A MESSAGE FROM AN OLDER FARMER S5 ● E47

so today's video is a little bit different I really wanted to interview Roger here for the channel and I know all of you are really excited to see that but I've been really touched and humbled to have Roger here on the training because he's been farming industrial you know conventional farming for longer than I've actually been alive so that's always quite touching to see someone's progressing into this field of regenerative agriculture so I wanted you to really share a bit about his life experience and he actually quit farming saying he'd never farm again and has come around full circle you could say to regenerate it back and I think it's a really inspiring story I'd love to hear about your background like from the beginning when you started farming and actually didn't go too well I think I know really wanted the farm in the first place I farmed out of an obligation to past generations maybe I was frightened to say no to my father actually at 17 I wanted to go to art college so I started really on the wrong foot I didn't do very well at school I went to Agricultural College they didn't teach me a lot there that's I wasn't listening perhaps I was chasing women and drinking beer and not concentrating on what I should have been but anyway I found myself aged 31 in a state of total ignorance about farming because my dad drank a bit too much I think probably as a result of going through a pretty awful time during the Second World War he'd made a complete mess of the business so I realized I mean I was watching a family farming 3,000 acres in 1962 when I started so that was quite a for those of you in the States whatever that's relatively big farm in the UK yes it is big in the UK but not anyway three thousand acres in 1962 and by 1972 half had that had gone and that was really so so I was sort of getting a bit nervous about all all of that sort of stuff and wasn't really enjoying myself I wasn't allowed to be involved he kept me really in the background and and then all of a sudden 1976 he Upton died but what I found myself with was a business that was almost bankrupt and you know when I went to the safe and got out the books and bank statements I didn't have to know anything to know that we were in deep trouble so this is a picture of around about a thousand acres of alluvial silk in in Cambridgeshire oh it's actually on the Cambridge a linkage a border 15 feet of topsoil of no stones double cropping land pretty much some of the best land and you can yeah I think so so really really fortunate to be farming this stuff but you know farming if I'm truthful really terrified me I was always faced with the weather and what it did to our soils and I was not understanding what was happening under my feet I now understand and if I could go back there now well I think I would treat my farm very differently I'd do something really really truly radical and you can see here I mean this yard that you're looking at I suppose there's a couple of million quid invested in that there are coal stores you know chill stores areas for unloading and loading potatoes onion still as a grain store offices you know farm work shops all that stuff you know you're looking at huge amounts of capital being invested on the back of low value produce beautiful arable crops wheat barley sugar beet we were growing potatoes you know really valuable we were growing strawberries asparagus no in no livestock livestock disappeared from the farm when my grandfather died in 1960 at that time the I suppose he used to have about three or four hundred animals beef beef cattle but guilt fed on you know waste farm produce but after he'd gone by 1962 though no animals and in fact when Julie came to live with me I was about 35 years ago she woke up on the first morning and said to me I don't want to be rude but seemed to be in and you know I I think about that remark now and I thought my goodness me you know we were needing to learn learn a lot so this is the yard in 1976 just after my father had died and there's a lot of white down there which is concrete we had nothing we had no buildings we had tiny tractors we had small trailers we were we had we were employing about 15 people you know first thing I did was sack Mr Stahr and then we started to restructure the business you know we had a remains of a 3,000 acre estate this is a 30,000 grain store isn't showing there that was the original building that my father put up in 1962 and in those days that cost a hundred and twenty thousand pounds I don't know what that would be now somewhere around about two million something like that but you know totally inappropriate expenditure but it's what we were sort of into you know I was farming but I wasn't a farmer I was just a I was just a technician I knew nothing about soil biology you know he could look at fields of wheat and think looks really nice but if you went and looked down into the crop 80% bare ground and you know it was it was sterile potatoes something that I was really proud of growing I was really good at it we were sending really high-class produce to supermarkets you know I would have been proud of the pictures that you'll see at the time when these were taken and then you look at more bare soil I mean we're just good at creating it you know there's the same field that's the same field being lifted in the autumn of the year and in the same autumn there's my big f off tractor I was I just loved it it was just the most wonderful burning machine you know you could pull eight furrows as fast as you can walk you know 100 acres and day was just revolutionary but at bare soil well what a what a what an awful thing to do and then a friend took this this video for me [Music] [Applause] you know this was this this short clip was taken by a friend of mine who just happened to notice what was happening on a car journey through York and she she she posted this to me and said I thought this might interest you it's the sort of stuff you've been talking about topsail walking out in the front gate and at 31 knowing nothing I then decided that actually I didn't have to know too much long story short 20 years later the business is back on its feet we had a very smart farming operation we were making a lot of money and I'd done the job that I'd been asked to do and at that point I thought and in fact I was bleating about it to Tim one of my boys I've got four sons and I was saying you know Daniel I really don't know what I'm gonna do he said goodness sake don't get a clue I said what he said get a clue he said what did you want to do when you were 17 I said I wanted to be an artist he said get off your arse so I went to did a two-year furniture making and design course I absolutely loved it Jilly and I you know we both retired she was a dentist I'd retired from farming I was helping her to run her business and life was was pretty sweet but I was at a bit of a loose end I didn't really know what I wanted to do and there know one or two things happen which mostly centered around family and not being able to have children together we decided that we'd spend the rest of our life adventuring and doing the things that we either never dared do or never had time to do so we we raced motorbikes we should've aeroplanes we skied we rock climbs we did all sorts of crazy stuff and then one of the things I wanted Julie to do was to try sailing and so we we booked ourselves on a charter boat that was going to sail from bricks on the south coast of England down the west coast of France and at the time we were thinking of going to live in France so that seems like a really good idea we had to pay twelve hundred quid upfront a year in advance of going so you know he sort of thought well it's a bit steep anyway we were really excited about that and then a year later the phone rang and it was the charter company so they'd had an accident with the boat they didn't want to leave UK waters and we won't go to the west coast of France we were going to the west coast of Scotland on I went oh and Julie said oh come on Rogers just sailing what's the problem anyway we got these iPad sports bikes be a good Road on the bike so off we went well that was 2,000 and always 2001 and we were living in Scotland by January the 6th 2002 so it happened we we spent four years doing stuff everything that needed to be attached to it so we sort of got into I mean 74 acres didn't frighten me we were tall because of crofting law that we'd have to have a few animals if we didn't use the craft so we got some animals and we've gone on from there so we wound up with a with a small direct sales operation selling beef lamb it's all 100% grass-fed anyway about that time we were watching a video by Rebecca Hosking I'm sure that one or two of you will come across her and she made a film called a farm for the future and that absolutely pressed all my buttons and rang all my bells I watched that and it was telling me what an I'm gonna say something I shouldn't say I've been doing all the wrong stuff you know I love to plow I was told plowing was the worst thing he could do to land you know I was I was told that all the stuff that I've been doing had been flawed really I just you know I felt I got up out of my chair I mean what's the film and it took me as long as it took to watch the film to have my whole belief system completely reversed I didn't believe after that film any of what I come to believe during my time in farming and I immediately went outside and Julie and I in three days created a rather large no dig garden I think 10 beds 10 meters long with lowered paths not raised beds we lowered the paths stuck some boards in the ground and and I was there something like you know I'm gonna do this without digging but I'd listen to all this stuff and you know it was miraculous the whole thing was miraculous and so we we then we started to follow people around the world we threw Rebecca hoskin we got in touch with permaculture actually wasn't terribly impressed by that at the time we'd heard Joel Salatin mentioned in one of the videos with watch so we started following him then we got into her listing management and we wound up going to the savory institution is now international conference in San Francisco in 2015 and really it's just gone on from there and now I can say that I'm passionate about I mean we live on the edge of heaven where we were we live Wow you'll see photographs of that and know how we're gonna organize that and Joel sound in one of his books I think I think it was you can farm and I was reading that because I was trying to help other people to understand how they could get into farming and and how it didn't have to be something that was government led you know this subsidy thing which is so toxic and in one of his books he said you older people need and you you older people need to be you have a perhaps have a moral obligation and duty of care to bring young people into farming and mentor and teach them how to farm and how to run a business so we got these they said find some fired up young people I thought well I don't know where I'm gonna find out anyway then down and fika walked into our lives there 30 year olds and and we've now got these people where he was and we're going to teach them and to farm we're going to teach them to run a business and they're gonna own it and we're gonna step back they're gonna run it we're not and so at the moment we're sitting around the table brainstorming ideas for what income streams we might be able to develop and we're going to turn it into a business that I hope that doesn't rely on agricultural subsidies and government handouts so really exciting stuff no see you're doing holistic plan grazing yeah yeah trying to regenerate that pretty wet grassland where you are yeah I mean we I I think I think we're all in the you know we're in the process of being in a state of constant learning so you know we're just trying to work out what worked and you know having bumped into an unsavory and Joel Salatin gay brand Dave brand you know we started to try some of the stuff they were talking about and now we holistically plan graves have 40 sheep we operate them as a we're looking at trialing broilers at the moment we don't know if it's going to be suited to our kleiner you know that's looking good we feel killed our first 50 Birds just before I came out here to Sweden we've just got another 50 chicks and that's really all about feeding ourselves you know we were very careful not to run around on the land with rubble wheels we use our feet a lot we're very into the business of just observation I guess and and learning to respond to what we observe so it's very simple whether it will work as a business I don't know I suspect that it will and we're hoping that we're going to be you know a flagship in our area that's amazing to keep sharing your knowledge and I've been saying throughout the training like there's so much that we can take from conventional agriculture all the data produced and not just the things that don't work about it but there's so much of value just from that life experience that can be passed to generations that don't work with those things yeah I think probably you know the thing that we're finding at the moment were these young people is that you know they know nothing about farming and in fact that's a that's a that's a real benefit because you don't have to persuade people about stuff you know they've totally imbued with this this new this new paradigm that were into and of course at the same time as helping them you know we're making sure that we can stay put but we're also dealing with succession and that's something that farmers never talk about it's something we need to talk about and we have to find some young people pretty quickly to start farming land the way it should be farmed I think you know I'm absolutely determined to do something valuable before definitely I've got to because otherwise I'm I'm just not going to see what of what we just started I think if I can do that with the help of a load of young people you know life is going to be very inspiring for the next twenty seven years or whatever I think it'd be nice for the viewers to hear a bit about your experience coming here so this is a 10 day farm scale permaculture design course and yeah just to hear some of your impressions coming here for people let's follow our channel but haven't been here in some sense did seen it felt it's like what are your impressions come in here and seeing it through the lens of your previous agricultural experience of a lifetime but also the paradigm that you're in now and it's inspirational I only only discovered Ridgedale and Richard in February around about my birthday because Jill brought me his book and as a late birthday present and I really you know I thought 1,600 pounds I thought a lot of money I actually made the decision to come without consulting my wife Jilly and she's not home moving cattle feeding chickens looking out taking grannies for shopping trips so she's absolutely up to her neck we've got a nine-day holistic training program as soon as I get back so there's all the cooking and stuff to do for that so she's and she said to me you know I'm glad you're in spark because I've been inspired I think is great to see it's great to see such a diversity of stuff going on here and to see the results that have been achieved in a very short space of time and an actual fact we're seeing the same sort of results on our Croft in in Scotland you know just a change but I think I think you know the the interaction with young people the education of seeing seeing something which is alive to the moment is alive to the fact that you know we need to save ourselves I mean the planet will be fine whatever happens but you know this is a really good example of I think I've gone away I've done I've gone away with a whole heap of information you know I think happy you came mm-hmm happy you came oh absolutely yes I'm absolutely happy okay I think it's been a really really great experience and it's like anything in life you know when you're offered an opportunity it can be an opportunity and maybe it could be an opportunity to come and see what an amazing job well maybe an opportunity to meet together and stuff you know we need to be shouting it from the rooftops and we don't need to be shy about doing it although you know at home we've made a decision that will show rather than tell because I think telling is a it can be a bit confrontational but we don't want to be confrontational we want to be sucking people in because they see something that they they really relate to and you know this place you know if you haven't been you you ought to be here and come and have a look it's amazing amazing amazing achieved a lot of ritual and so it's been a happy time we've taken taking a group of 20-something order of us you know a whole ten days to get to know one another and actually I think the thing is just starting to gel as a team done with a month actually I don't know that I've enjoyed the business of sleeping in a sleeping bag and eating it's been it's been great and I wonder if you've got then he liked it bit advice for particularly young people it's a big function of our farm is to support particularly young people to go into farming and I wonder if you have any advice for the people who are considering starting out and you know maybe haven't got the confidence to start yeah there's someone that's worked their whole life through this from one side of it to the other like what would be your advice to someone considering starting up I think it's fine somebody like me will find somebody like myself and jilly who want to you know work well you know the farming community is getting to be pretty ages I think the average age is something like 66 or 67 you know you guys if you're listening and you've been in it for a while have a wealth of information to transmit to people and you know you don't have to be doing with family you don't have to be doing it with you know that sort of whole family farming thing I think is rather incestuous but it doesn't necessarily lead you to the changes that need to be made you know it's gonna be a struggle for people to change you know I still really can't quite believe that I'm sitting here talking to a camera wasn't how I thought I'd be spending my 73rd year but I think there's a whole stack of opportunity for young people out there go and find some smart people like Richard come to Ridgedale you know get stuck in and start to educate yourselves that's what I'd say and don't be frightened to think that you can't do it it doesn't take it doesn't take money you know all you need is either you know a patron if you want to call me a patron somebody like myself or Jilly who who've got you know money and some expertise who are willing to swap that for physical energy because that's what all young guys have got and you you really ought to be totally confident in in just stepping forward and asking for help if you if you want to know how to start come and speak to people like Richard or come and speak to me or speak to anybody who's doing this stuff you'll find there's a lot of help yeah thanks Rhonda it's a real pleasure to have you and thank you so much for sharing business I'd love to hear people's comments and feedback and I'm sure Roger will see some of that over the next days after he's travelled home and we'll link to your website except in the links below so you can find out more just current project this beautiful place up in the North Country No west whisker on the west solder north do you understand if you understand this is a toy I mean compared with this is tiny tiny tiny little project scaling down and getting biologically intense yeah and it is a work in progress so we're not there yet we haven't learned it all learning all the time but just if you want to just go and speak to some people and get into it don't worry about the money that will show up people are looking for people who are motivated who are excited by life and we see the possibilities of what people aren't Richard we're doing in places like this so anyways be nice to talk to you mmm-hmm thanks so much oh joy I hope you enjoyed that and thank you so much for sharing I think people will find that this is inspiring as I have being here with Raj over this time so thanks as always for watching them we'll see you in the next video [Music]

Channel: Richard Perkins

Views: 31,498

Rating: 4.9642324 out of 5

Keywords: farmer to farmer, ridgedale, ridgedalepermaculture

Id: fzGnlN0i1So

Length: 27min 22sec (1642 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 22 2018