Apr 2026
Our last year of farming seems to be racing past. To make life easier while we are moving house and clearing the farm, we only have some winter wheat planted as a cash crop, and all break crops are SFI 23 options, mainly AHL1 pollen and nectar crops. The wheat is looking good, with just a very small area of blackgrass in one difficult field. We had a good clean-up with a year of AHL1 last year on the field in question, but with hindsight, a two-year break would have been better.
When we sold our small family farm, we had to simply move some of the “stuff” over to our farm to sort out another day, so we are now busy effectively tidying up some of the “souvenirs” of the previous generations of Bradshaws, as well as the incredible amount of gear that Jayne and I have amassed in our 36 years of farming together.
Our landlords, Cambridgeshire County Council Farms Estate, are planning to let the farm to new tenants, and we had an interesting open day a few weeks ago. Several interested parties travelled up to 150 miles to see the farm, people of all ages and with various current career situations. With a couple of extra later viewings, there should hopefully be some good applications put in, and I am looking forward to seeing who the new tenants are.
We are also looking forward to a quieter time after this busy year, and many people ask me what we will do in retirement. The answer is that we have many hobbies, together and independently. One of mine is music. I have always struggled to find time to practise, and hopefully, in retirement I will devote more time to it.
I mainly play guitar, and as I know a few chords, it is fair to describe me as a guitarist. Jimmy Page, best known as the founder of Led Zeppelin, can also be described as a guitarist. However, he is considered by many to be just one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time.
The difference in our musical abilities and success is massive. I can just about entertain a pub while strumming a few chords and singing a bit. Jimmy, however, has had an incredible lifelong career at the top of his musical game, played countless shows and festivals worldwide, sold millions of records, and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice!
Many of us can be described as “farmers”. There are, however, many differences in the skills and successes of us as farmers. The difference in abilities between a farmer who is not at the top of their game and a highly successful one is not as huge as the difference between mine and Jimmy Page’s musical skills, but they do have significant effects on the sustainability and profitability of the farming business.
Until recently, agriculture enjoyed a degree of protection afforded by support payments such as the Basic Payment Scheme, and more recently, Countryside Stewardship, the Sustainable Farming Incentive and similar schemes. With the reduction in support and the rising costs, times are getting harder for everyone, and particularly anyone struggling in some way.
While we have had some great times in our 36 years of farming, we had a very bad period about 25 years ago and managed to lose money two years running, mainly down to potato growing losses. This was a difficult time, and I still shudder when I think of it. However, we took control of the situation and planned with a consultant, went to our bank, who thankfully supported us, and happily got through and rebuilt our business on our terms. So, to anyone who may not be in the best position possible with their farming, please act sooner rather than later, get some good advice, make a plan, and please talk to friends and neighbours or support charities. Modern times are very stressful, and although it is hard to admit problems, talking really does help.
Having met many farmers and seen a lot of other farm businesses, one of the questions I am often asked is what makes a good farmer? Many factors affect this, of course, and sometimes luck plays a part as well. One important quality is an attention to detail. Details matter!
About 25 years ago, a very wise man once explained to a room of eager-to-learn farmers that we should aspire to a system of “No-Error Management” in our approach. He upgraded this a few years later and insisted we should adopt a “Culture of Excellence”!
We have tried for 20 years to farm with a Culture of Excellence, and our modest success in business, particularly 10 years of successful no-tillage cropping, is down to that very approach. I see some form of No-Error Management as a trait in the best farmers I know. In retirement, I will try to apply this culture to my music and other interests!
I am also trying to apply it to leaving the farm and preparing for our dispersal sale, which is going to be on Thursday, September 24th this year, on-site at the farm, but also online. We have a nice, slightly classic fleet of arable machinery, including a couple of direct drills and some low disturbance subsoilers. I’m hoping our nicely prepared and lightly used gear will fetch good money and also be useful for many years to new owners. There is a nice irony that 36 years ago, when we started with our first tenancy, most of our machinery came from farm dispersal sales, and now it is nearly time for ours!
