6 minute read
Farming today in Wendover
By Leigh Porter
With farmers’ inheritance tax issues, tractor protests and food security being regular topics on news channels, it seemed an appropriate time to visit Bank Farm and catch up with Edward Mogford, owner of much of the farming land around Wendover and based at Bank Farm.
Edward’s life seems typical of a farming family. He has spent all his life on the farm, working on it from a very early age, with a busy 365 days per year work schedule seen as an accepted part of life on a farm. Growing up and farming in such a beautiful area has lots of pleasures and an appreciation of the local wildlife is certainly one. Edward noted the increased number of hares, more roe deer and significantly more badgers. We discussed the swathes of yellow cowslips and orchids and the excitement of a Roman gold ring uncovered in his field, but just at the point you think this is an idyllic life living in a beautiful Grade II* Listed farmhouse in an AONB, it all starts to fall apart.
“Why on earth are people farming?” wasn’t quite what you might expect from Edward, but it’s an honest insight into farming today. Most of us are now quite separated from food production. Gone are the days when kids spent summer holidays fruit picking, or the years when it was common to wait patiently for animals to cross the road in Wendover when sheep were herded up the High Street to new pastures.
Yet some things never change and farming is still one of those activities at the mercy of the weather. Anyone trying to grow sunflowers for the Make Wendover Smile campaign knows about the plague of slugs in the wet weather last year, and unsurprisingly those same conditions had a detrimental effect on Edward’s harvest.
I was surprised to hear though how his sheep are sold live at Thame market, but shockingly are then bought and shipped down to Frome or Falmouth for slaughter. Some are shipped abroad, but annoyingly for Wendover there is nothing nearer that could make butchering and selling his own meat viable.
That issue can be put aside for the next two seasons though, as Edward tackles another matter: worming drug resistance. “Along with many farmers who regularly worm their livestock, they have seen a growing resistance to multiple classes of wormers and now, after 100 tests over the year, Edward has decided to remove his sheep from his pastures for at least 18 months to break the cycle, and is considering other uses for the land for that period.”
If that isn’t enough, let’s add the increased cost of diesel, fertiliser prices trebling and insurance costs rocketing as farm thefts increase. Its no surprise to hear that profit margins are practically zero.
Now we can begin to understand why the farming community is despairing over the introduction of the government’s new change in inheritance tax. Edward raised his eyebrows, “If my father had died now, we would have to sell the farm.” Like almost all family farmers, they are asset-rich but cash-poor. As it is, following the death of his father Tony Mogford in April 2022 the farm passed to Edward and his sister. Probate has been costly and has taken years. Edward has three daughters and currently none of them feels a burning desire to take over the farm. Now you can start to get a picture of how difficult it is to keep these family farms going and the overall impact it would have on our community if Bank Farm was sold one day, as Edward fears could happen, to one of the large farming corporations.
I hardly dared ask Edward what impact HS2 has had on the farm. Initially HS2 had taken about 30 acres but later decided to compulsory purchase 100. HS2 payments are notoriously slow and Edward has learnt to refuse to sign any agreement until money is in the bank. However, payments are then subject to capital gains tax on this forced purchase, so it’s no surprise that he couldn’t replace his lost land.
With all the issues facing Bank Farm it seems there will have to be some changes to keep the farm viable. Edward’s plan is some diversification and he has a few ideas. It sounds really exciting and hopefully will ensure Bank Farm remains in the centre of our rural community, but the farm house is a listed building and any potential changes will be highly scrutinised and challenging. A recent “reptile survey,” which couldn’t find any reptiles, concluded they must be hibernating and so it will have to be repeated, no doubt until they find some.
If you wonder about our country’s food security, consider this, China’s food self-sufficiency in 2000 was 94%. When it fell to 66% in 2020, its government feared that global food trade could become weaponised, so since 2023 China has attempted to increase local food production by expanding its agricultural land. The UK authorities apparently think there isn’t any such issue, as farmers are driven to the edge. Meanwhile valuable productive farmland is being covered by solar panels and wind turbines, or rewilding in an attempt to reach net zero targets. Edward is really concerned about food security and worries that the public doesn’t yet understand the full picture. He wonders how the local community can be made more aware.
A scan through the government’s own UK Food Security Report 2024 makes for depressing reading as we are a long way from being self-sufficient in food. To change this, in Edward’s view, depends on whether you feel that farmers, rather than government, are better custodians of our countryside and our food production.
On 10 February (three days after our interview) farmers headed to Westminster with their tractors. Locally, Edward’s tractor joined other farmers protesting in Aylesbury, in an attempt to inform the public of their concerns. I decided to go along, to see how they were doing. Despite the rain and the array of tractors and farm vehicles mingling in the traffic, it seemed the public were very supportive, with lots of honking of horns and thumbs-ups.
Despite all the challenges of farming today, let’s hope Edward, the Mogford family, and Bank Farm remain as an integral part of our community for as long as possible. Having a farmer in the middle of our village is as important as our shops, restaurants and pubs in shaping the very special rural character of Wendover.
Many thanks to Edward for the interview and his continuing support for the Make Wendover Smile campaign.
