Memoirs of the Unworthy ....

And so the end is near .....

I’m in Auckland and tomorrow I start the journey from end point back to the beginning. From Auckland to Methven in Perthshire is likely to take almost 40 hours but I suspect my thoughts will be delayed for much longer.

If I cast my mind back over the last six weeks the main things I take from it are that firstly there are other ways of doing things. There is a wider world out there both physically and in attitude. Much of what I’ve seen has made me question the barriers I, and no one else, have put in front of myself. I appreciate this is a cliche but sometimes cliches are true albeit unoriginal.

Secondly, has been the personal stories of first generation farmers. Without exception they have been exceptional people - special not in needs but in wants. Their determination, their ambition, their resilience make the ones that have made it in farming - without help, capital or gift - the best stories in agriculture. Assessment should be made of farmers not simply on the basis of where they are but where they are minus where they started. Judgement of individuals should be made not on what they are but who they are and the depth of their character. Those that have made it had depth, they had depth because all of them have dug deeper than most.

It was an honour to meet them all. I was probably an unworthy ambassador .... there is plenty digging ahead of me.