Winter 2025/6 - Farmers Club Journal (Issue 308)

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Winter 2025/6 | Issue 308

RULE THE ROOST How an Essex farming family built a successful turkey business

FOOD & DRINK

Head chef Bradd Johns on the Farmers Club’s legendary Scotch egg

CUMBRIAN LEGACY How a farmer’s final wish is helping secure a future for UK agriculture

TOWN & COUNTRY

All the latest Club events for the festive season and into 2026

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The Farmers Club Serving the farming industry for over 180 years 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL T: +44 (0)20 7930 3557 E: generaloffice@thefarmersclub.com W: www.thefarmersclub.com

Contents Winter 2025/6 | Issue 308

NEWS 4 Chair’s Comments

Karen Mercer looks back on her year as Farmers Club Chairman

Chairman 2025: Karen Mercer Chief Executive & Club Secretary: Didi Wheeler

6 Club Diary

Reception 020 7930 3557 ext. 200 & 201 or option 2 reception@thefarmersclub.com

7 Glamis Castle

Restaurant Reservations 020 7930 3557 option 3 restaurant@thefarmersclub.com

Club’s first Cornish Chairman takes the helm for 2026

Calendar of outings and activities Where history meets farming

10 Chris Riddle

Bedroom Reservations 020 7930 3557 ext. 204 or option 4 reservations@thefarmersclub.com

FEATURES

Conference & Banqueting 020 7925 7100 functions@thefarmersclub.com

How one farmer’s last wish is securing a future for farming

Membership 020 7925 7094 membership@thefarmersclub.com Member Experience 020 7930 3751 memexpmanager@thefarmersclub.com Club Events 020 7930 3751 memexpcoordinator@thefarmersclub.com Finance 020 7930 3557 ext. 221 or option 8 financialcontroller@thefarmersclub.com General Office 020 7930 3751 generaloffice@thefarmersclub.com Instagram: @the_farmers_club Facebook: The Farmers Club Page X/Twitter: @TheFarmersCub The Farmers Club Journal Designed, produced and published

by Fenelon Publishing Limited on behalf of The Farmers Club Disclaimer: Articles published in The Farmers Club Journal do not necessarily reflect the views of The Farmers Club. No responsibility for the quality of goods or services advertised in the Journal can be accepted by the publisher. Advertisements are included in good faith. All rights reserved.

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13 A Cumbrian legacy 17 Mentoring

Mutual learning and understanding

18 British to the core

British top fruit growers have bold ambitions to woo UK consumers

21 Monday Lecture

Peter Craven reveals the secrets of successful family farming

25 Your last gift

31 Golden and glorious Head chef Bradd Johns reinvents the Farmers Club Scotch egg

32 Rule the Roost

How an Essex farming family built a rare-breed turkey empire

50 Tribute

Former Chairman Ken Young

Time to put your affairs in order

REGULARS

28 A Prince in Heaven

34 Town & Country

Wild venison in our Restaurant

34

Club events for the months ahead

42 Golf Society

Fabulous season comes to a close

43 Charitable Trust

Apply for the latest trust grants

44 Under 35s

Chairman’s Jottings and Dinner

46 Club Information Membership and staff news

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 3

CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS

Karen Mercer

Honour and privilege to be your Chairman

G

oodness me, how time has flown. As the year draws to a close, I find myself writing my final Chairman’s Comments.

I said at the beginning what an honour and privilege it was to be elected Farmers Club Chairman for 2025 – but in all honesty, that really doesn’t do it justice.

I really do thank you for allowing me to represent the Club this year – and to represent you, our members. It has been absolutely incredible and an experience I will always cherish. Thank you.

The Farmer

The theme of my year was “The Farmer”.

With that in mind, I was keen to bring to you a range of interesting and relevant speakers able to speak authoritatively on issues that were of great concern – both to you and to UK agriculture.

I hope I have achieved that with knowledgeable speakers at our Monday Evening Lectures, the other numerous events held within the Club, and while we have been hosting events when attending agricultural shows across the country.

We also hosted a series of farm events throughout the UK – allowing you the opportunity to look behind the scenes and speak to those who make it all happen.

There have been so many people who have given of their time and knowledge. How lucky we have been.

The year 2025 will be remembered for its wet spring and long, dry, hot summer.

For many, yields and prices have been poor.

The farmers who work incredibly hard to provide food for the people of our country have faced challenges on many fronts.

Sadly, this is not always appreciated and properly recognised by those in power.

Unfortunately, our policy makers, do not seem to understand the importance of farming and the countryside.

4 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

Neither do many recognise the importance of food security. But I certainly do and I sincerely thank you for all the hard work you do.

Events

Since I last wrote, we have visited Glamis Castle near Dundee. A huge thank you to Lord Strathmore for the incredible invitation. We also visited Harper Adams University, which has the accolade of being Specialist University of the Year and top in the UK for career prospects.

We made a special trip to Scope House – the home of Holstein UK and the Cattle Information Service – which operates 12 hours a day for 363 days a year and tests samples daily from all over the UK. Our Harvest Festival held in St-Martinin-the-Fields was wonderful. Thank you to Reverend Dr Sam Wells and to my own vicar Reverend John Allan for such a lovely service before supper at the Club. There was a great buzz with everyone simply having a good time.

“Nothing is ever too much trouble” The Ladies Lunch gives me the opportunity to entertain and thank the ladies who are so supportive of the Club. Guest speaker and BBC broadcaster Charlotte Smith, who reports on rural and farming issues, kept us well-entertained with her delightful stories.

A celebration lunch was held on 14 November. Started in 1964, we now have boards on the Club wall to recognise the U30s and now the U35s Chairmen.

Many past Chairmen attended what was a fun afternoon as they chatted away to friends and caught up with one another.

The U35s is such a vital and integral part of the Farmers Club, full of incredibly talented people who will help shape the future of our industry. It has been a privilege to work alongside U35s Chairman Ben Barton, and I thank him for putting together such a remarkable year None of this would happen without the dedication of ALL the team at the Farmers Club. Everyone works tirelessly to ensure our members have a fabulous time.

During this year, I have seen behind the scenes at the Club. We are truly blessed to have a resolute team within each department. Nothing is ever too much trouble, and they strive to deliver high standards in all they do. Thank you each and every one for your hard work.

Events

From the moment you cross the threshold or sign up for one of our many events, the aim is to ensure that you have the best and most interesting of times. I do hope we have succeeded.

Thank you to the Club Executive, the Club Trustees and Club Committees who put in incredible hours to ensure The Farmers Club is robust – both now and for the future. I consider myself very fortunate to have worked with you, I have learnt a great deal. Thank you.

A personal thank you as well to Club Secretary Didi Wheeler who has guided me through the year. It has been fun and a great pleasure working with you.

Above: Youngsters and youngstock compete at the Westmorland show Left: Karen Mercer with Robert Mitchell at the National Fruit Show Below: Winners of the best stand at the Westmorland Show were Massey Feeds The Christmas period is busy with plenty of festive cheer, culminating on New Year’s Eve with our fabulous New Year’s Eve dinner – including London’s fantastic fireworks display enjoyed from the Terrace – after which U35s Chairman Ben Barton and I will lead the dancing and end our fabulous year on a high.

All that remains for me to do is to wish your new Farmers Club Chairman Chris Riddle a fabulous 2026. You are in excellent hands, and I know that both Chris and his wife Thelma will have a truly remarkable year – and so will all our Club members.

Chris, I wish you a very successful year and one that you thoroughly enjoy.

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 5

CLUB NEWS

Festive celebrations prepare to herald 2026 A bustling few months saw members flock to London, writes Club Secretary and Chief Executive Didi Wheeler

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embers have flocked to the Club over the past three months. An outstanding programme of events – including festive events – has attracted bookings in large numbers and is set to continue into the New Year and beyond.

Guiding star Some excellent news is that the Club Committee has agreed the adoption of a new Club operating system called NorthStar. This new system will significantly improve the interaction between members and the Club. It means – for the first time – we will have a modern fully integrated operating system with a single database.

It will allow members to more easily interact with the Club using a mobile phone app – as well as through a more modern website.

“

We’ve an exciting schedule of events”

Fish and chips at Stocks Farm: the perfect end to the day

6 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

The booking of bedrooms, events and tables in the Restaurant will become significantly easier too – and all activities can be tracked through a member’s account. The new system should be operational by mid-July 2026.

Jamaican Returner I am delighted that long-serving Farmers Club Team member Marlene Abrahams, who is our Reception and Reservations Manager, has safely returned to London and the Club. Marlene was caught up in Hurricane Melissa while taking a well-earned holiday with family living in Jamaica.

The most powerful storm of 2025 hit Jamaica late on Tuesday 28 October. With estimated wind

Your Club Calendar Vote of thanks I would like to make a special mention to two people. First, to our Chairman, Karen Mercer, for her enthusiasm and energy in her Chairman’s year – championing so many excellent Club events, whether in the Club itself or around the UK. Karen’s focus on The Farmer has been front and centre of some exceptional activities over the past year.

Secondly, huge thanks to Event Coordinator Zsofia Sarosi, who has embraced the key leadership role of planning and running the Club’s events. Zsofia, you are outstanding.

speeds of up to 185 miles per hour, Melissa had a catastrophic impact on the country, bringing lifethreatening storms, flash flooding, and landslides. Marlene was safely repatriated after an extended absence. Welcome back Marlene.

What have we done A very busy autumn kicked off with a visit to Ali and Richard Capper at Stocks Farm on the Worcestershire/ Herefordshire border (see page 18).

We welcomed 44 members and guests to our Honorary Members Lunch, with a combined total of 1406 years membership dining with us. The Westmorland Show was a great success and guest speaker Robbie Tuer was an outstanding example of the best of the next generations of farmers.

Strathmore Estate After a re-run of the popular Chairman’s Legal Day, members visited Glamis Castle and Strathmore Estate (see page 7).

Other agricultural engagements included visits to Harper Adams University; Scope House in Telford, home to Holstein UK’s

New Committee members I can announce that at the end of the year Richard Maunder will stand down as Immediate Past Chairman, along with Sue Bullock and Lindsay Hargreaves as Farmers Club Committee members.

Autumn saw a Porsche tractor (left) at Westmorland and a visit to Glamis Castle

Of the six available positions on the Committee, I am pleased to confirm that Sophie Dwerryhouse and John Wilson will remain for a further three years. They will be joined by the following members: Dr Stephen Dowbiggin OBE was first introduced to farming as a child via an uncle’s tenanted mixed farm in Essex. He subsequently spent three years at Wye College (196972) and the Grasslands Research Institute at Hurley.

Stephen became a farm manager before moving to land based colleges (Berkshire, Durham and Hadlow) and was appointed as Principal Capel Manor College (1984-2017). He is now a consultant, trustee and non-executive director.

Alan Plumb is a land agent specialising in diversification of all kinds. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a member of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers and a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Farmers. Alan was previously a Club Committee member from 2020-2023.

Jude McCann currently lives on his family’s farm in Northern Ireland. He spent seven years in New Zealand researching his PhD, investigating the social impacts of agricultural subsidy reform.

Jude was chief executive of Rural Support Northern Ireland for seven years. He is now chief executive of Farming Community Network – a role he has held for five years. He was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship in 2017 and is the current chairman of the Oxford Farming Conference.

First generation farmer Andrew Court is a partner and manager of the Court Farming Partnership, a mixed arable and beef enterprise. He was the Club’s 2024 U35s Chairman, having been a member for the past six years. Andrew is a serving vice-president of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers.

In addition, Ben Barton will hand over the chairmanship of the U35s to Harriet Sylvester. Harriet will be supported in her role by Aled Thomas in his capacity as U35s Vice Chairman.

inheritance tax plans on hardworking farming families.

new headquarters and the Cattle Information Service; and a visit to the National Fruit Show.

The Club celebrated Harvest Festival in fine style with a traditional Service at St-Martinin-the-Fields followed by a superb Harvest Supper at the Club Our Monday Evening Lecture in November saw a packed audience listen to Peter Craven on the challenges of a family farming

business and transition. There was much to learn for both young and more senior Club members.

Ladies Lunch The following day, Charlotte Smith, journalist and broadcaster was our guest speaker at the annual Ladies Lunch. It was an unforgettable tour d’horizon of experiences and insights – from bog snorkelling to the impact of the Treasury’s

Almost 40 members enjoyed visiting Glamis Castle

Whitehall rally We welcomed a steady flow of visitors during the Farmers’ Whitehall Tractor Protest on Budget Day. The Club will always open its doors to welcome anyone from the farming community in need of warmth, shelter, and something to eat and drink.

The Club is here to serve its members and the wider farming community on days such as these, as we have always done for the previous four protests.

Christmas and New Year With the Festive Season upon us, this year’s Christmas Dinner and port tasting thrown in for good measure was unsurprisingly fully Continued on p9

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 7

CLUB NEWS

Where history meets modern farming Members enjoyed a wonderful visit to Glamis Castle, writes Club Chairman Karen Mercer

W

hen the 19th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne offered to host a Farmers Club visit to his home and estate at Glamis, I gratefully accepted.

Glamis Castle is regarded by many people as the most beautiful in Scotland.

Almost 50 members attended the visit on 17 September – and we caught our first glimpse of the castle as we drove along the sweeping parkland drive.

We were warmly greeted by Lord Strathmore, who introduced us to estate director Andrew Brough and farm manager Marc Skivington. Both have been at Glamis a relatively short time but have a clear and robust vision for the estate.

Biggest attraction

The Castle sits at the heart of the 5,870ha (14,500 acre) estate, which includes seven let farms, almost 1000ha of woodland, deer stalking and rough shooting. The biggest visitor attraction in Angus, it attracts 117,000 visitors annually.

The Strathmore Farming Company has six employees and two seasonal workers. It produces mainly combinable crops and has a commercial herd of 700 Stabiliser cattle.

Sitting 220-1,500 ft above sea level, with about 850mm annual rainfall, soils range from Grade 2 sandy silt to Grade 6 heather hills. Arable land and biodiversity are being improved using cover crops, reduced ploughing and less applied fertiliser.

Fabulous tour

In the afternoon, we were treated to a fabulous tour of Glamis Castle and gardens. Lord Strathmore can trace his heritage back to 1372 when Sir John Lyon was granted the thanage of Glamis for services to the Crown.

The 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne married English heiress Mary Eleanor Bowes in 1767. By 1820, the family name had evolved to Bowes-Lyon.

Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the youngest daughter of Lord Glamis, later the 13th Earl, was born in 1900. Following the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936, she became Queen Elizabeth, Queen Consort to her husband King George VI. Their eldest daughter became Queen Elizabeth II – and her sister Princess Margaret was born at Glamis Castle in 1930. Which brings us to the present 19th Earl of Strathmore, Simon Bowes-Lyon.

The rich, colourful and fascinating history of the estate had us all enthralled.

It is even more special as Glamis Castle remains the home of Lord Strathmore today. Thank you for a very special and memorable visit.

Harvest Festival Celebration

T

rugs brimming with British food and produce graced the altar at St Martin-in-the-Fields – our local parish church – for the Club’s annual harvest festival.

Reverend Dr Sam Wells welcomed members and guests – including Jeremy Finnis DL, Master of the Farmers Livery Company, who was installed at the Church of St Bartholomew the Great on the previous day. Other guests included the masters of the Butchers, Farriers, Bakers and Poulters livery companies.

The harvest service provided the opportunity for both quiet reflection in this most wonderful house of worship, and the opportunity to fill the lungs and raise the roof with a few well-known traditional harvest hymns.

CLUB NEWS

Continued from p7 booked. This was swiftly followed by one of the most magical days of the year at the Club when Father Christmas and his trusty Elf paid their much appreciated annual visit to No. 3 Whitehall Court.

Our Christmas Family Day is always an afternoon of escapism hugely enjoyed by grandparents, parents and children alike. Of course, the year will be brought to a close by the most anticipated event of the year, our New Year’s Eve Black Tie Dinner.

The service commenced with the laying of trugs by Chairman Karen Mercer, Vice Chair Chris Riddle, Chair of Trustees Tim Bennett, Honorary Treasurer John Hardman, and Committee members Sophie Dwerryhouse and Sarah Cowlrick.

The excellent service was jointly led by Reverend Sam Wells and Reverend John Allan, the Chairman’s guest preacher. We were spellbound by the St Martin’s Voices, one of the UK’s most versatile choral ensembles.

Three-course supper

On our return to the Club, members and guests enjoyed a drinks reception and traditional three-course harvest supper. Head chef Bradd Johns and the Kitchen Brigade were at their best – the seasonal British food was absolutely delightful.

It was an excellent afternoon and evening among great company. Next year, we hope to open our service to the wider parish to celebrate harvest with us, so please mark your diaries for Wednesday 14 October 2026.

Fitting finale It will be the perfect event: great company, delicious food and wine throughout the night; live music and the most spectacular fireworks show in the country on our own doorstep. It will be a fitting finale to what will be Karen Mercer’s last day as Club Chairman.

An exciting schedule of Club events is being lined up for next year. The first three months are previewed in the Town & Country section of this journal (see page 34).

We will be adding considerably more events over the coming months and will keep you updated with regular newsletters. There will be something for everyone.

Looking forward January heralds the 2026 Oxford Farming Conference. Chairman Chris Riddle, Club Secretary Didi Wheeler and U35s Chairman, Harriet Sylvester will attend.

Soon afterwards, the Club will be celebrating Burns Night – complete with piper, haggis and a touch of tartan.

We are looking forward to members supporting this popular event. Looking further ahead, Chris Riddle’s Cornwall Tour dates are the 1st-4th June with an ‘Overseas Tour’ to the Isles of Scilly scheduled for 14-18th September.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2026.

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 9

Chris Riddle has a remarkable association with agriculture.

Didi Wheeler reports

Cornish Chairman takes helm for 2026 10 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

CHAIRMAN 2026

Christopher Riddle ARAgS

T

he Farmers Club archive suggests Chris Riddle will be our first Cornish Chairman when he takes up the post on 1 January 2026.

Chris’s association with agriculture started with his father Albert, who in 1957 became the first full-time secretary of the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association (RCAA) following a distinguished career in the Royal Navy.

Having joined up when he was just 15, Albert served on HMS Prince of Wales during World War Two. He was on board in 1941 when the ship was forced to withdraw damaged by the Bismark – in the same battle that sunk the battlecruiser HMS Hood.

Having cheated death when a shell from the Bismark ripped through the gunnery turret where he was stationed, Albert was pulled from the waves six months later when the Japanese sunk both the Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse in the South China Sea.

Lure of the land

After leaving the navy, the lure of the land promised a quieter life. Albert took a job with an agricultural feed merchant before becoming RCAA secretary. When Chris was born in 1963, the family lived ‘above the shop’ at the association’s offices in Truro.

A move to the association’s Wadebridge showground followed, with the Royal Cornwall shaping Chris’s formative years. Educated at Treliske and then Truro School, he later gained a Duchy College Agricultural City & Guilds qualification.

Despite achieving a distinction in his sheep theory exam – one of only two awarded nationally that year, a business studies course at Mid-Cornwall College sparked Chris’s enthusiasm for furthering his commercial acumen and wider education.

This bedrock grounding in business, an ability to touch-type at a fair speed and an enthusiasm to work alongside people towards a common goal saw Chris promoted to RCAA assistant secretary in 1985.

Just four years later, he succeeded his father Albert as RCAA secretary, becoming only the ninth secretary since the association’s founding in 1793 – and the youngest head ever of any major UK show at only 25 years of age.

Highest standards

Chris spent more than 35 years at the helm of the RCAA, supporting Cornwall’s farming community and helping to stimulate agricultural innovation and development across the county.

Today, the Royal Cornwall Show remains a showcase of agricultural excellence – and much more besides, celebrating Cornish identity, tradition and community spirit to 120,000 visitors every June.

The essential component to the success of the show is undoubtedly the fact that agriculture remains at the beating heart of the event – with the Cornish people proudly united behind the show and all it represents about the county.

The show has come a long way since it was first held in 1793 – as a ploughing match near the Red Lion Inn in Truro. “It’s a living link between past and present, rooted in the soil of Cornwall,” says Chris.”

Best practice

“As well as promoting the excellence of Cornish farming and produce, it’s important that we remain rooted in our local communities – and that we continue to support those much smaller shows across the breadth of the county and beyond.”

A former chairman and board member of the Association of Show & Agricultural Organisations (ASAO), Chris believes in sharing best practice. “We can all learn so much by being prepared to listen to others,” he says.

This extends way beyond the UK. By the time Chris retired in September 2024, the Royal Cornwall had developed close working partnerships with agricultural associations as far away as the USA, Canada and Australia.

The next generation are important too, says Chris. “We were one of the first associations to take a lead in teaching children at school where their food comes from,” he adds, speaking of the RCAA’s outreach programme.

This includes taking a purpose-built mobile classroom to primary schools across Cornwall and employing dedicated staff to promote a Food-to-Fork trail. The RCAA also holds Farm & Country Days, bringing 1500 children to the showground.

Global links

“Many people at the Royal Cornwall perhaps saw me as a ‘benevolent dictator’. It was probably true.

I was well known and allowed to get on with things.

But I was also lucky to work with some very talented and dedicated people.”

Inheriting his father’s deep love of travelling, Chris joined the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth, representing farming organisations and institutions across the world. >> The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 11

CHAIRMAN 2026

“I was always keen to see how others were approaching the same agricultural challenges. I suppose that may seem strange to some who may expect a more parochial Cornish approach” Chris is now the society’s honorary secretary and a trustee – and is very much looking forward to the RASC Conference in Cape Town in November 2026, with which he is heavily involved.

Farming charities

Away from London, Chris and wife Thelma are now settled in Wadebridge in the heart of the Cornish countryside they know and love well. Chris is actively involved in a number of family farming charities – a cause close to his heart.

Their children Emma and Harry also live locally and both work in hospitality – Emma running the Pavilion Centre at the Royal Cornwall Showground and Harry managing a well-known and popular local hotel.

Away from farming, Chris spends his spare time indulging his love of collecting 18th century English porcelain, pottery and glass – and other Georgian antiques. He chairs the Caughley Society and is deputy chair of the Arts Society Mid-Cornwall.

12 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

“

‘It’s the perfect place to meet friends old and new.”

The Farmers Club, of course, remains a primary interest. “As soon as you walk through the door, you meet some incredible people from across the industry. It’s a lovely, welcoming and friendly place to stay in the heart of London.

“I joined the Club because, like so many in agriculture, I was often in London for business and many of these gatherings and events were held at the Club so becoming a member seemed sensible.”

Chris recalls initially being “one of those quiet members who sat in awe observing the great and good” such as the late Lord Henry Plumb, deep in discussion and debate. As for so many others, the Club soon became his home from home in London while spending time in the capital.

Perfect place

“I have been extraordinarily lucky to meet some amazing people – and quickly found we had an enormous amount in common. I realised the Bar could not be rivalled as the perfect place to meet old and new friends alike.”

The thought of ever being on the Club Committee – let alone being elected Club Chairman – was not something Chris had ever considered until some of the more senior members encouraged him to “give something back” to the Club.

After 28 years, though, the time is right. During his Chairman’s Year, Chris plans to shine a light on British food and farming – and those behind it. It will include championing the very best of Cornwall during a special Chairman’s Tour in early June.

Based in Falmouth, members will visit Rodda’s Creamery, Riviera Produce, the iconic tidal island of St Michael’s Mount, Lynher Dairy of Cornish Yarg fame and St Ewe Free Range Eggs – as well as taking in an evening supper cruise.

Members will also spend a day at the Royal Cornwall Show. While it’s not technically an overseas tour, September will see Chris inviting members to join him on a visit to the Isles of Scilly.

It certainly promises to be a spectacular year.

NEW ENTRANTS

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Cumbrian Legacy How one farmer’s last wish is helping to secure the future of farming

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Cumbrian farm purchased by the Addington Fund has become the launchpad for an ambitious new scheme helping young entrants into agriculture.

Whins Farm near Kendal is being transformed into a flagship ‘starter farm’ by the charity as the cornerstone of a much wider commitment: the Addington New Entrant Scheme, launched in autumn 2025 at the Westmorland County Show.

The scheme combines the provision of a fully renovated farm tenancy with a targeted financial grant programme, reflecting a major strategic investment by Addington in the next generation of UK farmers and growers.

The charity purchased Whins Farm after being left a gift of money in the Will of the late Mary Blades.

Alongside her brother Joe, Mary owned the farm and

specified that it should be sold in one lot after her death to a “keen and enthusiastic young farmer”.

Finding a buyer who met the criteria proved elusive. Despite being a good farm on the edge of the fell, serious investment was needed to renovate the farmhouse – putting the property well beyond the reach of most young farmers..

The project

The connection between the charity and Whins Farm stretches back more than two decades – when Addington was established to help farmers affected by the 2001 foot-and-mouth. Mary and Joe were among those supported by the crisis charity.

It was then Addington stepped in. The decision to buy the farm was ambitious, says chair of trustees and Farmers Club member Simon Mountjoy. >>

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 13

Mary and Joe Blades: Guardians of Whins Farm Addington’s acquisition of Whins Farm is defined by the legacy of its former custodians – siblings Mary and Joe Blades. Their connection with Addington dates back more than 20 years to the 2001 foot-andmouth crisis, when they received support from the charity.

Joe started farming after leaving school, stepping in to farm the land when he was just 14 years old following the death of his father.

He was well known throughout the Dales, partly due to his work in contracting.

Friends describe Mary as more of a “stay-at-home sort of a person”.

Straightforward in her talking, she was not always easy to deal with, but someone who meant what she said, ensuring people “knew where you were at with Mary”.

“

It’s a bold approach.

We want exceptional people

Her life revolved around farmed livestock and wildlife. Mary would often walk the fields, frequently followed by her sheep, perhaps hoping she was carrying a bottle in a pocket or some titbits for them.

Labour of love

Joe took immense pride in the property, maintaining the traditional drystone walls as a labour of love over many years, keeping them in order. When he died, Mary was determined Whins would remain a working farm.

Although she failed to sell the farm while alive, her Will stipulated that the property must be sold in one lot to a “keen and enthusiastic young farmer”. The local church, village hall and other charities also benefited from her legacy.

The decision to purchase required a consultation with five other charitable beneficiaries of Mary’s estate to ensure they were happy.

Thankfully, all trustees were satisfied that Addington met the criteria of the Will. This included the intention to keep the farm together and make it available for a new entrant through Addington’s fledgling New Entrant Scheme.

The vision

Whins Farm encompasses some 28ha (68 acres) of land with additional grazing rights on Howgill Fell.

Renovation includes upgrading the farmhouse and outbuildings – including ground-source heating and installing solar panels on the house and barn roof.

Although expensive, this will ensure the property is largely energy self-sufficient. The charity has substantial expertise in this area, having previously converted three redundant farmyard buildings into affordable housing in Cornwall and Cumbria.

The initial hope is to complete the renovations of the house and the re-roofing of the barn by May 2026, with the letting in place soon after. The farm is expected to be ready in late 2026, with tenancy details and the application process scheduled to be released in spring 2026.

Once established, the fund hopes the new tenant or tenants will integrate into the local community – using local shops and services and perhaps sending their children to the local school.

Support package

Recognising that the barriers to entry for young farmers are greater than ever, Addington’s New Entrant Scheme offers a comprehensive package that goes beyond simply providing land and buildings.

This package will include a robust mentorship scheme and assistance in developing sound business plans. Crucially, the support will be ongoing. “This is more than a standard landlord tenant relationship,” explains Mr Mountjoy (pictured left).

14 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

NEW ENTRANTS

The New Entrant Scheme operates with a twin approach, complemented by a substantial financial commitment.

Coinciding with the purchase of Whins Farm, Addington launched its New Entrant Small Grant Scheme, dedicating an initial £100,000 to the initiative. The grants are designed for individuals aged 18 to 40 in England and Wales.

This financial support is targeted towards youngsters who are entering or have started farming within the past five years – whether they are renting land, securing a new tenancy or, indeed, starting a fresh farming venture.

The grant scheme is focused specifically on initiatives that deliver real benefit to a new farming business. It is centred on the ethos of healthy livestock, healthy soil and healthy farms. Grants are capped at £3,000 per individual.

Crucial investment

The structure of the tenancy is also forwardlooking, he adds. Although applicants must detail their plans in depth – including stock management, handling systems, and capital needs – the intention is for the tenancy to be a true stepping stone.

Any new entrant taking on the tenancy will be expected to move on following the completion of their short term Farm Business Tenancy. Applicants will be asked to explain how they intend to take this next step – ensuring the another person has the chance to take on the tenancy at Whins Farm after them. It’s a bold approach requiring applicants to be “quite exceptional people,” says Mr Mountjoy.

Whins Farm (top left); with siblings Joe and Mary Blades

Eligible items include crucial investments in proactive farm management, such as soil and fodder analysis to ensure feed and land performance; livestock health planning, vet attestation, and specific animal health products.

The scheme also supports modern and practical equipment, including livestock monitoring cameras – especially useful to reduce lambing and calving mortalities, mobile or virtual fencing equipment and hoof trimming equipment.

Grants may be used alongside other funding, such as the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund.

However, the scheme explicitly excludes funding for capital items, such as machinery, livestock trailers, and livestock itself.

Addington sees the acquisition of Whins Farm, coupled with the New Entrant Small Grant Scheme, as the first step in a broader strategy too. >>

Legacy in honour of former Club chairman The New Entrant Grant Scheme was established in honour of the late Peter Jinman OBE, who was a past Chairman of The Farmers Club.

A farm vet, Peter’s professional career was defined by his dedication to animal welfare and the farming community. He served an Addington trustee from 2011 to 2023 – and was chair of trustees from 2019 to 2023 – until his death in 2023, following a short battle with cancer.

The scheme’s focus on healthy livestock, soil and farms directly reflects

Peter’s lifelong commitment to good animal husbandry and animal welfare He was especially passionate about supporting new entrants, recognising their role the future of agriculture.

Lasting impact

Having qualified at the Royal Veterinary College in 1974, Peter was president of the British Veterinary Association from 20022003 and later took up the presidency of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

He also served as the independent

chairman of the Animal Welfare Committee for Defra and devolved administrations.

The Farmers Club continues to maintain strong links with Addington.

Former Club Chairman Richard Maunder is a trustee and member of the charity’s governance and resource committee.

Meanwhile, Farmers Club member Martin Redfearn chairs the Addington governance and resource committee – and is a member of the charity’s fundraising committee.

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 15

NEW ENTRANTS

If it goes well, other farms could follow – including from former new entrants who now wish to pass on a similar opportunity, says Mr Mountjoy who confirms the long-term potential.

“We look forward to expanding our New Entrant Scheme in time as we have several pledges of farms to be bequeathed to the charity in the future to manage as New Entrant starter farms.”

The charity believes the programme could be an especially attractive option for landowners who want to make a cottage and land available to the next generation but are “stuck” on ways to manage the succession or tenancy arrangements, often because they don’t have offspring of their own.

By providing a springboard for new entrants and supporting young talent, Addington aims to secure a future for farming that will help attract a diverse range of people who would otherwise find it difficult to join the industry, says Mr Mountjoy.

The commitment is not just financial, he emphasises. As a charity, Addington is committed to remaining on hand throughout the duration of each tenancy agreement, standing by its young farmers, offering advice when asked and having their back “when things go wrong as well”.

Gifting farms – in whole or in part – could also be a potential option for landowners keen to ensure younger generations have a future in farming while maximising inheritance tax incentives. The goal at Whins Farm is to establish a working model so others may follow a similar path.

Future for farming

Establishing the scheme fulfils one of Addington’s long-held ambitions, says Mr Mountjoy – to encourage youngsters into farming in a structured and supportive way which provides opportunities and mentoring for new entrants.

The importance of the legacy involved can’t be over-emphasised: “A farm isn’t just buildings – it’s history and community. We see ourselves as stewards of this hill farm and will support our tenants to give them the best start.”

There are other benefits too. The charity’s structure allows a less commercial view than some private owners. “We can afford not to be absolutely commercial about this,” says Mr Mountjoy, noting that Addington will not necessarily require a high return on capital from its tenants.

Other potential benefactors are keeping a keen eye on developments, with other farms also promised to the charity by people who want to leave a lasting legacy.

The entire enterprise has been met with warm reception, showing how farmers can work together across the generations to overcome the challenge of land ownership. As Mr Mountjoy explains: “That is why we are excited for the future.”

“

More farms could follow – that is why we are excited for the future

The farmhouse and buildings are being completely renovated (left and above)

How to apply for New Entrant Grant Scheme Addington’s New Entrant Small Grant Scheme provides grants of up to £3,000 for young farmers to invest in sustainable practices and animal welfare.

Applicants must be aged 18 to 40 and located in England or Wales. They must have started farming within the past five years, or be about to start farming.

The scheme focuses on initiatives that 16 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

deliver real benefits for healthy livestock, healthy soil, and healthy farms..

Business plan

Applicants must provide: a completed Addington application form, a detailed business plan with projected cash flow, a business bank statement and financial accounts, if available.

References from two professional people unrelated to the applicant must be included with the application.

Once submitted, applications will be reviewed by a panel and assessed based on innovation, viability, and alignment with the scheme’s core focus.

For details about the scheme and how to apply, visit www.addingtonfund.org.uk

CAREERS

How mentoring unlocks farming potential perspectives and sparks new approaches.

By stepping outside familiar circles, people gain clarity, confidence, and broader insight.

Success triangle

We can learn so much from one another – including how to thrive, says Helen Wyman

A

griculture has always been built on knowledge sharing – around kitchen tables, at markets and in fields. But as the pace of change accelerates, so must the way we learn.

Market volatility, shifting policy, climate pressures, labour shortages and technological advances are all reshaping what it means to run a farm business.

In my Nuffield Farming Scholarship report, Mentoring: A Mechanism for Driving Positive Change in Agriculture, I explored how mentoring can help individuals and businesses to adapt and thrive.

My research examined mentoring models worldwide and tested them through a UK pilot supported by the Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust.

The findings are clear: mentoring is not a luxury – it is vital for strengthening leadership, driving innovation, and improving long-term business resilience.

As part of my research, I developed the Ingredients of Success Triangle – a framework for designing and delivering successful and effective mentoring in the farming and rural sectors.

This structured approach moves mentoring beyond informal conversations, providing a tested, scalable framework that can be adapted across different businesses and organisations.

What needs to happen next

My findings have now been translated into action. The main mentoring programme is now live, making structured, cross-sector mentoring more widely available.

As Philip Wynn OBE observes: “We all face turbulent and uncertain times.

Adaptation and progression will be the key to future success.

“The mentoring programme delivers an inspirational six-month journey of mentorship and learning that allows you to define goals, realise ambitions and set out a clear roadmap for change.

“Experiencing the wisdom, encouragement and empathy of mentors will create that essential confidence and belief that you can and will succeed.”

Three priorities remain critical: • Recognition: industry bodies and rural organisations must see mentoring as a core tool for business and leadership development.

• Consistency: high-quality frameworks are needed to ensure strong matching, effective training, and robust evaluation.

• Accessibility: mentoring must reach every corner of the agricultural sector, from family farms to supply chain professionals.

As can be seen, today’s challenges demand a more intentional approach to learning from one another.

Mentoring creates space for reflection, connection, and challenge – enabling individuals, businesses and communities to grow with confidence.

By embedding mentoring into the fabric of UK farming, we can equip the next generation with the skills to strengthen our rural economy.

For details of the next mentoring programme, please visit twocanmentor.co.uk

Effective mentoring

Successful mentoring programmes consistently shares four features: • Clear Purpose: a joint understanding of what mentor and mentee want to achieve.

• Thoughtful Matching: aligning people by personality, experience and knowledge.

• Ongoing Support: structured training, and reflection keep relationships on track.

• Accessibility: reaching beyond existing networks across all regions and sectors.

A key finding was the value of crosssector mentoring. Pairing someone from livestock with someone in horticulture – or connecting an arable farmer with a food supply chain specialist – brings fresh The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 17

HORTICULTURE

T

he air at this year’s National Fruit Show buzzed not just with commerce and collaboration, but with the undeniable sweet scent of success.

Amid a spectacular array of over 100 entries, growers showcased the sheer quality and diversity of apples and pears from Britain’s orchards. In doing so, they demonstrated that the UK top-fruit sector is thriving and innovating – despite global challenges.

The central display, the bedrock of the annual event organised by the Marden Fruit Show Society, was a testament to meticulous husbandry.

Traditional staples, such as the cooking favourite Bramley apple, shared space with modern commercial giants like the widely popular Gala.

Visitors and judges alike at the Kent Showground in November were wowed by the truly novel varieties, including newcomer Kissabel – a sweet and succulent apple exhibiting a striking orange skin coupled with vibrant red flesh.

This abundance of choice confirms the fruit industry’s capacity to produce a beautiful crop, boasting amazing colour and great skin finish – all crucial for consumers who buy with their eyes.

British core to the

Why top fruit growers are betting on a bumper future

Tradition and centuries of heritage Independent fruit grower David Knight reports a good apple crop this year with excellent quantity and quality at Pippins Farm Orchard in Pembury, Kent.

The top fruit sector looks better than it has done for years, says Mr Knight, who grows a range of heritage apples, as well as more modern varieties like Gala and Braeburn. But securing a reasonable price is a persistent challenge, he adds.

Many growers try to keep a lid on costs by 18 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

collaborating with one another for necessities like packing or storage, says Mr Knight. But they still maintain independence in their own farming and growing practices – including the varieties they choose to grow.

Mr Knight is actively investing for the future, planting a new orchard with a variety called Magic Star, alongside established North American Cameo and Japanese Fuji varieties, as well as growing Cox and maintaining a heritage orchard.

At a difficult time for many UK farmers and growers, the sector has a bold ambition: to persuade more consumers to buy more British top fruit. It’s a goal rooted in decades of innovation and recent successful harvests.

The amount of land dedicated to UK apple cultivation in the UK has remained stable at about 5,500 hectares for more than 20 years. But the industry has successfully doubled its production during this period – a substantial achievement.

Herefordshire grower Ali Capper, who chairs the trade body British Apples and Pears Ltd (BAPL), says UK growers are now cultivating over 70 different commercial varieties of apple, with 36 new varieties planted in the last five years alone.

BAPL’s target is to increase the market share of British apples sold in UK retail from 40% to at least 60% by 2035. Doing so will require substantial investment, estimated at £80,000–£100,000/ha.

Growers currently plan to plant only 145ha annually in the next three years, well below the 369ha needed to maintain current orchard levels. To reach their target, increased investment must be justified.

Confidence

A related concern is the need for consistent renewal of orchards, which has slowed over the last three or four years due to the lack of profitability caused by massive inflation on input costs.

“What we’re looking for now is that certainty from retailers, long-term contracts and profitable returns so that growers have the confidence to step up the renewal of orchards,” says Ali. That said, grower profitability has increased by improving growing systems, such as introducing apple clones that colour up quickly, enabling the fruit to be picked in a single pass rather than requiring two or three separate picks.

The path forward is not without peril. A potential 94% increase in standing charges for energy poses a >>

Photo: Alamy / Adrian Sherratt

Bold ambition

Award-winning apples and hops at Stocks Farm Farmers Club members travelled to the glorious Herefordshire/ Worcestershire border for a visit to Stocks Farm, kindly hosted by Richard and Ali Capper.

Steeped in 200 years of history, the farm has been managed by the Capper family since 1962, adhering to a philosophy that blends rich tradition with the forefront of agricultural development and scientific expertise.

The farm benefits from good quality heavy clay soil, known as Old Red Sandstone, which excels at retaining moisture. It supports about 40ha of hops and a further 40ha of apple orchards.

The farm has won multiple accolades, including the Charles

Faram International Hop Award in 2023. The on-site Hop Shed Brewery produces award-winning beers using local British hops grown by the Capper family.

Precision technology – including an RKT GPS tracker – are used to establish new apple plantings. Dessert varieties include Gala, Red Windsor and Junami – trained on a fruit wall system supported by wirework.

The farm also grows two cider apple varieties – Harry Masters and Dabinett – harvested mechanically for autumn pressing.

The visit coincided with the busy September harvest and concluded with a refreshing pint from the Hop Shed Brewery.

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 19

HORTICULTURE

Stunning flavour – and red flesh

“

Appearance is key – but so too are taste and texture”

frightening threat to grower profitability, potentially driving food inflation, says Ali. “Why does this matter to an apple grower?

Because apples are a stored crop and growers rely heavily on cold storage facilities,” she explains.

“There is a significant energy cost in stored fruit – enough to wipe out any profit.”

Changing tastes

BAPL is urgently seeking the same dispensations or subsidies offered to other manufacturing sectors – like chemicals or the car industry – particularly concerning stored food which requires significant energy expenditure.

Despite these challenges, consumer demand for British fruit remains high and retailers are responding. BAPL data suggests sales of British apple and pears have increased by as much as 40% within the last decade.

One reason is the quality – and because British growers are successfully adapting to changing consumer tastes. Shoppers these days prefer apples which are sweeter, says Jonathan Blackman, chairman of judges at the National Fruit Show.

Apples entered into competitions at the show are judged on three trays per variety. It’s a keenly fought contest, assessed across multiple criteria, including colour, shape, size, freedom from disease and bruising, and skin finish.

Judges also check the internal condition, focusing on pressures that determine optimal ripeness. The highest marks often approach perfection, usually around 98 or 99 out of 100 for the Best in Show.

For a commercial apple variety to succeed, the most important factor is consumer acceptability – 20 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

Red-fleshed apple variety Kissabel has enjoyed significant growth in popularity over the last couple of years, says Steve Maxwell, chief executive of Worldwide Fruit.

Originally a French variety from the Loire Valley, Kissabel is now grown by about 12 UK growers. Its distinctive red flesh is matched by a stunning flavour – managing to be sweet, yet also zingy and tangy.

Worldwide Fruit is 50% owned by Fruition PO – a group of 40 UK growers. It extends the UK growing season by matching domestic production with southern hemisphere imports, also supplying Jazz – the UK’s fifth largest selling apple – and Pink Lady.

Mr Maxwell says the unique appeal of Kissabel, which offers a striking red coloured flesh when bitten into, is part of the fruit sector’s continuous efforts to offer consumers something new, different and exciting

meaning they must be varieties that retailers want to sell and people want to eat, says Mr Blackman.

“Appearance is key – but taste and texture are also highly important, especially for new introductions. Consumer tastes have evolved over the years, leading to a noticeable shift towards apples that taste sweeter.”

Sweet success

This trend explains the decline of the Cox Orange Pippin, which, despite its delicate flavour and slight acidity, has been overtaken by global, sweeter varieties like Gala – now the UK’s biggest apple.

Growers are also constantly seeking the “next new thing,” such as the red-fleshed Kissabel, which was a big hit with visitors at the National Fruit Show.

The perfect apple must ultimately balance stunning visual presentation with desirable eating qualities, good taste and commercial viability, says Mr Blackman. Then you’ve got a winner.

MONDAY EVENING LECTURE: NUFFIELD SCHOLAR PETER CRAVEN

Formula for family farming success Families who reach decisions together are more likely to thrive, says Nuffield Scholar Peter Craven. Johann Tasker reports

A

simple written agreement can help family farming businesses thrive – and secure their future for the next generation.

That is the argument advanced by Peter Craven, a fourth-generation farmer from south Lincolnshire, whose Nuffield Farming scholarship focused on one deceptively modest tool for success: the family charter.

Mr Craven presented his Nuffield findings at the Club’s Monday Evening Lecture on 3 November. Formalising how families work together can be as important to long-term farming success as good business management, he told Club members and guests.

Family farming has traditionally relied on trust, habit and often informal or unspoken understanding. But market volatility, uncertain government policies and extreme weather are among the challenges that necessitate a more formal approach.

Mr Craven’s interest in the issue began in 2018 on the Worshipful Company of Farmers’ advanced business course at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester. Participants were encouraged to step outside their own businesses and learn from others.

intended to become Farm Manager of the Year – and then outlined, point by point, how he was going to achieve it. “He’d got a plan and I hadn’t,” Mr Craven said.

A further jolt came from agricultural economist Sean Rickard, who told the group that 60,000 UK farmers would go out of business in the next seven years.

The number was debatable, but the broader point was harder to ignore.

Brexit meant farming was undergoing huge change, said Mr Rickard. The loss of subsidies would reshape the entire sector. Mr Craven began to consider whether the greatest risks to farm businesses might lie not in policy or markets, but in relationships.

His own family was not immune to those pressures. >>

Learning process

“It’s not healthy to live within a hedge line,” he recalls being told.

The experience was, in his words, “humbling”, exposing how much more he still needed to learn. Two encounters during the course profoundly influenced his thinking.

The first was with a fellow participant, Ryan McCormick, who declared that he The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 21

The most difficult challenge, said Mr Craven, was “the idea of getting on with family and being able to make decisions together”. If families could not agree, they risked missing opportunities or making poor choices under strain.

SOUNDBITES

“It’s not healthy to live within a hedge line.”

“Like air in the room, respect is not a problem until there isn’t any.”

“You can have the best numbers in the world, but if your family can’t get along, it’s all for nothing.”

Global study

His Nuffield travels saw Mr Craven speak to more than 100 farming businesses in 15 countries across four continents. They included farms in New Zealand, where subsidies were removed far more abruptly than in the UK. There he encountered farm businesses that were entrepreneurial, data-driven and technologically confident – but also unusually intentional about the way their families operated.

Many of these farm businesses used formal family charters – documents that set out shared values, shared expectations, defined roles and rules. Some lenders would not finance a farm without one.

The charter, as Mr Craven describes it, is “the intersection of business success and family success”.

It is not a legal contract, but a written framework that helps families articulate what they want to achieve together.

“Everyone in this room has got a family charter right now,” he told Farmers Club members and guests. “You’ve all got one, but it’s in your heads.”

Writing it down makes it visible, shareable and open to challenge.

Q&A Some of our very best farmers are first and second generation farmers. Do you see an inheritance as a blessing or a curse?

Peter Craven: A farmer I visited in New Zealand had five children. I asked him what succession looked like – was it dividing the business into five? He said: “Gosh, no – we’ve created this business and we’re not going to split it up.”

The purpose of their family charter was to keep the farm together and support the children to do whatever they wanted. They could come into the business if they wanted to but four of them had chosen to stay out.

Having a charter meant they had a choice. It meant they weren’t kicked into 22 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

Farmers Club members quiz Nuffield scholar Peter Craven

touch. They were in the family but didn’t need to be in the business. It meant they could part own it but didn’t have to actively manage it.

The charter created space and freedom.

It gave them the flexibility to make choices – to be part of the family and still be hooked up to the farm – but not shackled to it.

How do you get past the 80-plus-year-old head of the family who holds the chequebook to start the family charter process?

PC: It’s easy to say ‘have the conversation early’ but I know family dynamics can make that difficult. One American family I visited faced exactly that situation – grandpa

was “always right” because he had seen everything and done everything too.

So what they had agreed in their family was that when there was a problem, everyone had to come to the table with two solutions – even grandpa. It changed the family’s collective mindset completely.

Rather than being one way to do something, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Even grandpa has two ways – he’s now more receptive in his thinking and more open to listening to others.

Change can be difficult when you get set in your ways. Little ttechniques like that can help you see things differently – like others might see them. They can be used as conversation starters – uniting families rather than pulling them apart.

I’m a younger farmer. Our family needs to start succession planning but my father’s generation – including uncles and aunts – won’t get around the table. Unless they do, inheritance tax means there will be no

MONDAY EVENING LECTURE: NUFFIELD SCHOLAR PETER CRAVEN

Questions to ask

The process matters as much as the document.

Families discuss why they do what they do, where they want to go and how decisions will be made.

They also address difficult but necessary questions: “Do we want to remain as a family in business together? If we do – or if we don’t – how are we going to do that? And who are we calling family?” Including or excluding in-laws and stepchildren, for example, can profoundly shape succession dynamics.

Mr Craven’s research suggests that the strongest family businesses are built on three foundations: clear vision, shared values and open communication. business left. It is all rather daunting. How do we even start to begin the conversation?

PC: Your question is about how you deal with the generation above. You have to find a way to find that conversation out loud – and find out what everyone wants.

This needs to include who will own the business, who is in the business and who is in the family? And what will this all look like in 30 years? What do we think? What do we want and where do we want it to be?

These are all difficult questions for many families. The best advice is to find a safe space – a neutral place – where you can do this, where people feel as comfortable as possible saying, actually, this is what I would like. Because you might discover that people want something different.

Sometimes families need help to start the process. An independent facilitator can help – an expert in family succession planning.

There’s no shame in that. It’s important to be honest and open about what you want.

Help is out there.

The Wilcox family in New Zealand have their own family charter

Vision, Mr Craven told listeners, gives the family and the business direction. He quoted former RitzCarlton chief executive Horst Schulze, who told him that “90% of all businesses have no idea where they’re going”. Without a destination, leadership is guesswork. A charter is a place to agree one.

Shared values, meanwhile, shape behaviour. In New Zealand, Mr Craven stayed with a collective of five farming families who demonstrated unusually high levels of respect.

“Values drive behaviour,” one member told him.

The family charter allowed them to state those values explicitly, ensuring that newcomers to the family understood what mattered.

Communication is the third element that binds everything together. Mr Craven used an analogy from his travels: respect is “like air in the room – it’s not a problem until there isn’t any,” he said.

Holy grail

Trust, which is regarded as “the holy grail” in all personal and business relationships, depends on honesty, openness and fairness. Without them, families could find themselves trapped in longrunning disputes that sap energy and block progress.

One New Zealand example illustrates the risks of unclear decision-making. A dairy farmer’s wife asked her father-in-law to fund part-time help so her husband could spend time with their children. He >> refused, saying there was no money for it.

If you could turn back time, how would you have changed the relationship within your own farming family.

PC: That’s a really good question – because in my own situation, I wasn’t able to walk the walk if you like. So I’m standing here talking to you almost as a fraud. I’m telling you what you should do – only to admit that we couldn’t do it ourselves because we’d left it too long.

Communication had broken down in our family so much that we almost couldn’t speak to each another. We all get to make choices in life, and ultimately we only walk this way once, so I had to make a very difficult choice to step back from the farm.

What about families where some people want to discuss succession planning but others don’t? Should you go ahead without involving those family members?

PC: Nobody likes feeling like things are being discussed behind their back – especially if they’ve been in charge. It’s

about power, control, money and emotion – and it’s a powerful cocktail.

Taking people with you on the journey is essential. And if I come to you with a fully worked up succession plan, you’re not going to be as receptive as if I start to sow seeds with you early on to ask, what could the future look like?

It comes back to the conversation – about saying can we talk about this? And how’s it going to work? You can’t just do stuff to people, you have to do it with them.

It’s about co-design and it’s really important.

In many instances, people have gone back to a facilitator almost to say, dad has died now, please can we have that conversation again? Because they’ve still got the succession problem and it still needs to be sorted out.

But please do try to make plans before it gets to that stage. My grandfather had a lovely comment. He said: “If you give stuff to people while they’re alive, they’re more likely to say thank you.”

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 23

MONDAY EVENING LECTURE: NUFFIELD SCHOLAR PETER CRAVEN

with the family: its history, its values and its longterm vision. Recording the “blood, sweat and tears” invested by previous generations helps younger members understand the context they are joining.

The second section concerns business governance: roles and responsibilities, how decisions are made, how profits are distributed, when capital is committed and how disagreements are resolved. It can also cover holidays or workload expectations.

Towards the end of his talk, Mr Craven distilled the journey from “good to great” into three steps which can be followed by farming families.

The first is knowing your numbers – a foundation found universally in high-performing businesses. The second is people – staff who feel valued, empowered and informed. The third is family: the charter provides structure, accountability and clarity.

In some countries, these structures are now standard practice. In the United States and parts of Europe, for example, family constitutions are common among multi-generational businesses. In the UK, adoption is still uneven.

Far-reaching benefits

Shortly afterwards, a neighbouring field came up for sale and was purchased immediately, without consultation. In other words, the question was not simply financial; it was about how priorities were established and who had authority to act.

A charter sets out such rules in advance. Charters also help families map the overlapping circles of family, business and ownership. A person may be a family member without working in the business, or an employee without holding shares.

Limiting conflict

Recognising these distinctions, and agreeing boundaries, reduces misunderstanding. The Wilcox family in New Zealand kept ownership with three parents while four cousins rented the land as separate operators – a structure that limited potential conflict while maximising opportunity.

A typical charter has two sections. The first deals 24 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

Club Chairman Karen Mercer presents Peter Craven with a set of Farmers Club tumblers (top); members and guests at the Club

Where charters are used, however, the benefits can be far-reaching and long-lasting – helping to establish business success and then maintain it.

Families report less conflict, faster decisions and greater confidence in succession. Younger members feel clearer about expectations and more able to contribute. Senior members know their legacy will be understood rather than assumed.

The alternative – relying on custom, habit and verbal understanding – is growing harder to sustain in a farming world of constantly rising costs, regulatory complexity and generational upheaval.

As Mr Craven put it: “You can have the best numbers in the world, but if your family can’t get along, it’s all been for nothing.”

Wrapping up his lecture, Mr Craven offered a series of questions for families to consider. “What is it that you want for you, for your family and for your business? What do you want to be remembered for?

What sort of conversations should you be having, and who should you be having them with?”

The answers to these questions, he suggested, sit at the heart of the family charter process.

“It’s bringing everyone together, it’s creating the transparency, building the trust, it’s enabling the communication and it’s facilitating that decisionmaking so that the family in business can take opportunities as they arrive.”

Peter Craven’s Nuffield report is available at www. familycharter.co.uk. For help with succession planning, visit www.successionalliance.com

FAMILY

Make time to get your affairs in order

W

Everyone, including landowners, needs to get things sorted before they die, writes Matthew Hutton.

hile we plan for so much in life, it is all too easy to overlook the one certainty.

Yet anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one will know how much ‘stuff’ needs to be done following a death, while still shouldering the grief of bereavement.

And, once we have got our minds round that inevitability, it’s not that difficult to do. What is needed is a combination of intentionality and planning, along with conversations with your ‘other half’ – if there is one – and close family.

Next are Wills, with the key choices of: executors, beneficiaries of gifts of cash or chattels and who is to receive the residue, whether in trust or outright.

Then there are funeral arrangements, with a letter of wishes stating whether cremation or burial, where and who would be involved and so on.

Do make provision – both personal and financial – for dependants, whether minor children, elderly relatives or pets. Make sure too a trusted friend or loved one will be able to access your digital devices, perhaps through a password manager.

The main priorities

Succession

Relationships with those close to us, whether family or friends, are the most important things in life. Sadly, fractures of one sort or another can too easily occur. While not all broken relationships can be mended, you should always give it a go – and as soon as possible. Forgiveness, whether given and/or received, is a most powerful thing.

And, on the positive side, we need to cherish love and friendship with those close to us, spending time with those who matter most to us.

More broadly, we need to be having a range of conversations, with prospective attorneys under a Lasting Power of Attorney, with guardians for minor children and with executors of our Wills, setting down the essentials in writing.

We all need Lasting Powers of Attorney (for both property and financial affairs, and for health and welfare) to govern the possibility of mental or physical incapacity.

Whether your farm has been in the family for several generations or just one or two, you will want to ensure its future continuation, leaving things in as good a state as possible.

The government’s decision to impose inheritance tax on farm assets, due to take effect on 6 April 2026, has hardly helped things. But many families can do some financial planning in mitigation of the changes.

Who is to succeed you and when and how? Maybe they are already involved in a family partnership.

Again, the importance of conversations and written wishes and directions cannot be overstated. That said, try to avoid tying things up too much.

Finances

Then comes finances. If probate may not be obtained for up to 12 months after death, will the survivor of a couple manage financially? Joint accounts are the time-honoured solution here.

Again, you should consider inheritance tax: mitigation, the need to keep records of past gifts and provision for payment of tax. Here, it is important not to give away too much too soon, thinking of possible care home costs.

Finally, possessions. Your executors will need to identify all your assets and your liabilities. So an up-to-date list of these, including things about the home, is essential.

Conclusion

None of us knows when the dread day will come. But the more we can prepare for those we leave behind in terms of what they will have to do, the easier we can make their lives. In broad terms, this means leaving your affairs as tidily as possible.

Matthew Hutton is a Farmers Club member. His book ‘Your Last Gift – Getting Your Affairs in Order’ can be ordered from www.yourlastgiftbook.com. You can also contact Matthew at mcahutton@gmail.com.

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 25

FOOD & DRINK

A Prince is

venison

in heaven G A special treat awaits game fans this winter, writes Bradd Johns

ame season is upon us. Here at The Farmers Club, we’re using venison from master butchers Aubrey Allen of Royal Leamington Spa – and offer some great cuts in our Restaurant.

Venison is the most majestic of all game animals.

It is no coincidence that Landseer’s famous 1851 painting of a red deer stag, pictured standing proudly among Scotland’s heather-carpeted mountains, is known as the Monarch of the Glen.

As a meat, venison resembles tastier cuts of beef and lamb but is much leaner. To get the best from venison requires skill, patience and knowledge – and a reliable supplier who knows what they are doing and where their venison comes from.

Room to roam

Older, wild animals that have been strutting through the heather can be tougher than younger farmed models by dint of their hard-working muscle. In common with other game, ageing the meat usually ensures a more tender cut that is pleasingly deep and savoury in taste.

To some, venison conjures up an image of whole animals delivered to the door by a gentleman 26 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

wearing a flat cap and waxed jacket. After you – or your under-butler – have dragged the carcass in through the scullery, it then needs drawing and hanging in the meat larder.

During the weeks that follow, the naturally occurring lactic acids start to break down and tenderise the meat. The longer the process, the gamier the flavour. Today, however, things are somewhat easier with venison widely available and sold ready for cooking.

Wild and farmed

Farmed venison is available year-round. But wild venison, like most game, is still subject to the shooting season. By February, most feathered game has entered its closed season in the UK, but venison remains in season – although it varies by species, sex and between counties.

As wild deer are out roaming the hills and not reared specifically for meat, quality often varies according to food source, age and, of course, the skill of the shot. Provenance is key – it pays to know where your venison is from.

In comparison, farmed venison can be more consistent compared to its wild cousin. But it’s

important to remember that deer are browsers rather than grazers – social herd animals that produce their best meat when ranging free.

Having said that, farmed deer are subject to animal welfare rules and livestock production regulations – so their quality, flavour and texture can be more reliable than their wild cousins. There’s a middle ground too: semi-managed herds roaming large deer parks and estates.

Like all game, venison benefits enormously from the impeccable and traceable credentials that come from using experienced game dealers. Thoughtfully sourced meat is expertly handled – and just as important as the original sourcing when it comes to the taste of the final dish.

Species and flavour profiles

Red deer is undeniably the granddaddy of choice; indigenous to much of Europe. Among the most widely farmed and readily available, the meat is robust, with a strong and gamey flavour.

Roe deer are smaller, with distinctive short, straight antlers and their meat is more delicate than their red cousins, but still rich and finely textured with a nice gamey twang.

“

Like all game, venison benefits enormously from the impeccable and traceable credentials that come with using game dealers.”

Fallow deer were brought to England by the Normans, and promptly handed over to the AngloSaxons for rearing. Their meat has a mild, attractive flavour. Not particularly gamey, it tastes well to the uninitiated.

You will also see the medium-sized sika and smaller muntjac deer at specialist retailers. Like the fallow deer, both have excellent, slightly sweet and not too gamey meat.

Whichever you choose, you have three broad approaches to cooking venison, and the cut you choose should be led by your intended cooking technique.

Minimal intervention

The most tender cuts such as loin or tenderloin fillet need little intervention to accentuate their wonderful taste and texture. A carpaccio is a great option. The lack of fat that can be problematic in other preparations, is an asset here. First, season the outside with mustard, a little oil and herbs, and then sear and slice thinly to showcase these prime cuts perfectly.

Giving your venison a relatively short blast of heat is your next option: frying, grilling, short roasts >> The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 27

FOOD & DRINK >> will create a moist but caramelised dish. Fillet can be used in a classic Wellington, protected by a cushion of duxelles and jacket of pastry. The meat’s gaminess works well with its mushroom flavours. Serve with similarly earthy root vegetables like parsnip, beetroot and celeriac.

Loin steaks, steaks from the haunch or shoulder together with loin chops work perfectly when treated to a short high heat. Rub with oil and cook medium rare. If you must have medium, sear and pop it into the oven.

Intense cooking followed by resting relaxes the meat into juicy moistness. These cuts pair excellently with fruit sauces and jellies like redcurrant and rowan. The latter is especially good as its sweet smokiness complements gamey meat.

Long and slow

Haunch and saddle are the classic joints for longer roasting: marinating the meat, anointing with fat and regular basting are essential here. Stews and casseroles are a wonderful way of getting the most from tougher cuts like shoulder and shank.

I hope this gives you a better understanding of one of my favourite game beasts – and how to use different cuts to best advantage.

Venison is being served in The Farmers Club throughout the winter months. So please do come in and sample some of our delicious game and venison dishes over the coming months.

Golden and

glorious The Farmers Club’s legendary Scotch egg is here to stay, says head chef Bradd Johns

T

hank you all for such a warm welcome to The Farmers Club – the beginning of my tenure here has been both enjoyable and rewarding.

I have been fortunate to chat with a large number of members during my first few months – and an extraordinary number of those conversations have touched on the subject of Scotch eggs.

It is clear that The Farmers Club Scotch egg is a firm favourite among members and guests – both in the Bar and in the Restaurant. Fear not, I have no intention of removing it from the menu at any point in the near future.

Yes, I may tweak the recipe from time to time, to keep things interesting in the quest for the perfect combination of egg, mince and crumb. But this is a wonderful savoury snack with a proud history and it is here to stay.

One of the earliest claims to inventing the Scotch Egg comes from London department store Fortnum & Mason. They claim to have invented the snack in 1738 – making it older than my native Australia.

The Fortnum & Mason claim is based on

28 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

FOOD & DRINK

But this claim doesn’t match the original dates found in dictionaries and cookbooks. And the Fortnum & Mason story is more interesting to me because they are quick to note that if they weren’t the first, then they were certainly the best:

documentation found long ago in their archives – but it is hard to prove beyond doubt because that self same documentation has since been conveniently lost in the mists of time.

Another claim suggests Scotch eggs were invented in the Whitby area of North Yorkshire, possibly by William J. Scott & Sons, a well-known eatery which sold them near the seafront.

These eggs were supposedly covered in thick fish paste rather than sausagemeat before being breaded and deep fried – and called Scorch eggs because they were cooked over an open flame.

“

Another claim says Scotch eggs were invented in the Whitby area of North Yorkshire”

“Back then ours consisted of a pullet’s egg, so rather smaller than a chicken’s egg, surrounded by forcemeat, dipped in egg wash and then in breadcrumbs, seasoned with salt, pepper and mace, and deep fried. At the time, we referred to it as a ‘scotched’ egg because of anchovies added to the meat to give it a stronger flavour, and to cut through the fattiness of the meat.

Then came the dark days. A shortage of meat during the Second World War meant that the quality of the Scotch egg suffered, and we lost our confidence somewhat.

Food manufacturing embraced technology more and more, and by the 1960s and 70s, our breadcrumbed hero lost its superpowers thanks to less-than-satisfactory rivals who were using inferior, over-processed meat and the wrong kind of breadcrumbs.

As a result, it became perceived by many to be rather naff and unfashionable.

Through these turbulent times it’s been up to us to keep the standard going and maintaining its position as a desirable product, at least when Fortnum’s produces it.

Always made with care and love, ours is the real thing.”

So, thank you to F&M, for giving us the basis for the savoury snack we all enjoy today. Our latest Farmers’ Club’s version is the “Gamekeeper Scotch egg”. It tastes fantastic with spiced plum chutney.

When making a Gamekeeper Scotch egg at home, I recommend making friends with your local butcher and asking them to mince up the game meats for you. If you would like our recipe, let me know and I’ll happily give it to you. Or you could simply pop into the Club and try one of ours.

Cocktail of the Season: The Speyside I experienced one of those rare moments recently when everything in hospitality reminds me why I love what I do – the creation of something special.

The bar has been alive with creativity. We’ve started a new project: the Club Cocktail of the Season where each bartender can design their own signature cocktail.

It’s wonderful to watch everyone experiment, share ideas and take real pride in their creations.

There’s been such a positive energy behind it; it feels like we’re building something meaningful

together, not just for the menu, or even the spirit in the glass, but for team spirit too.

The Speyside is an elegant composition of The Balvenie single malt – a Scotch whisky crafted using home-grown barley and a two-cask maturation process – enriched with the complex sweetness of Madeira, crisp apple and fresh lemon.

It’s exciting to see how passion and creativity can shape the atmosphere, one bottle, one cocktail, and one idea at a time. Small steps, but big impact.

Joanna Lesniak The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 29

FOOD & DRINK

bird The

that changed

Christmas 30 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

When Paul Kelly started selling slow-grown bronze turkeys from his Essex farm, the industry laughed. Forty years on, KellyBronze has become the gold standard for Christmas dinner – a business built on tradition, taste, and a meat thermometer in every box.

P

aul Kelly remembers the first time he sold a Christmas turkey with a meat thermometer tucked inside the box. “People thought I was mad,” he says. “But I knew if they cooked it right, they’d never go back.”

Years later, that simple idea – guiding customers through the important final stage of the cooking process – has become the hallmark of KellyBronze, the Essex-based family brand behind what many consider the benchmark British turkey.

The Kelly family has been in the bird business for more than half a century.

But it was a bold decision by Paul and his father Derek in the 1980s to rethink the way turkeys are produced – and how they are sold – that set the company apart.

At the time, fast-growing white turkeys were becoming increasingly popular – often reared on a large scale in intensive units and sold as cheaply as possible.

Traditional slower-growing breeds were dying out.

Quality birds

“We decided to do everything the industry had moved away from,” says Paul.

“Slow-growing breeds, free range, hand-plucking, hanging. Dad drove around the country buying up the last bronze turkey flocks. People thought we’d lost it.”

Rather than trying to compete in what they saw as a race to the bottom, the family concentrated on high-quality birds and good customer service. Their Christmas turkeys cost more to produce, says Paul, but they were tastier.

That customer focus came from necessity. In the early days, KellyBronze was a hard sell. But everything changed in 1989 when Delia Smith visited the farm and later mentioned the turkeys in her Christmas book.

“I went from trying to convince butchers to buy, to them phoning me,” Paul explains. “People were going into shops asking for KellyBronze by name.

That’s when you know you’ve got something.”

What began as a survival tactic during the tough early 1980s is now a two-part enterprise. The company hatches around 1.5 million poults a year in its Danbury hatchery, supplying roughly 30% of the UK’s fresh Christmas turkeys. >> The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 31

FOOD & DRINK “Our chicks go to about 500 farmers – some with 200,000 birds, some with just 10,” says Paul. Alongside that sits the premium KellyBronze range – about 35,000 turkeys each Christmas, sold directly and through independent butchers.

“That’s our shop window. It’s not about scale. It’s about doing something properly.” Rather than producing as many birds as possible, KellyBronze is positioned at the artisan end of the poultry trade: low volume, high quality and exceptional attention to detail.

Premium range

Supermarket contracts are out of bounds.

“One retailer called us arrogant because we wouldn’t put our brand on their shelves,” says Paul. “But the butchers supported us when no-one else would. I’m not about to undercut them.”

Success is as much about process as it is about product, he adds. “Free range on its own means nothing. Bronze means nothing. Organic means nothing. It’s the whole chain – the breed, how you farm it, how you process it.”

It’s also about how you teach the customer to cook it. Each bird still comes with a thermometer and cooking guide.

“Turkey is a lean meat – it’s not forgiving.

Overcook it and it’s ruined,” says Paul.

32 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

Master of the Worshipful Company of Poulters Paul Kelly is this year’s Master of the Worshipful Company of Poulters, one of London’s ancient trade guilds.

His mission is to reconnect the livery with the modern poultry industry.

“It’s full of lawyers and financiers – I want to see more people who work with birds.” Around 30% of members now come from the trade.

The livery company raises money for charity and helps train the next generation of poultry professionals.

The business now spans continents.

Eight years ago, Paul set up a farm and processing operation in Virginia, aiming to bring the same premium experience to the Thanksgiving market in the USA. “America now is where the UK was in the 1970s – that race to the bottom,” he says. “Friends told me, ‘You’ll never sell a turkey for more than a dollar a pound.’ But

I knew there were customers who would be willing to pay – the best birds for the most important meal of the year.”

Progress in the USA has been slower than in Britain, but the venture is now profitable. “We’ve had to build awareness from scratch,” he says.

“No one there remembers the old ‘New York dressed’ birds – plucked, hung and finished by the butcher. That tradition died out years ago. But people still want great food at Thanksgiving. That’s our market.”

Back home, the company is cautiously expanding beyond Christmas. But taking a slow-grown and hand-plucked bird and turning it into sandwich meat would be mind-blowingly expensive, says Paul.

Quality control

The solution is a new label – Crafted by Kelly – ready-to-eat charcuterie and confit made from spent breeding hens. Led by Paul’s son Toby, the label has already been listed by the premium food delivery service Abel & Cole.

“We can control quality because we do the cooking ourselves,” says Paul.

“Even in restaurants, I’ve seen chefs cremate a beautiful bird or stick our name on something cheap. Never again.”

For all the marketing polish, Paul doesn’t sugarcoat the rougher years.

FOOD & DRINK “Running a business is like a boxing match,” he says. “Sometimes you’re on the ropes taking body punches, winded. But you hang on and wait for your moment to come out fighting.”

Passion, he insists, is a key driver of success. He’s also a believer in transparency. “If you love what you do, you’ll find a way. I still get a buzz seeing people enjoy what we make.

“If a food company won’t let you see what they do, ask why,” he adds.

“We’ve always welcomed journalists, customers, anyone who wants a look. Most industries are proud to show their work.

Food should be no different.”

Practical approach

Paul’s advice to farmers is pragmatic. “If you’re in commodities, you can’t tell one load of wheat from another – that’s tough.

But with poultry, you can own the process end to end, from breeding to selling.

“Done well, farm-gate turkey is one of the most profitable businesses there is. But it’s not easy. It’s long hours, high stress, and hard physical work. Not many arable farmers fancy that in December.”

This Christmas, the practical message remains the same. Orders run until December 18, each bird comes with a thermometer – and every customer gets the same calm reassurance.

How to cook the perfect Christmas turkey Paul Kelly’s golden rule for cooking the perfect Christmas turkey is simple: always use a meat thermometer.

Start the bird breast-side down for the first hour, then turn it over. Add a pint of water to the roasting tin and season lightly.

Cook until the thickest part of the breast and thigh reach the correct temperature – not a minute longer. Rest for at least an hour before carving.

“There’s no one right way,” says Paul. “Just control the heat, keep it moist, and carve with a sharp knife. It’s that easy.”

“Don’t overthink it,” says Paul. “A turkey is just a big Sunday roast chicken.

Keep it simple, get the temperature right, and rest it properly.” But behind the seasonal warmth, lies a disciplined lesson in brand building, he adds.

“Focus on what you do best. Don’t chase scale for its own sake. Look after the people who backed you when no one else would. And make sure the customer’s last experience of your product is as good as the first.”

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 33

TOWN & COUNTRY The Farmers Club organises a wide range of events, including farm walks and study tours, cultural and social visits, receptions at farm shows and special events at the Club itself >>

Burns Night Supper – Friday, 23 January, see p37.

Photo: Alamy / Gary Doak

TOWN & COUNTRY

Welcome to our winter calendar of activities – which has something for everyone.

Special events this winter include our fabulous New Year’s Eve Black Tie Gala Dinner, Baroque Classics by Candlelight at St Martin-in-the-Fields (9 January); and Burns Night Supper (23 January).

Our first Monday Evening Lecture of 2026 will be delivered by Defra Secretary Emma Reynolds on 26 January. Our Valentine’s Day Dinner is on 12 February and we visit Royal Hospital Chelsea and National Army Museum

DECEMBER FESTIVE PORT PAIRING DINNER

THURSDAY 4 DECEMBER Celebrate the season in style with our Festive Port Pairing Dinner – a fourcourse menu paired with a selection of outstanding ports that showcase the range of this classic fortified wine.

Each course will be matched with a different style of port, carefully chosen to enhance the flavours of the dish.

From youthful and vibrant to mature and complex, this evening will explore the full spectrum of port.

We’re delighted to welcome Adam Odor, UK Ambassador for School of Port, and our very own Head Chef Bradd Johns, who will guide us through an evening of Christmas lights, soft music and an unforgettable menu.

on 12 March – and more besides.

Full details about all events – including timings and to book your place – are available in the members’ area of The Farmers Club website. The website can be accessed by scanning the QR code or by visiting www.thefarmersclub.com/events.

To amend an existing booking, join the waitlist for a fully-booked event or for help logging on to the members’ area, please call Zsofia Sarosi on 020 7930 3751 or email memexpcoordinator@thefarmersclub.com

CHRISTMAS FAMILY DAY

SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER See panel below

A CLASSIC FM CHRISTMAS WITH ZEB SOANES LUNCHTIME CONCERT AT ST MARTIN-IN-THE- FIELDS

MONDAY 8 DECEMBER Join radio presenter Zeb Soanes, St Martin’s Voices, and the St Martin’s Chamber Ensemble for a lunchtime concert in the beautiful setting of St Martin-in-the-Fields after a Ploughman’s Buffet Lunch at the Club.

The programme features carols for all to sing, including In the Bleak Midwinter, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, and Joy to the World, alongside some favourite seasonal choral works by Lucy Walker, Ola Gjeilo, and Elaine Hagenberg.

St Martin-in-the-Fields is a special

church for The Farmers Club, being where we host our annual Harvest Service. It is just a short walk from the club, making it our local church in London.

A church has existed on this site since at least 1222. At that time, this area was farmland outside the London wall, which is the origin of its name. After the concert we invite you to explore the Christmas Market in Trafalgar Square, just outside the National Gallery.

GLYNDEBOURNE CHRISTMAS CONCERT & PRE-CONCERT DINING

SATURDAY 13 DECEMBER Sold out – please join waitlist Celebrate the festive season with a magical evening at Glyndebourne.

This much-loved Christmas Concert offers something for the whole family – from cherished carols and orchestral showpieces

Christmas Family Day SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER Sold out* Step into a world of seasonal magic as we transform the Club into a warm and welcoming Christmas wonderland. A highlight of the Club’s festive calendar and a much-loved tradition for our youngest Members and their families.

Children will delight in a personal visit from Father Christmas himself – with a special gift for every child – and enjoy lively entertainment from our mischievous cheeky elf, who brings laughter, games, and surprises throughout the afternoon. * This event sold out in September – so early booking is advised in future years.

36 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

to operatic highlights performed by the Glyndebourne Chorus and the Glyndebourne Sinfonia.

The evening promises a heartwarming and uplifting experience for all ages. Pre-concert dining will be available at Middle & Over Dining, with a twocourse dinner served from 5pm. Seating is in the Blue Stalls.

No transport is provided from the Club for this event. But we are happy to help with parking arrangements and can organise transfers from Lewes train station, which is just over an hour from London Victoria.

Cost: £125pp

NEW YEAR’S EVE BLACK TIE GALA DINNER

WEDNESDAY 31 DECEMBER Sold out See in the New Year in style from our exclusive Terrace opposite the London Eye – the focal point for London’s worldfamous annual firework display.

This year’s celebration promises to be our most spectacular yet, culminating in a truly unforgettable champagne moment: on the Terrace as we watch the London Eye fireworks light up the city skyline to welcome 2026 on the stroke of midnight.

Members and their guests are invited to arrive in the early afternoon and enjoy a light lunch buffet served in the lounge.

The evening will begin with a champagne reception followed by a five-course dinner in our Restaurant. A roaming live band will perform elegant background music and classic tunes to elevate the celebratory atmosphere.

Gentlemen are requested to wear a dinner jacket with bow tie. Ladies are invited to wear full-length gowns or formal evening wear.

JANUARY BAROQUE CLASSICS

BY CANDLELIGHT

ST MARTIN-IN-THE-FIELDS FRIDAY 9 JANUARY Begin the New Year on a high note with an enchanting and exquisite evening of Baroque music.

Shake off the post-Christmas blues in a magical candlelit setting, featuring the exceptional talents of St Martin’s Voices and St Martin’s Chamber Ensemble.

The programme includes timeless

Burns Night Supper FRIDAY 23 JANUARY After the roaring success of our Burns Night Supper in 2025, we’ve decided to do it all over again in 2026 – inviting back fantastic bagpiper Matthew McRae to provide the music and pipe in the haggis.

This time, we’re planning to make it an equally memorable event with a focus firmly on fun. It will be your first opportunity after the festive period to join fellow members at the Club for a warm and spirited celebration of Robbie Burns, friendship, camaraderie and culture.

Your participation is essential to making this event possible. If you’re willing to play a part, please do take the plunge and get in touch. We’d be delighted to have your involvement, with a number of key roles during the evening still up for grabs.

They include participants for the Address to a Haggis; Immortal Memory – delivering a speech celebrating Robert Burns: his life, poetry, and continued relevance; the Toast to the Lassies; and the Lassies Response.

To take part in what promises to be a fantastic evening, please call Zsofia Sarosi on 020 7930 3751 or email memexpcoordinator@thefarmersclub.com

works by Handel, Bach, and Purcell ideal for classical music lovers or anyone seeking a serene and inspiring start to 2026. Members and guests will walk to the church after a two-course dinner at The Farmers Club.

HIDDEN LONDON HOLBORN

FRIDAY 16 JANUARY We are delighted to continue our popular Hidden London series with an exclusive guided tour exploring the secret spaces of Holborn Station. Opened in 1906 to serve the Piccadilly line, Holborn played a crucial role in transforming its surrounding area into a thriving business district. Today, much of the station’s original infrastructure remains hidden from public view.

This immersive tour offers rare behindthe-scenes access to disused platforms,

forgotten corridors, and areas closed for nearly 30 years. Discover the surprising roles these spaces have played over the decades, from wartime shelters and scientific labs to a model railway club.

Along the way, admire the original Leslie Green architectural features, including vintage tiling and early signalling equipment.

The tour also visits filming locations featured in music videos and blockbuster films such as Superman and Aqua’s Turn Back Time. Personal stories from former staff, including experiences during the Blitz and the final days of the Aldwych shuttle service, enrich this unique journey into London’s hidden past.

BURNS NIGHT SUPPER

FRIDAY 23 JANUARY See panel above

>>

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 37

TOWN & COUNTRY world – and shows us that even small creatures can leave big impression.

This event is extremely popular among all ages, every year. This is an annual tradition at the Club – and always popular – with a group of 25-30 Members.

FEBRUARY U35s NEW CHAIR’S DINNER

FRIDAY 6 FEBRUARY As always, the new U35s Dinner is a popular gathering every year. Harriet Sylvester will be delighted to welcome young members to her first event as Chairman of the U35s.

BIG BEN TOUR

Royal Hospital Chelsea and National Army Museum visit TUESDAY 12 MARCH Celebrate Britain’s proud military heritage on this unique day out.

Our private group will enjoy a guided visit to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, home of the iconic Chelsea Pensioners, followed by a curated tour of the National Army Museum,

where history comes to life through remarkable stories of courage and service.

Experience two of London’s most distinguished institutions in one memorable single exclusive vent – rich in tradition, camaraderie and reflection.

MONDAY EVENING LECTURE THE RT HON EMMA REYNOLDS MP, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Meaning “egg” in Portuguese, OVO is a celebration of biodiversity, transformation, and community, brought to life through breathtaking acrobatics inspired by creatures both real and imagined. Crickets leap, butterflies soar, ants juggle, and spiders defy gravity in this dazzling spectacle with a worldclass international cast of 52 acrobats.

At the heart of the story, a quirky fly falls head over wings for a spirited ladybug, as a mysterious egg sparks curiosity and wonder throughout the colony. With its joyful energy, Brazilianinspired live music, and stunning visual effects, OVO is a sensory feast that captures the magic of the natural

6PM, MONDAY 26 JANUARY See panel, page 39.

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL – OVO ROYAL ALBERT HALL

FRIDAY 30 JANUARY Join us for an exhilarating evening at the Royal Albert Hall with OVO, Cirque du Soleil’s colourful and kaleidoscopic journey into the wonderful and vibrant world of an insect colony.

38 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

THURSDAY 12 FEBRUARY Join us for an exclusive guided journey up the 334-step spiral staircase inside the Elizabeth Tower – London’s iconic clock tower, affectionately known as Big Ben. We will take on this mighty challenge after a buffet lunch at the Club, visiting the belfry, home to the Great Clock and the famous Great Bell. During the tour, you’ll have the rare opportunity to see the inner workings of the clock mechanism and stand beside the Big Ben bell as it strikes the hour.

VALENTINE’S DAY BLACK TIE DINNER WITH BURLESQUE PERFORMANCES THURSDAY 12 FEBRUARY See panel below, right.

THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE TOUR

FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY Step into the heart of Covent Garden and explore the legendary Theatre Royal Drury Lane, a venue that has withstood fire, tragedy, bankruptcy and murder.

Join us for a captivating early afternoon tour of what is London’s oldest theatre still operating on its original site. Recently restored, Drury Lane is the birthplace of the musical, modern pantomime, moving scenery, regular rehearsals, and naturalistic acting.

Led by expert actor-guides, you will learn the fascinating origins of theatrical terms like Crew, Props, and Box Office.

The tour will includes tales of theatrical innovation, famous performers, royal intrigue and maybe even encounter one of the theatre’s legendary ghosts.

TOWN & COUNTRY

Monday Evening Lecture The Rt Hon Emma Reynolds MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 6PM, MONDAY 26 JANUARY The Club has invited the Right Honourable Emma Reynolds MP to be our guest of honour and deliver the Club’s first Monday Evening Lecture (MEL) of 2026.

Elected as Labour MP for Wycombe in 2024, Emma Reynolds was appointed Defra secretary on 5 September 2025 in a Cabinet reshuffle. Before that, she served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister from January to September 2025.

Previously MP for Wolverhampton North East from 2010 to 2019 – during which time Emma held a number of Shadow Cabinet

MARCH WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE ANNUAL DINNER

THURSDAY 5 MARCH We are excited to invite you to an exclusive dinner to celebrate Women in Agriculture with a panel of influential speakers talking about their experience of farming.

The Club’s logo proudly features Ceres, the ancient Roman goddess of agriculture,

roles under Labour leaders Ed Miliband and Harriet Harman, including housing, communities and local government.

Between 2019 and 2024 Emma was a lobbyist and managing director of public affairs, policy and research for TheCityUK, a financial sector advocacy group. In her early career, she was a political adviser to Labour figures including as Robin Cook and Geoff Hoon.

Members are cordially invited to join us for the lecture, and subsequent Q&A session. Drinks and Chef’s treats will be served afterwards in the Lounge.

symbolising the strength, nurturing spirit and resilience of women in farming and their connection with the land.

Through her, we pay tribute to the role women have always played in cultivating, nurturing, and sustaining our food systems, ensuring agriculture thrives across generations. Just as Ceres brought forth the earth’s bounty, women are often driving force behind innovation, sustainability, and the future of farming.

Speakers to be confirmed. We are hoping for a mixed crowd at this event.

Valentine’s Day Black Tie Dinner with Burlesque Performances THURSDAY 12 FEBRUARY A wonderful excuse to dust off tuxedos and evening dresses, celebrate romantic or platonic connections and enjoy live, elegant Burlesque performances in The Farmers Suite, in between three deliciously curated courses. The event will be complete with bubbles on arrival, music throughout the evening and a special cocktail before we bid you goodnight.

ROYAL HOSPITAL CHELSEA AND NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM VISIT TUESDAY 12 MARCH See panel on opposite page

FARMERS CLUB BOOK CLUB

THE SPY AND THE DEVIL – TIM WILLASEY-WILSEY

FRIDAY 13 MARCH This special event comes about because the family of a Club member lived near secret agent Baron Wilhjelm de Ropp – the subject of this book.

“Mother remembers travelling with him on the bus when she was going to the Girls’ High School – and his daughter was our much-loved district nurse.”

The book details de Ropp’s mission, his intelligence gathering on German war plans and how it influenced British foreign policy. It also highlights the author’s challenge to uncover the story.

Please remember, Club members are very welcome to attend individual Book Club events; you don’t have to attend all.

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 39

FARMERS CLUB CHARITABLE TRUST

Trust helps farmers adapt to climate change

U

K farmers could benefit from lessons learned in other countries to mitigate the impact of climate change, suggests a report funded by the Farmers Club Charitable Trust.

Farmers need to be aware of a range of adaptions they can make on their farms to cope with extreme weather events and help reduce costs during times of weather stress, says the study.

The Climate Smart Agriculture report was written by Nicola

Cannon, of the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester. It followed an Agricultural Educators Award study tour to farms in Canada and Western Australia.

Adapting cultivation and drilling techniques could help reduce costs whilst benefiting soil carbon retention, said Professor Cannon. Plant breeding could play an important role in developing more resilient traits within crop varieties, she added.

The study advocates for

practical, nature-based solutions that help farmers navigate the front lines of climate change by incentivising innovation, enhancing biodiversity and maintaining viable rural businesses.

Next generation

Nicola Cannon (above) visited farms in Western Australia.

Prof Cannon’s report highlights the urgent need for modern agricultural education to equip the next generation with the tools to address extreme weather, soil degradation, and food security.

Opportunities should be examined for fields and farms to hold back water during peak rainfall periods, it says. This could reduce flooding downstream while holding more water for agriculture during drier periods.

Other key areas of research and teaching knowledge include nonchemical weed control, legumes for building soil fertility, cultivation techniques, improvements to soil health and circular agricultural systems.

Nicola Cannon’s report – and other FCCT-funded studies – can be found by scanning the QR code.

Apply now for 2026 Agricultural Educator Awards Applications are now open for the 2026 Agricultural Educator Awards, courtesy of the Farmers Club Charitable Trust.

The educator awards offer a valuable opportunity for individuals employed in the land-based education sector to undertake a study tour, update their professional skills, and share their insights with other members.

40 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

Education plays a key role in shaping our farming future. The awards support educators who uncover the latest global innovations – harnessing practical knowledge to inspire and inform the next generation of UK agriculturalists.

Applicants can apply for up to £5,000 to support a study trip associated with

the trust’s charitable purpose. Applicants must also be supported by their employing institution. The closing date for applications is Friday, 5 February 2026.

Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed by a selection committee at The Farmers Club on 11 March, 2026.

For further information, visit www.tfcct.co.uk

£10,000 awarded for latest ‘snapshot studies’

Bursaries awarded for Windsor Leadership Trust

F

ive bursaries were awarded by the Windsor Leadership Trust this autumn to candidates following a rigorous selection process.

Interviews for the 2025 bursaries were held in September – attracting an exceptionally strong field of applicants from across the agricultural, environmental, and rural business sectors.

Successful recipients will participate in high-impact leadership programmes tailored to their professional development. Additional support was provided by the Perry Foundation which has co-funded two places.

The selected programmes – Emerging Leaders, Developing Leaders, and Women in Leadership – are designed to foster strategic thinking, personal growth and sectorwide influence.

Participants are employed in a range of leadership roles – from environmental policy and agronomic consultancy to rural research and business development. The course aims to ensure they are well placed to meet future challenges

Get involved with your Charitable Trust The Farmers Club Charitable Trust welcomes suggestions for industry, charity and other trust contacts who may be open to funding collaboration partnerships.

Working collaboratively increases the impact we can achieve across the sector. The trust has a robust policy, procedure, and administration framework that supports the skills and expertise of its Trustees.

Charities, trusts and other organisations may find this an attractive way to distribute funds to support the agricultural and rural sectors while retaining visibility and

recognition in their own reporting.

The Farmers Club Charitable Trust is also seeking passionate individuals to support our mission of empowering future leaders, educators and rural innovators.

Whether you’re an experienced trustee, a sector professional – or someone with a heart for stewardship and sustainability – we welcome your interest.

If you are interested in becoming involved with the us, please do get in touch with charitable trust ambassador Lisa Turner on 07879 625660 or email ambassador@tfcct.co.uk

More than £10,000 was awarded to eight outstanding individuals by The Farmers Club Charitable Trust this summer.

Grants will fund ‘snapshot study’ projects to enhance skills, develop knowledge, and kick-start impactful ventures across the agrifood sector. Projects include soil science, livestock management, regenerative farming and food chain innovation.

Each applicant submitted a one-minute video proposal, showcasing their passion and vision for their project. After completing their studies, they will present a three-minute video on the trust’s YouTube Channel.

The latest grants mean a total of almost £70,000 has been awarded to projects since snapshot studies programme was launched in 2022 – giving people across the UK agrifood sector the opportunity to expand their expertise, skills and knowledge.

Looking ahead

The snapshot studies projects reflect the charitable trust’s commitment to supporting innovation, resilience and knowledge-sharing across the breadth of the UK food and farming industry.

The videos not only showcase journeys of the individuals undertaking the projects, they also serve as a valuable educational resource – strengthening the trust’s legacy of learning and leadership.

To watch the videos, visit or scan the QR code

Nuffield conference award for U35s Farmers Club U35s member Emma Capelow attended this year’s Nuffield Farming Conference in Edinburgh, courtesy of the Marguerite Ivor-Jones Memorial Award.

It follows legacy funding received from the estate of the late Marguerite Ivor-Jones.

Trustees agreed to invest the funds and use the income to support The Farmers Club U35s Award, which has been renamed in memory of Mrs Ivor-Jones.

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 41

CLUB NEWS

Holstein UK in numbers (2024) • 3.5m milk samples and 1.5m health samples tested • 195k herd book registrations • 140k animals type classified.

• 130 employed staff and 178 contract milk recorders.

• Laboratory runs 12 hours daily, 363 days a year • Analyses samples from across the UK

Scope House – the Home of Holstein UK Members enjoyed a visit to Holstein UK HQ in Shropshire, writes Farmers Club Chairman Karen Mercer

F

armers Club members recently visited Scope House, the headquarters of Holstein UK in Telford, Shropshire.

Holstein UK chief executive Melanie Harmitt and her team extended a warm welcome and conducted an informative tour of the purpose-built facility.

Members were struck by the scale and sophistication of the operation and gained a clear appreciation of Holstein UK’s central role in supporting the British dairy industry.

animals. The organisation operates through several specialist divisions: • The Cattle Information Service (CIS) – a leading milk recording and health testing provider, operating an advanced laboratory delivering herd management data.

About Holstein UK

Holstein UK is Europe’s largest independent dairy breed society, providing services to improve the genetics, profitability and sustainability of the Holstein and British Friesian cattle.

Owned by its members, the society promotes traceability, authenticity, and quality within the dairy herd, helping famers breed productive, robust and profitable 42 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

• National Bovine Data Centre (NBDC) – oversees herdbook registrations, animal type classification and genomic testing services for pedigree cattle.

• Holstein Young Breeders – encourages the next generation of dairy farmers through training, competitions and identification.

• Approved Registered Cattle (ARC) – provides assured traceability through DNA verification and animal identification.

• British Friesian Club – promotes and preserves the heritage and strengths of the British Friesian breed.

• UK Dairy Day – the society’s flagship event, bringing together all sectors of the industry to share knowledge and innovation.

Key Takeaways

• Pedigree Herdbook membership adds measurable financial and intrinsic value.

• Registered herds outperform non-registered herds in milk yield and longevity.

• True Type Model Cow remains the benchmark for conformation and efficiency.

• Integrated geonomics, type classification, milk recording and data analysis are vital for financial and environmental sustainability.

It was a very informative visit enjoyed by all Farmers Club members in attendance.

GOLF SOCIETY

Clockwise from top left: (1) Martin Trees, Eileen Hogan, David Rose and Nick Secrett; (2) the evening get-together at Trevose; (3) David Dowty, Andrew Slack, Edward Golland, Charlie Wylie at Burnham & Berrow; (4) Mike Broomby, Mark Jones, Martin Shaw and Stephen Gordon; (5) David Rose, Denis Chamberlain, Peter Gossage and Simon Beckett.

Wonderful courses as season ends Members have enjoyed some lush greens and superb fairways, writes Martin Shaw

A

great time was enjoyed on a course in superb condition when Stratford upon Avon Golf again hosted our Annual John Alliston Tankard meeting.

Some 26 members and guests had a fantastic day’s golf on lush fairways thanks to the golf club having its own bore hole. It was a nice treat having spent much of the summer playing on brown burnt up, bouncy fairways due to the lengthy dry spell.

Martin Taylor won the tankard with 40 points, one shot ahead of Mark Jones and Simon Beckett. My sincere thanks and gratitude to Martin for his continued involvement in organising what is always a well-supported event.

South-west tour

Society Captain David Rose co-ordinated our trip to Burnham and Berrow, Trevose and St Enodoc. Burnham is an open qualifying course and was in super condition. Luckily the rain relented allowing us to enjoy the day – especially Richard Wain, who won the competition.

A long journey further into Cornwall followed – in variable weather conditions.

Thankfully most people arrived at Trevose just before closing time, giving everyone the chance to catch up with those who had arrived earlier in the day.

With golf not planned to start until 1pm everyone was able to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and explore our surroundings... some of us nervously watching the weather which was scheduled to improve before our tee-off time.

I think everyone enjoyed the layout of the Trevose course. The conditions were testing, strong winds, squally rain showers eventually giving way to pleasant late afternoon sunshine, I have to say the greens were superb.

Fishermen’s tales

After golf, we gathered for an evening meal in the clubhouse. We were entertained by two local fishermen with tales of their occupation and experiences before a quiz. Prize-giving rounded off what again was a great day – well organised by David, thank you.

Our final call was St Enodoc Golf Club.

A lovely, welcoming clubhouse and a great course. Club member Martin Trees, who is current chairman at St Enodoc, masterminded our visit to what is one of

the most scenic and challenging courses we have ever played. The wind didn’t help.

Thanks too to Geoff Matthews, also a St Enodoc member, for his help with the event.

Jeremy (Paddy) Ireland, William Rice and Tim Martin joined Society Captain David Rose at Woking Golf Club for the Annual Bath Club Cup Foursomes competition. The course was in great condition and the weather was good – a great relief to all playing after the deluge of 2024.

The In and Out and Bath Club won the competition with a staggering 131 points, our team finishing mid-table with 104 points.

A report of our final meeting of the year at Alwoodley and Seaton Carew will appear in the next Journal along with comments about our inaugural Society Christmas Party due to be held at the Club on Friday 12 December.

As most of you will be aware, I am relinquishing my role as Golf Society Secretary at the end of this season. My thanks to all for your support over the past 12 years. Duncan Brookes is taking over my role and will be in touch soon with details of the 2026 Calendar.

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 43

UNDER 35s

Chairman’s jottings Ben Barton U35s Chair

W

ell, the end of my year as Chairman is here – and as expected, it’s gone by in the blink of an eye.

About 15 months ago, I had a light lunch with Craig Godfrey-Swanney at the Club to get some dates in the diary. Craig asked how I saw my year going and what sort of Chairman I thought I’d be. I didn’t really know how to answer him, but I certainly never imagined my year would include half of what we’ve done. I still can’t answer what sort of chairman I’ve been, all I know is that I’ve done my best.

Overall, the year has run smoothly, apart from not managing to get my spring farm walk together and a couple of other events. But I think it’s fair to say the U35s committee and I have offered more than enough for our members.

Special events

We’ve hosted 36 different events: from traditional Club dinners to our first private dinner at a reciprocal club, the New Club in Edinburgh. We’ve had midweek drinks on the terrace and a fantastic day at Ascot racecourse in a box.

We also secured scholarship places for the Oxford Farming Conference and the Nuffield Farming Conference. We’ve

had social bike rides, a return visit to the Caledonian Club, a tour of Dovecote Park, Jill Willows training days and plenty more.

I did manage to get a farm walk sorted for the autumn, with 31 members venturing to the Cotswolds. It was a very special weekend for me, showing members around what I’m lucky enough to call home.

All our events have been extremely well attended, many selling out. We’ve also been had some fantastic speakers join us at dinners and really engage with our members. Thank you to everyone who took the time to come and speak.

Strong growth

This year also saw some visual changes for the U35s within the Club. Portraits of the U35s Chairman, Vice-Chair, and Immediate Past Chair now hang alongside the main Club’s equivalents. A board will show all past U30s/U35s chairmen and the years they served, recognising the position of the U35s within the Club.

We continue to grow at a strong pace within the Club, and I can see us comfortably surpassing 700 members next year. It’s been amazing getting to know so many of you and seeing the knowledge, variety and friendship within the Club.

As Chairman, I’ve tried my best to speak with as many members and guests as possible. The U35 social scene is always fantastic – but it doesn’t just stop at friendship.

I was lucky enough to join Mr & Mrs Court and Mr & Mrs Cox on their wedding days. It was a great privilege.

Andrew Court has been a great, levelheaded Immediate Past Chair; and Harriet Sylvester an incredibly supportive ViceChair as well as both being close friends.

Congratulations again to both couples.

Grateful thanks

A big thank you to the whole U35 committee, I couldn’t have made this year what it’s been without you all. The support from the main Club committee, trustees, and staff has been fantastic, especially from Club Chairman Karen Mercer and events manager Zsofia Sarosi.

Thanks to everyone across the Club for all your help this year. It’s been a year I’ll look back on fondly and won’t forget.

With a few events still to come, my Club Legendary status might still be pending, but hopefully a few people will consider my U35 Chairmanship a memorable one.

My year isn’t quite over yet: I’ve organised the first unofficial U35s ski trip.

After that, I’m looking forward to taking a step back – supporting Harriet and the committee for what will be another cracker of a year – and spending more time in the veg patch.

Looking ahead to 2026, if you haven’t yet got your ticket for Harriet’s first dinner, go and buy it. See you there. You’ve all made this year fun, exciting, and truly special, so lastly, thank you, to you.

Ben Barton, U35s Chair 2025 T: 020 7930 3557 E generaloffice@thefarmersclub.com

U35s 2026 Diary

Friday 17th U35s Spring Dinner at The Farmers Club

February

July

Friday 27th Jill Willows Training Day and U35s Winter Dinner at The Farmers Club Saturday 28th U35s AGM

September

All events are at The Farmers Club unless otherwise stated. Suggestions for events are welcome – whether it’s a day trip, dinner or something else entirely. No idea is too big or small. Please do get in touch.

Friday 6th Jill Willows Training Day – External event pending Friday 6th U35s New Chairman’s Dinner at The Farmers Club

April

Friday 17th Workshop, museum and showroom visit to John Rigby & Co (Gunmakers) Ltd, London

44 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

Friday 3rd Tour of Hugh Lowe Farms, Kent – growers of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries Friday 11th Jill Willows Training Day and U35s Autumn Dinner at The Farmers Club Friday 25th Tour of Thatchers Cider Company, Somerset

November

Harriet Sylvester, U35s Vice Chairman 2025

Fabulous Cotswolds walking weekend enjoyed by all

A

28-strong group of U35s enjoyed an exceptional autumn walking weekend in the Cotswolds on 18-19 October, writes Henry Darby.

We met on the Saturday at the familyrun Jolly Nice Farm Shop in Frampton Mansell – which includes a café and drive-through. After some refreshments and an explore of the farm shop, proving the establishment lived up to its name, we headed to Chevenage House near Tetbury following directions including ‘turn right at the canon’.

Warm welcome

We were welcomed by owner Caroline Lowsley-Williams and enjoyed a highly entertaining tour of the house, learning about its history and more recent role as a TV and filmset including for Rivals and Poldark.

A generous home-cooked lunch followed in the ballroom. Afterwards, we were met by Kieran and Charlotte from Savills; and Toby, the farmer on the estate.

We walked and talked, learning about the

regenerative farming practices employed at Chevenage, supporting their main business which is finishing lamb and beef.

A local driving range beckoned for a quick test of our golfing abilities, with some interesting techniques on show.

Having earned our drink and dinner, we then gathered at The Green Dragon for a hearty pub supper.

Duntisbourne Beef

The next day we met at Middle Duntisbourne, home to U35s Chairman Ben Barton and his parents David and Churri. The family farm rears and finishes Duntisbourne Beef for Dovecote Park, and on to the likes of Waitrose, Hawksmoor and Burger King.

After refreshments and an overview of the business, we loaded up into Land Rovers and a beating trailer for a tour of the farm while avoiding the rain, visiting various locations around the fields and farm itself.

David explained how he has sought to

optimise the operation through breeding, nutrition and pasture management. After the tour, we returned to the farmhouse to enjoy some Barton beef in rolls, followed by cake.

The Farmer’s Dog

Our Cotswold tour would not be complete without a visit to a new and extremely popular Cotswold attraction: Jeremy Clarkson’s pub – The Farmer’s Dog. Those heading home in that direction stopped for a drink on the terrace overlooking the rolling hills.

We were disappointed to find the farmers clubhouse no longer there, having been confident that our combination of farmers and dogs would surely guarantee entry. Unfortunately, no sign of Jeremy, Kaleb or Gerald this time.

A fantastic weekend was had by all, with plenty of learning, good food and socialising. Our thanks go to all who made the weekend happen, but especially Ben for his organisation and shepherding of the group around the Cotswolds.

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 45

SERVING THE FARMING INDUSTRY FOR OVER 180 YEARS

Gift a membership to the next generation

W

ith the festive season here, there’s no better time to share the spirit of The Farmers Club with the next generation. Whether for a son, daughter or grandchild, gifting a membership is a wonderful way to welcome them into the Club community and continue your family connection for years to come.

One question I’m occasionally asked by Members is whether they can sponsor a family member to join the Club. My response is always an unequivocal “Yes – absolutely!”

It’s wonderful to see so many families represented by multiple generations, continuing their family legacy here at the Club.

With that in mind, and in case you’re not already aware, I’m pleased to confirm that the process of introducing a child or grandchild as an U35s Member (aged 18-34) has been simplified. With you as their proposer, their application will be approved, with no requirement

for a seconder or the need to wait for the next Committee meeting.

If you’d like to gift a membership as a Christmas or birthday present, just let me know – I’ll happily guide you through the process.

We can even provide you with their welcome pack, so you have something special to present. We have welcomed over 280 new joiners in 2025 compared to 239 the previous year. Membership retention has also improved, with 39 more members staying part of our Club family than in 2024. We now have 5,106 members, another important milestone.

A huge thank you to everyone who has referred friends, family and colleagues to join, and to all those who have taken the time to sponsor applications. We couldn’t do it without you.

Jez Scholfield, head of membership T: 0207 925 7094 E: hdm&c@thefarmersclub.com

Deaths

It is with regret that we announce the death of the following members: Mr David Barnes Kent Mr Henry Birch Suffolk Lord Timothy Boswell Oxfordshire Mr Andrew Cooper Bedfordshire Mr Michael Drewitt Overseas Mr Paul Hutton OBE Cambridgeshire Mr Christopher Jones Bedfordshire Mr David Kendon Sussex Mr Peter Mollett Overseas Mr Allan Simmons Dorset Mr Geoffrey Simpson Yorkshire Mr Craig Smith Dumfriesshire Mr Christopher Vaughan Buckinghamshire

New members

The following members were elected in July 2025. Members elected in November 2025 will be published in our next journal:

UK

Mrs Alexandra Baych London Ms Rebecca Chapman London Ms Hillary Curnow London Mr Philip De Jong London Mr Thomas Fabozzi London Mr Harley Hessel London Mrs Anita Katial London

Overseas

Mr Felix Weston Australia Mr Alan McDonough Spain

U35s

Mr Frederick Clark Oxfordshire Ms Elise Hair Essex Mr James Pearson Lincolnshire Ms Emma Pearson Lincolnshire Mr Joseph Pullin Buckinghamshire Mr Magnus Ryan Derbyshire Mr Tom Savill Gloucestershire Miss Ruby Wetherall Devon Mr Oscar Wetherall Devon Scan the QR code to renew your membership by direct debit.

46 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

Above left: Petar Petrov (left) receives the Team Member of the Quarter award from Club Secretary Didi Wheeler. Centre: New starters Subhendu (Shubi) Pal (top), Ella Antoine (middle) and Sienna Barrett (bottom). Above right: Andy Skinner (left) celebrates Five Years of Club Service with the Club Secretary.

Meet your Farmers Club team

It’s been a busy period as we welcome new team members, say farewell to others and celebrate some big achievements, writes team manager Kusum Saha.

New arrivals

Subhendu (Shubi) Pal joined our conference and banqueting team as food and beverage assistant. Shubi brings with him extensive experience in the hospitality industry. He has settled in extremely well and is a very valued member of the team.

Ella Antoine joined the Club team in September as a receptionist and has quickly impressed everyone with her warm demeanour and welcoming smile.

Long term, she plans to study nursing and aspires to a career in the healthcare industry, but for now she enjoys welcoming our members.

Sienna Barrett joined us in October as a part-time food and beverage assistant. She is looking forward to enjoying her time working in the Restaurant. Sienna is currently in her first year at university, where she is studying photography.

Leavers

We offer our gratitude for their service and offer our good wishes to Anya Mehta, Fabrice Renou, Zarreena

Dowding and Craig Godfrey-Swanney.

Zarreena leaves us after 10 years as the Club’s financial controller. Craig GodfreySwanney leaves after almost a decade as our member experience manager.

Both contributed enormously to the Club. We wish them, Anya and Fabrice all the best in their next steps.

Team member of the quarter

Our Team Member of the Quarter rewards exceptional performance and excellence in service. It is a small token of the Club’s appreciation for the recipient’s service to the Club. Award winners excel in customer service, displaying excellent teamwork and individual skills, going consistently above and beyond what is routinely expected. The Team Member of the Quarter for July-September 2025 is Petar Petrov, our breakfast chef de partie.

Petar consistently goes above and beyond in his commitment and routinely takes on additional responsibilities. He is always positive, upbeat and has a cracking ‘can do’

attitude. Petar leads by example and is a real team player.

Happy to show others how a task should be done, Petar is also open to suggestions and advice about how things can be done better. He is a consummate professional and, to be honest, he makes the very finest breakfast in London – fact!

Our deserving runner-up was room attendant Salina Begum.

Five years of service

We celebrated Five Years of Club Service by Andy Skinner our maintenance, health and safety manager. Andy’s role and long service in a building as old and challenging as Whitehall Court is a testament to his patience and extensive knowledge of every inch of the Club.

Every day offers yet another challenge to add to the long list of tasks that need doing – and it can be a relentless job. We extend our heartfelt appreciation and congratulations to Andy on this service to the Club over the past five years.

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 47

SERVING THE FARMING INDUSTRY FOR OVER 180 YEARS

CLUB INFORMATION

CLUB DRESS CODE

3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL

Normal Club Dress After 10am on Monday to Thursday, Gentlemen are to wear a formal jacket and appropriate trousers or suit and tie in all public areas of the Club. Ladies are to comply with the spirit of the code. In exceptionally warm weather, the chief executive and secretary, will allow gentlemen to remove their jackets in the Club.

(Members are always responsible for their guests)

T: +44 (0)20 7930 3557 E: generaloffice@thefarmersclub.com W: www.thefarmersclub.com WiFi Password: MtVH92eE

CLUB DAILY TIMINGS Reception Breakfast Lunch Dinner Lounge & Terrace Bar Bar Food

Mon - Fri 0700 – 2300 0700 – 0930 1230 – 1400 1800 – 2100 1100 – 2300 1100 – 2300 1200 – 2100

Sat 0800 – 1600 0800 – 1000

Sun 0800 – 1600 0800 – 1030

1100 – 2300 1200 – 1800

Unacceptable Clothes This includes torn, frayed, faded or bleached clothing of any type, sportswear, shorts, T-shirts, leggings and jogging suits in any material, bare midriffs or excessively revealing clothing, and plastic flip flops.

CLUB MEMBERSHIP ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS 2026 Town Associate Town Country / Overseas Associate Country Under 35 (30-34) Under 30 (26-29) Under 30 (18-25)

Single (£) 635 635 451 451 336 232 150

Family (£) 746.50 746.50 552 552 425 278 187

Meetings & Functions Those members and guests attending a meeting or function that has been booked with the Club Management in any of the function rooms are requested to wear a shirt with collar and a jacket (or equivalent for ladies), a tie is preferred but optional.

If members and guests utilise the bar facilities, dining room, lounge or Shaw Room they are expected to adhere to the Normal Dress code (above).

CORPORATE MEMBERSHIP Bronze (3-5) Silver (6-9) Gold (10+)

Town (£) 476.25 + VAT 449.79 + VAT 396.88 + VAT

Country (£) 338.25 + VAT 319.46 + VAT 281.88 + VAT

BEDROOM INFORMATION

Bedroom rates for 2026. Please see the website for rates. Members can book on-line at: www.thefarmersclub.com/accommodation

LIFE MEMBERSHIP (£)

ENTRANCE FEES (£)

31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 66-70 Over 71

All except below: Corporate Under 35 (30-34) Under 30 (26-29) Under 30 (18-25)

17,800 16,612 15,341 14,005 12,629 11,197 9,681 8,126 4,424

900 375 + VAT 275 175 125

Members with a Direct Debit in place need take no action. Log into the Members Area to renew or update your membership details and to pay online. For membership applications, please contact Jez Scholfield at hdm&c@thefarmersclub.com 48 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

Smart Casual Dress Smart casual dress is permitted every morning, Monday to Thursday inclusive until 10am and all day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Smart casual dress applies throughout August. Smart Casual Dress allows members to wear long or short-sleeved full buttonfronted shirts or smart polo shirts, smart denim jeans and ‘fashion’ pumps. Smart trainers are acceptable, however, not encouraged.

Reservations Bedrooms may be booked up to a year in advance.

For those who register via the website, you can book on-line. Specific room numbers can be requested however we are unable to guarantee these requests.

There are no emergency bedrooms.

Arrival & Departure Times Check in is 1400hrs and departure time is 1100hrs. At weekends please check in between 1400hrs & 1530hrs before reception closes at 1600hrs.

Cancellations Confirmation of cancellations must be made in writing.

Please note that the full room rate will be charged in the event of a cancellation being made less than 48 hours prior to arrival unless the room is re-let.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Luggage Room This is a short-term storage facility only. In the event that luggage has been left for a period of over three months and we are unable to identify the owner, it will be disposed of.

Smoking & Vaping Smoking and vaping is not allowed within the Club, but is allowed on the Terrace.

Function Rooms & Events If you are looking to book a business meeting or social event here at the Club, please contact our conference and banqueting sales manager on 020 7925 7100 or functions@thefarmersclub.com, who will be delighted to assist.

The Shaw Room (Library): The Shaw Room can be used for informal meetings of up to three people, however the door must be kept open for other members to use the room. Electronic devices may be used but must be set to silent. No calls can be received or made in this area. Calls can be made on the nearby Terrace.

Business Suite: The suite is for individual private working. Meetings are prohibited. Electronic devices can be used; however, other members must be respected. Printers available on reasonable use basis.

Electronic Devices No electronic devices are to be used in the hallways, bar, lounge or restaurant – unless for the purpose of quiet reading. No calls must be received nor made in these areas. Calls may be taken on the terrace.

RECIPROCAL CLUBS

The Club has reciprocal arrangements with the following clubs. Members wishing to use the facilities of the named clubs must obtain an introductory card from the General Office (generaloffice@thefarmersclub. com) prior to their visit.

UK: City Livery Club, London (No beds); Bury St Edmunds & Farmers Club (No beds); Northern Counties Club; The New Club, Edinburgh; The Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh.

Ireland: The Royal Dublin Society, Dublin (No beds); Stephen’s Green Club, Dublin.

Africa: The Muthaiga Club, Kenya (temporary membership payable); The Rand Club, Johannesburg; The Harare Club, Zimbabwe Australia: The Queensland Club, Brisbane; The Australian Club, Melbourne; The Geelong Club, Victoria; The Hamilton Club, Victoria (No beds).

New Zealand: The Canterbury Club, Christchurch; The Christchurch Club, Christchurch.

OFFICE HOLDERS COMMITTEE Elected 2022 to serve from 2023 to 2025 inclusive: Sue Bullock (re-elected), Sarah Cowlrick (re-elected), Sophie Dwerryhouse, Nick Green (co-opted), Lindsay Hargreaves, John Wilson

HONORARY VICE PRESIDENTS Barclay Forrest OBE Sir Mark Hudson KCVO Paul Heygate OBE THE COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT OF THE CLUB 2025 VICE PRESIDENTS Nicki Quayle Julian Sayers MBE DL PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN Karen Mercer TRUSTEES Tim Bennett (Chairman) John Lee OBE DL Jimmy McLean Keith Redpath

Elected 2023 to serve from 2024 to 2026 inclusive: John Henning OBE, Peter Jackson, Anthony Snell (re-elected), Bill Young Elected 2024 to serve from 2025 to 2027 inclusive: Edward Barker, Stephen Butler (re-elected), Belinda Gladwin, Tory Manuel, Tric Parrott Co-opted: Nick Green (chairman, FCCT), Ben Barton (chairman Under 35s), Harriet Sylvester (vice chair Under 35s), Ed Whattoff (Under 35s)

VICE-CHAIRMAN Christopher Riddle HONORARY TREASURER John Hardman IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN Richard Maunder CHIEF EXECUTIVE & CLUB SECRETARY Didi Wheeler CLUB CHAPLAIN The Reverend Dr Sam Wells

THE FARMERS CLUB CHARITABLE TRUST TRUSTEES Nick Green (chairman), Theresa Howe, Des Lambert OBE, Dr Jenna Ross OBE, James Squier, Christine Tacon CBE, Meryl Ward MBE, The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of The Club (ex officio). Patron Mrs Stella Muddiman

The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6 49

TRIBUTE

Ken Young, Club Chairman 1998 1936 – 2025

“A mountain of a man in stature, heart and presence”

K

enneth Roy Young, who has died aged 89, spent his early years learning from his father Alex who farmed cattle and pigs – including the famous Somerford herd of British White Cattle. Those formative years cemented a love of land and livestock which never left him.

Born on 11 August 1936 at Somerford Hall, near Congleton, Cheshire, Ken fully expected to spend his entire life on the family farm. But wartime subsidies to farmers were being phased out by the time he was a teenager and it was not to be.

Keen to meet young ladies at the local dances, Ken joined Young Farmers and took up ballroom dancing. Falling in love with his dance teacher, he proposed to Joan a week before starting his National Service at Dale Barracks in Chester.

After training with the 22nd Cheshire Regiment, Ken transferred to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps. Keen on livestock, he worked with cattle and horses on the base farm before finishing as a driver, while making regular trips to see his fiancée.

The Suez Crises meant Ken was demobbed at 21. He married Joan on 3 April 1957 at Siddington Church and the newlywed couple made their first home in Congleton. Ken started his career with Levers Farm Feeds while working alongside his father.

50 The Farmers Club Journal Winter 2025/6

Sheep and smallholding

Having sold Somerford Farm to move to a more manageable smallholding, the two men worked as William Young & Son – often travelling to sales in Scotland or the Lake District to purchase large flocks for farmers in the south of England.

Ken and Joan moved to their ‘forever home’ with their two daughters Shane and Jill in 1967 – a smallholding with space to rest sheep flocks overnight on their journeys south. Ken also kept pigs and cattle – until they escaped into Joan’s garden, her pride and joy.

Continuing to excel at sport, a longterm injury meant rugby was no longer an option. Instead, Ken played cricket and mentored young players, many of whom went on to play at county and England level. He very much enjoying playing for The Farmers Club.

Dedicated to his family and friends, Ken constantly supported Joan’s highly successful ballet school, where he took being known as ‘Miss Sheldon’s husband’ in his stride for many years while overseeing termly fees or running the front of house for shows.

Family life

Ken took quiet but great pride in the achievements of his daughters and three granddaughters Joanna, Penny and

Hannah. While Jo and Penny lived further way, all the girls took turns in bottle feeding cade lambs when they stayed with Grandpa.

Many happy times were spent at The Farmers Club. Ken loved meeting friends at 3 Whitehall Court, occupying his favourite corner of the bar. He introduced Jill to the Club in 1980 and was proud when Hannah was accepted as a member a few years ago.

His year as Club Chairman in 1998 was among his happiest – affording Ken the opportunity to represent the Club at agricultural shows and receptions. He was equally at home leaning on a stock fence as he was sharing knowledge and time with young farmers.

Some of his happiest times were spent in shorts and wellies, crook in hand and faithful collie by his side tending his sheep.

But major surgery for cancer in 2000 and subsequent poor health saw him sell the flock before later returning home one day with a nucleus flock of in-lamb ewes.

Ken’s Celebration of Life in September was an occasion of sadness mixed with joy as his family and friends shared their happy memories. He was described as a “mountain of a man” – and this was true both in stature, heart and presence.

Ken is survived by his wife Joan, his daughters and granddaughters and will be missed dreadfully.

Jill Young

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