Big Sky, Big Picture....

The Outback of Australia is a truly magical place about as far away from home as its possible to be - in more ways than one. The sky is huge, the roads are long and the pride of the sprinkling of people that survive here, wondrous. This is a tough land for tough people, that work with nature - not against it - in its toughest form.

On reflection in Scotland we have wet years and less wet years but here the extremes in climate are horrendous. They have only been out of an 8 year drought, for 12 months and today the rain is such that the road just travelled may have been washed away.

With Chris Ferguson as tour guide - a debt I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay - I’ve visited five first generation farmers and two established farm businesses. Each story was different but there were significant common threads and shared principles between all those I spoke to: their focus; endurance of hardship and willingness to embrace sacrifice; their resilience; self reliance; their low tolerance for whinging; their determination; ambition, adaptability and, vitally, what seemed a compulsory sense of humour.

From Bourke, to Wanaaring, to Wilcannia, to Broken Hill the big sky was ever present. With the day off today at Broken Hill I went to see their main tourist attraction - a 100 metre long acrylic painting. Its called The Big Picture but thanks to seven families in seven days, I’ve already seen the real big picture - a sight I will never forget.

Cringe....

Went on the Nuffield Beef & Sheep tour of the borders recently which was really interesting and met some great people.

The tour was overshadowed with a double dose of embarrassment, however. Having landed a twin room in Kelso I kept my room mate awake until 6am with my snoring (I suspect this affliction will be raised in future posts)....I slept in the car the second night as a tonic to my guilt.

To trump this, on one of the visits I did the vote of thanks. I was getting more laughs than normal and was getting an enormous sense of well being. After my stand up routine I walked away and felt a cool breeze down below .... my flies had been undone throughout and, shall we say, I was “going commando”. I would have laughed too, I suppose, but please world swallow me up!

By the Power of Qantas .....

With still things on the to-do-list .... undone; with still things to say to people .... unsaid - I’ve packed all my bags and left on a jet plane to the other side of the world. Four kids, a wife, two dogs, two clown fish and a hamster were all accounted for when I left - just hope they’re there when I get back! But this is it - the start of my main Nuffield trip - 3 weeks in Australia; 3 weeks in New Zealand.

The first leg in Oz is to meet up with Chris Ferguson, a 2010 Australian Nuffield Scholar (and first generation farmer) to tour the Outback from Bourke to Wilcannia to Broken Hill (roughly speaking the top left corner of New South Wales). We are meeting first generation farmers all along the way. I doubt Chris has realised that after ten minutes my chat gets a bit dull .... she has 6 days (that’s over 8,000 minutes) in my company - poor, poor girl.

I get the impression that parts of Australia have very few new entrants; but I am excited by the Outback. With its marginal land and tough lifestyle its where first generation guys might have more opportunity.

If all you have is a hammer, you see everything as a nail...

There were some really good speakers at the Next Generation Conference and the message I took was that some important people genuinely want new blood in the industry.

Sir Don Curry spoke at the evening dinner about his campaign to get estates to retain a pool of land for new entrants. I have always thought that there have been many kind words spoken by many well intentioned people on the subject but my cynical side always suspected estates will only act if there is financial incentive. I still think this is true of most private landlords but the likes of the National Trust, the Crown Commission etc are genuinely putting new entrants as a priority. Even speaking to the factor of a large scottish estate recently lifted my spirits - they were very keen to attract new entrants. As someone trying to battle for rented land in a dysfunctional tenancy sector, you forget that some landlords are genuinely wanting to help young people on the ladder.

For me the conference was dominated by some great one liners. Quotes from the conference I particularly liked included:

“The Golden Rule is: he who has the gold, makes the rules.” To me land is the gold - the persuasion tactics of Sir Don and others plus the moral obligation of the best practice landlords is heartening. It doesn’t address the dysfunctional nature of supply and demand in land though.

“The two things that make an entrepreneur : Patience and Persistence”. Entrepreneurship was stressed as an important aspect new entrants can bring to the industry (gulp - must work on this). Didn’t know Walt Disney went to 139 financial institutions before being successful in getting a loan.

“If all you have is a hammer, you see everything as a nail” Not quite sure what this means but it made me think a lot. Lets think latterly and have more than one tool????

Waiting for the Great Leap Forward....

Went to the Next Generation Conference at Stoneleigh a couple of weeks ago. It was one of those events that I go into “Jack Russell mode” and get very excited...probably too excited to be considered as having “a life”. I expect to hear the “answer” spelt out using short words and simple sentences, using basic numeric scales and a single line graph. I am always disappointed.

The answer wasn’t spelt out at this conference either. But something was different. I noticed a change in me. Since starting my Nuffield Scholarship I have started to see things slightly differently. At the start I felt building a farm business was 90% reliant on the system and the policy that moulds it. After trips to London and Washington with my fellow scholars I came to the obvious conclusion - that the greater part of the answer wasn’t this but someone called Michael Blanche.

This said, though I know more of the answer lies within me than anywhere else - I’m still not sure what it is yet! To misquote TS Eliot: “Between an idea and an action there lies a shadow; this is where the hollow men dwell”. I’m still a hollow man as I have not taken a defining action. I’ve built a flock and I’ve got a quad bike that used to be shiny but my cost base is horrendous and my sheep far, far away.

I keep waiting for the my own Great Leap Forward, where I can secure a system of operation that is viable - currently just the grazing rent is 22% of my output and even fuel alone is a whopping 12%. What I seek is economic sustainability and the chance for growth and cash generation.

The conference actually got better the more days that passed after it finished - and that is not a convoluted criticism using the “time is a healer” angle, but a compliment. What it did was put food on the table of thought. I will have bored you enough by now but I will return to say more about the food and my subsequent indigestion.

And in the beginning.....

Once upon a time there was a little boy trapped inside a 41 year old body. His name was Michael Blanche and he had an unhealthy interest in sheep.

This is his story. Michael is to travel the world, get lost a bit and meet incredible people and experience wonderful adventures/mishaps. If you find the sight of paint drying really exciting you may be able to endure the tedium of this blog......

I am a first generation sheep farmer and an agricultural consultant from Perthshire, Scotland (tell your friends and family - I could do with the work!). The Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust took a risk and awarded me a 2010 scholarship. Why am I a little boy trapped inside a 41 year old body? Well, since I was three years old all I’ve ever wanted to do was to farm. I had the calling then and that three year old is still in me. Farming is in my bones but not my blood. That makes it more difficult, you have to start from scratch and the innocent beliefs of a toddler aren’t enough to get there..... yet without them I never will.

My study is “The Farming Ladder”. In other words, New Entrants into farming and importantly how they can grow an agricultural business thereafter. Entry into farming is a process, not an event (obviously I stole that line from someone else; but pretend I came up with it). I want to look at the length, breadth and constituent materials that is this process.

I especially want to collect individual stories about successful first generation farmers to inspire all those either on the ladder or thinking about stepping onto the first rung. I think attitude is all important. If you think its too hard and all you see is too many over-sized obstacles to progress, you are not helping yourself. I prefer the blind optimism outlook which probably isn’t healthy either but I am sure there is actually a real path to real success in farming.

New agricultural businesses are faced with huge challenges - GVA annual growth in Scottish agriculture, last time I looked, was 0.39% yet, under the same conditions (probably burdened with more cost and perhaps less subsidy) we need to grow by 10, 20, 30 even 50% p.a. to have viable long term businesses. How on earth can this be done? Well, come with me on my Nuffield experience and find all the answers (this last line does not constitute a contract or commitment to the provision of the aforesaid answers - but I’ll give it a go).

PS I’m looking for good stories of first generation farmers in the UK. There is no age limit - one of the first guys I’m impinging on is 82 (note to self: better not leave that visit too much longer just in case...). Please email me and tell me a story - I need help!!