and wishing for rain.
Living in the countryside, BV readers will be aware of this phenomenon: farmers are never happy about the weather. It’s either too wet or too dry, too cold or too hot, too muddy or too dusty. The sun may be warm on our backs at this time of year but, out of direct sun, the air is cold, the soil is cold and, combined with being so dry, the grass has not started growing yet. Fabulous news for me, as it means I do not have to be mowing the expanses of verges around the stud. But not great news for our horses, desperate to enjoy munching fresh grass after a winter’s diet of dry hay.

‘Who are you? Is it time to go out to play?’ She’s Gina’s, Golden Horn colt, ‘Scooby’ foaled 26th February.

Despite this, most horses are now out during the day, picking at what grass they can find. The lack of rain has at least enabled us to roll the fields, removing poaching from land that was grazed during the winter when the ground was soft and hooves – supporting half a ton of horse – sank deep into the rain-softened earth, churning it into deeply pocketed mud. Left unrolled, the fields would not only be full of leg-breaking holes when dry, but they would not grow good grass.

Sidra’s colt by Space Traveller arrived four days early on 29th March at 9.20am. A big, strong, well-made flat-bred, his stable name is Sammy – and his timely arrival meant the morning staff were on hand to help, much to their delight.

Tricking nature’s calendar
Our mares are still coming in at night, either to keep them under pre-foaling camera observation or to help promote an early reproductive cycle.
A mare’s reproductive system ‘shuts down’ through the winter: nature’s way of helping ensure that foals in the wild are born in summer after an 11-month gestation, when weather and grazing are at their best, to give a vulnerable newborn the best chance of survival.

‘Scooby finally gets to go out! Most foals quickly learn to walk on a lead, so one person can usually take them to and from the field. I should probably have had my lead ropes sorted a bit faster as we left the stable, though!
When they’re still very young, foals are mainly guided with a hand over the neck to steady them – but if a little encouragement is needed, that hand soon swiftly moves to the foal’s bottom

At a stud farm this is not an issue – we can keep foals born in late winter sheltered during inclement weather and their dams well-fed.
The primary environmental factor causing mares’ reproductive systems to cycle normally is increased hours of light. Using artificial light, we can trick the mares’ reproductive systems into thinking that it is late spring. This means that they start cycling earlier and we will be able to take them to a stallion earlier. The goal is to have a foal born as soon as possible after 1st January – the official birthday for all racehorses, when their racing age increases by a year – the following year.

Scooby and Basil – foal stable names this year are loosely based on comedy characters

We are predominantly now breeding foals to race on the flat as two and three-year-olds: therefore the earlier in the year they are born, the more well-grown and forward the foal will be by the time of the November/December foal sales and by the time they go into training a year later. When a foal is destined for National Hunt, they will not go into training until they are three or four years old, thus time will have ironed out any growth differences between an early and late born foal. This is no different to the child born in September, who is almost a year older and more forward when they first start school, compared with the child born in August. Usually, by the time they are at senior school, there is unlikely to be any difference between them.

Loving this dam’s ability to ignore her foal’s antics!

Everything feels possible
Although at this time of year the days are lengthening and there is a lot to do, it is always a time of dreams and possibilities as we watch our new-born foals galloping and leaping with energy and joie de vivre.
What will each youngster make at the sales? What racecourses are these young legs destined to gallop? What races will they win?
There is no guarantee that any of them will even get to a racecourse, let alone win any races, but for now, each and every one of them carries our hopes and dreams.
We look forward to watching them grow and develop over the coming months.

“Mum tells me I’m a racehorse, but how about ballet…?”
Week-old Sheldon struts his stuff

Inside the yard

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Editorial team

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8 April 2025

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Chris Wald gives BV readers a peek behind the racetrack and into the early starts of a full-on, fast-moving life on a busy National Hunt yard

March was another successful month: we passed 60 winners for the season and also reached our target of £1million in prize money. We were blessed with some lovely spring weather for the Cheltenham Festival this year and it was great to share it with so many of our owners. As usual, starting every day with drinks at the back of Joe’s car in the car park which is a great way of getting everyone together before the days racing.
On the track, the highlight for us came on the Tuesday when The Changing Man and Rock My Way both finished fine seconds in their respective races. A second at the Cheltenham Festival is a great achievement and was celebrated as such!
The month ended with a double at Wincanton and a memorable day for one of the Amateur riders in the yard – Richard Upton rode his first winner on Off To A Flyer. That night we had our end of season staff party at Tamburinos in Sherborne, a well-earned chance for our hard-working team to let their hair down after a long season!

Life on the yard
We’re a busy racing yard, currently with around 90 horses in training, six broodmares and a growing number of homebred youngstock. As a predominantly National Hunt yard, our busiest period runs from October through to the end of April, when the season is in full swing. Come May and June, most of the horses are turned out to grass – it’s also when the team takes the bulk of their holidays.
The yard is led by me – I’m the Assistant Trainer – alongside barn managers Jemma Sargent and Hameer Singh. Together, we work closely with Joe to ensure the yard runs smoothly and the horses are doing the right work at the right time. We tend to arrive slightly earlier than the rest of the team so we can plan the day before everyone else gets in for the 7am start.
We have a 25-strong team, with some staff working purely on the yard and others riding five lots each morning. Mornings are always our busiest time – especially when there are owners visiting, the yard becomes a real hive of activity.
We finish at 1pm and then return from 3 to 5pm for evening stables, when the horses are skipped out, fed, watered and brushed.
During the season, we’ll be racing at at least one meeting on most days. Richie Young, our travelling head lad, has been doing the job for around 16 years – it’s fair to say he knows his way to almost every racecourse in the UK by now!
Reggie Eggleton has been our second travelling person for the past three seasons, and takes care of the rest of the driving.
For most of the team, going racing and watching the horses we work with every day perform on the track is a real highlight. It’s also a great way to meet new people – there’s a strong social side to it too.
Working in racing is full-on, especially through the winter months. It can be both physically and mentally demanding. But the rewards when things go well are huge – and the friendships and way of life it brings are like nothing else.

Toilet duck and pond water

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Editorial team

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8 April 2025

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After two decades on the government benches, MP Simon Hoare’s new role in opposition shows him Labour’s alarming lack of preparedness for power

The General Election result of 2024 created a new environment not just for our country but also for me. Since serving in elected office as either a district or county councillor or as your Member of Parliament (2004 – to date), I have only sat on the majority/government benches. This parliament is my first time in opposition.
Of course, the day job of representing my constituents remains the same irrespective of which side of the House I sit. The role of government – to govern and make laws – is a clear one. But what is the job of opposition?
In essence, I see it as being two-fold.
The first job of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition is to oppose the Government. That does not mean opposition for opposition’s sake, but opposing authentically and constructively where there are real bones of contention and dividing lines (this government has already provided us with plenty, and looks to be the gift that keeps on giving). It also means standing shoulder to shoulder with the Government of the day on issues of national security – Mr Corbyn learned the electoral downside the hard way when he remained uncommitted following the Russian poisonings in Salisbury.
However, the second and bigger job in opposition is to prepare policies that establish you as a ‘government in waiting’, with a deliverable programme umbrella-ed by a clear overarching objective, and a philosophical bedrock focussed on making positive change. That takes hard slog – and timing is key. Launch an excellent policy too early and the Government pinches it. Launch a not-too-excellent policy and it is torn to shreds while simultaneously further undermining your standing in the eyes of the voter. But whatever the timing or external circumstances, it is a job that cannot be ducked: it has to be done.

Safety net not straightjacket
Which begs the question: what on earth was Labour doing, those 14 long years in opposition? They won the Government crown last year on a message of: ‘It’s time for change – we are not the Tories’. With every day that passes, it becomes increasingly clear that no indepth policy work was undertaken in opposition. In government they are all pie crust and precious little filling. A blend of incompetence, inexperience and inflexibility is producing a not very appealing cocktail – think toilet duck and pond water, laced with a little bile.
Trumpian Tariff madness, a bonkers Chagos deal and the Chancellor’s ‘Doom and Gloom’ made what was already a very bad Reeves first budget a whole lot worse. Business confidence is on the slide, job creation in freefall and economic policy headroom obliterated by anti-business policy. So, into the crosshairs of the Chancellor comes the Welfare Budget.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Welfare needs constant reform. It is not static. BUT the guiding principles of it are always that it is a safety net below which no one can fall (particularly those who cannot work) but NEVER a straightjacket from which one can never escape.
Any welfare reform requires deep thinking, impact assessment and a clear destination vision … not so with this government, apparently.
Instead we have seen a grab for the easy, low hanging fruit, with no prospectus for the grand vision. Cash has undoubtedly been saved, but the question is (and for this government it remains a rhetorical one) is it the right cash? Removing disabled benefits already being received is an … ahem ‘novel’ approach.
What I cannot see is any strategy for breaking the cycle of inter-generational worklessness through choice, rather than necessity, or the sculpting of a coherent suite of policies to face into the new post-pandemic epidemic of worklessness.
Instead, the Chancellor’s approach is the equivalent of a smash and grab raid – a Supermarket Sweep of the vulnerable, delivered without thought but merely ‘what can we save fastest’ as the prime motivator. I support the principle of welfare reform. I remain to be convinced as to Labour’s version in practice.

A brush with movie magic

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Editorial team

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8 April 2025

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Pinewood Studios, the beating heart of UK cinema, is usually a closed-off and secretive place where movie magic is made. However, one sunny weekend in March, Gillingham School’s Media Department brought 30 students from Years 10 to 13 to the Pinewood Futures Festival – a careers fair showcasing the vast range of jobs and pathways into the movie business.
They walked down Goldfinger Way, under the looming presence of the 007 soundstage, and were immediately greeted by intimidating Stormtroopers and Deadpool – behaving badly as usual.
Students spoke with people involved in special effects, prop-making, drone and camera systems, and even got a peek inside movie trailers and makeup artist stations.
They took part in lightsaber demonstrations, toured behind the scenes on TV show sets, and met representatives from media colleges and universities. They bustled about, chatting with stallholders, picking up information and freebies, and grabbing photo ops with robots and film characters. One of the teachers accompanying the students said ‘It was an incredible feeling to be let behind the curtain into the business that creates so much of the cinema we love.
‘Our students were in awe as they discovered the sheer range of careers available – not just creative or theatrical roles, but also jobs in project management, security, carpentry, electrics, catering, and even horticulture. The highlight of the day was an enchanted woodland glade, entirely constructed by talented horticultural set builders, where we met and had tea with the Mad Hatter.
‘It turns out the real magic of cinema lies not on the silver screen, but in the work of the army of individuals behind the scenes. The creative industries and media sector are growing rapidly, with opportunities for everyone, no matter their strengths or interests. At Gillingham School, we work hard to nurture those interests and help turn them into rewarding careers.
‘Next time I go to the cinema, I’ll be paying closer attention to the credits – and I have no doubt that one day soon, I’ll see one of our students’ names up there.’

April in the garden

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Editorial team

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8 April 2025

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Start your sunflowers, plant your dahlias and prep your baskets – Pete Harcom says April’s the time to get your garden growing again

April is the month to sow some sunflower seeds. Pete suggests looking oin seed catalogues for Suntastic Yellow, Saluna Bronze, or Gummy Bear or … Waooh

April … at last! The soil is slowly warming up, so now there is lots to do! Having said that, still watch out for frosts at night, and resist the temptation to sow and plant out too early. Keep an eye on the weather forecast and wait a few days if necessary. Remember to protect any early outdoor sowings with fleece if frost is warned.
A cold greenhouse will be sufficiently warm enough now to start sowing seeds … get going with annuals and biennials like foxgloves, hollyhocks, nemesia, rudbeckia and French marigolds.
Check your pots aren’t drying out: they can, even at this time of year. Also now’s the time to start increasing the watering of your house plants.
Weather permitting, sow your sweet peas outdoors now at the base of their supports, and pinch out the tip of any sweet peas that are growing in the greenhouse or cold frame (and again as they grow outside) – this encourages more flowers.
Sunflowers can be started now: sow direct on finely raked ground where they are to flower. Children love them, they are so easy to grow and there are now numerous very interesting lower-growing varieties – check out seed catalogues for ones such as Ruby Sunset, Astra Rose, Suntastic Yellow, Saluna Bronze. Or how about Gummy Bear or …Waooh (yes ‘Waooh’)! Sunflowers are good for cutting and great for pollinators, and they also provide autumn seeds for the birds.
Remove faded flowers from spring bulbs, especially Daffodils, to stop them wasting energy on producing seed, and allow the leaves to die back naturally.
Place support frames or pea sticks over tall growing perennials now, to encourage the new stems to be hidden from view as they grow. In mild areas Dahlia tubers can be planted out in April.
The lawn will need attention from now on, including sowing fresh grass seed on any bare spots. Aerate the lawn by spiking with a lawn aerator or a garden fork – this can be done a few times per year.
Primroses can be increased now by lifting and dividing – they are tough little plants and can easily be split up and spread around the garden.
It’s a good month to make up your hanging baskets in a cold greenhouse. Use a large flowerpot to stand the basket in while you plant it up. When it’s done, either hang the basket up in the greenhouse or you can stand it on a pot for support, before hanging the basket up outside when danger of frosts are over.

FULL TIME SAFEGUARDING OFFICER: Fairmead School

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Editorial team

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7 April 2025

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GRADE 12 – Gross Salary £27,711 – £31,067 subject to qualifications and previous experience

We are seeking to appoint an outstanding safeguarding officer. The purpose of the role is to support the Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs) across the school in their work to promote a strong culture of safeguarding and to safeguard our young people.

The successful candidate will need:

• A commitment to the school’s ethos and values

• Relevant experience, knowledge and training in safeguarding

• Experience in undertaking safeguarding duties in a school/education or partner agency setting

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, and a commitment to the highest standards of record keeping

• The ability to listen and communicate effectively with a range of audiences including children, families, colleagues, schools and external multi-agency organisations

• The ability to carry out case management and investigative work

• A strong work ethic, high standards, a commitment to excellence and ongoing improvement, and a positive attitude to achieving goals

• Diplomacy, with a professional manner, and the ability to balance different priorities

• High levels of personal integrity, the highest standards of discretion, the ability to handle sensitive information with the utmost confidentiality and an excellent understanding of the principles of data protection and data management

• Confidence in the use of relevant IT systems and software

• Calmness and resilience under pressure

Full details (Job Description and application form) can be obtained from www.somerset.gov.uk/jobs-and-careers, or the school website www.fairm e adschool.com

or by email to Recruitment@fairmeadschool.com

We welcome school visits, please email Recruitment@fairmeadschool.com to make an appointment.

Closing date Thursday 1^st May, Shortlisting Friday 2^nd May

Interviews Thursday 8^th May

Fairmead School is committed to safeguarding the school community. All job applications must contain the disclosure of any spent convictions and cautions. The school will carry out pre-employment vetting procedures, which include an online search for shortlisted candidates and the successful outcome of an enhanced DBS

The green farming dream lies in tatters

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Editorial team

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7 April 2025

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No support, no clarity and no way forward as the plug is pulled on the Sustainable Farming Incentive, says George Hosford

Theo, the red Hereford bull,enjoyed the attention of a school visit on a sunny morning in February. ‘He loves having his head and neck rubbed, but you wouldn’t want to be the same side of the fence as him, he is too big and strong to trust’

Few English farmers will have missed the Government’s brutal and abrupt halting of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) (extended offer) 2024 version, pulled without warning at 6pm on Tuesday 11th March. For non-farming BV readers, it’s worth explaining the consequences of this decision.
Following the 2024 autumn budget, DEFRA announced a drastic early cut to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), which was the long-standing EU-era subsidy. BPS enabled UK (and other EU) farmers to produce food at far below the true cost of production for very many years. After Brexit, the government of the day promised a land of milk and honey, proposing the use of public money to pay for public goods. Under the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS), BPS would phase out by 2028, gradually replaced by support for sustainable farming practices – chiefly the SFI.
In practice, that transition proved far from smooth. The NFU repeatedly asked for delays to the BPS wind-down due to SFI rollout delays: to no avail. The SFI pilot launched in 2022, and then as a fully functioning scheme in 2023. It worked, it paid out quarterly and quite a few farmers engaged with it. In late 2024, the SFI 2024 extended offer was launched with more than 100 options. But applications were wildly complicated, especially if you already had SFI 2023 options in place. In many cases, conflicting options had to be removed by the Rural Payments Agency before progress could be made. Even so, many farmers persevered.

Pulled the plug
Then we had the budget and BPS was decapitated: a rumble of upset and worry was heard throughout English farming. Renowned Cumbrian shepherd and author James Rebanks said he believed that the progressive greener dream for UK farming had died. I have tried hard not to agree with him, but am now very depressed by having to admit that I do.
Then came the blow. Without prior notice or warning, the 2024 extended SFI was abruptly closed. To withdraw what was originally described as a rolling application scheme – one you can apply to at any time in the year – within five months of the sudden removal of the BPS, is heart-stoppingly shocking, and desperately sad. The likely consequences are truly scary. There was no warning, or any hint that we should get a shift on with applications. The loss of trust is profound. Many farmers embraced SFI and Countryside Stewardship schemes, seeing them as a route to farming more sustainably. Now they are left mid-transition, unsupported.
Many farmers have poured energy into more sustainable practices, using Countryside Stewardship (CS) and SFI as a back-stop, while exploring less damaging ways to grow food. This is a terrible betrayal of farmers who are bold enough to try to do the right thing.
We’ve been encouraged to reduce fertiliser, switch to cover cropping, plant bird food plots and companion crops, or try insecticide-free options: all aimed at giving farmers the confidence to farm in a less damaging fashion. These all require long-term planning, and many were underpinned by SFI options. Many farmers are now left with little choice but to stick with – or revert to – the high-input systems that are so damaging to soil, water and climate.
It is such a short-sighted move, destroying trust, and will ever more deeply entrench the old fashioned view that “this is how we’ve always done it and I’m not changing now”.
Weaning off the high-nitrogen, pesticide and intensification treadmill is incredibly difficult, and without the support of schemes like SFI it will never happen, so the damage to soil, water and environment will continue.
In our own case, we had an SFI 2024 application ready to submit. But because of clashing rotational offers between SFI 2023 and 2024, we had to wait for RPA adjustments. While we were doing due diligence to ensure our commitments were manageable – especially with more than 15 years of previous scheme obligations still active – the whole thing was cancelled.
We’re told a replacement might appear in 2026. DEFRA has pulled the plug with no warning, deadline or proper explanation.
We’re now worse off than last year.
Options like insecticide-free cropping, low-input cereals or no-till methods are not just ‘environmental nice-to-haves’ – they were ways of bridging productivity and sustainability, of trialling new systems with some security. For new applicants now, those supports are gone.

These are not in fact twins – it is remarkable how the coloured eye rings have passed down from the six heifer calves that we bought 12 years ago. The originals were black, but our red bulls have been injecting a little more colour into the herd

Policy whimsy
It’s easy to understand why so many farmers have stayed out of SFI and CS schemes altogether. Systemic change in farming takes time. Decisions like this only make the sceptics dig in harder. When policies shift on a whim, why risk changing the way you farm?
Some farmers who dipped into Countryside Stewardship were waiting for their agreements to end, ready to switch into SFI wholesale. What are they supposed to do now? The government had the chance to build something lasting: replacing flat-rate subsidies with support tied to outcomes. SFI 2023 was working. Perhaps SFI 2024 tried to do too much too soon.
But pulling it entirely? It defies logic.
The decapitation of BPS last autumn was bad enough: SFI was supposed to be the safety net to help us through that. To then destroy that safety net is a betrayal of monstrous proportions. That the government fails to understand anything about farming is terrifyingly exposed by this move. And a deeper question remains: what is the government’s real direction of travel on food, nature and climate?
All the things they have said to us, from Starmer “having our backs covered” to DEFRA secretary Steve Reed’s speech at NFU conference, ring utterly hollow. They told us the agricultural transition would reward public goods.
Now, with no BPS and no SFI, there’s no cushion. Only uncertainty.
And for farmers trying to do the right thing, this feels like betrayal.

Keep up to date with George on his blog ViewFromTheHill.org.uk