EMMA TIMMIS, SOUTH STAFFS COLLEGE “At home we have a livestock farm with a 30-head suckler beef herd and 120 ewes. In 10 years’ time I’d still like to be farming, and I’ve got real ambitions to be on a beef suckler and sheep herd. My heart is in livestock – I don’t mind other areas, but I love my cows. I don’t know what it is, I just love them. Why do I love farming in Britain? British farming is up there with the rest of the world and we’re only a small island. There’s a brilliant community spirit and especially where I live, it’s really family orientated. There’s a big group of farms by us and we’re always helping each other out. And being part of the YFC brings that community spirit together. As the secretary of local club I’m always up to different things.”
CHARLIE BROOKES, REASEHEATH “I’m studying a level three extended diploma in agriculture. I grew up on a dairy farm and I’ve always worked with cows. My brother taught me how to drive tractors and it’s something that has always stuck with me. I’d love to go and work in arable farming and try something different from the dairy side. But that’s the beautiful thing about farming, isn’t it? There’s always so much to do and plenty of choice. It would be nice to see the farm expand in the future, so we could get more cows and install bigger barns, and hopefully in time the milk price will go up. I love the fact that the technology we have in dairy farming is always improving – there’s always something new in the pipeline designed to make it easier for the farmer. Seeing the tractors at John Deere really opened my eyes to the way farming has progressed. But it’s also shown how much more I can be getting out of our tractors, machinery and the land." September 2016 / #STUDENTFARMER
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