Father Son relationship

Lowland1

Member
Mixed Farmer
My Dad and I got on very well whilst i was happy to be an employee when i thought i should have some input into the business is when things went wrong. I wanted to drag us into the 19th century but he wasn’t keen so i had to leave. This has worked out very well for me but i wasn’t able to help him when he needed help which is sad. As such i will try to give my kids a bit more leeway which is always easier in a bigger business than a smaller one it’s also helped by us being on different continents.
 

texelburger

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Herefordshire
I got on well with my late father,he was very happy for me to start buying at auctions from the age of 16 and by the time I was 20 odd,after 3 years at ag college, some of the management and decision making was being handed over to me and younger brother.He did,however,remain in charge of the office and paying the bills.I remember him moaning about one bill for around £200 saying it was unnecessary and yet when I walked in,one day,and told him I had bought a brand spanking new combine his reply was "OK,",which seemed a little bizarre at the time.I remember us alternating weekly when buying store lambs and we would both moan at the price and quality of lambs we were each buying,on one occasion he came home with a lorry load of Beulah lambs for ,I think, about £23/head.I went ballistic and said I wouldn't sell them when they were fat.He said "don't worry ,I will" .So 6 weeks later he comes home from market after selling them for £47 and told me that some of the smart types weren't necessarily the best payers.Luckily he knew the buyers well which helped somewhat.
A lot of our moaning was very light hearted banter and I am so grateful he was willing to pass over decisions when I was such a young age."You learn by your mistakes " was one of his comments and this was emphasised when I came home,one day,with a bunch of dairy bred continental bullocks that never did as they had had a touch of pneumonia as calves and I guess had been seperated out and sold.He never had a go at me over that purchase as he realised it was a steep learning curve for a youngster such as me.
Moving forward and my son,sadly,wasn't keen to farm choosing to do computer stuff from a young age.When he finished uni,however, after reading Geography he took a short term odd job man at one of our local ag dealers and 14 years later he is still there as a machinery salesman,doing the export paperwork along with building and running a new website for them.He lives locally and manages to persuade us to buy alot of their kit !
He has also provided us with a lovely granddaughter and we are fortunate to see her regularly, I also have another in London whom we don't see so much due to the distance and more recently Covid.
Overall I consider myself quite lucky really.
 

JLTate

Member
Very similar to me.

I help out every evening / most days of due to love been on the farm and helping with the cattle / spending time with dad. I don't take a wage from the farm and don't take any money from it. We have the joinery manufacturing business which is our main income plus I have various other business interests.

When i was younger I used to constantly ask dad if I could change ways of doing things to makes things easier and push the farm on but ultimately it was his way or nothing.

I lost my mum when i was 25, 6 years ago and only have dad left so I have no desire to be constantly nagging to update a system which deep down he doesn't really need to do.

I'll just financially concentrate on what I've decided on and be there to help and assist whenever I can!
 

James Cameron

Member
Trade
Managing effective 'Change' is difficult for people whom have a routine and have always worked a certain way. Equally succession planning and Inheritance planning are as difficult. I've lost both parents and it was only in Mums last years that she recognised I was there to support and help and the roles had 'reversed'. Letting go of the reigns is a common issue in farming partnerships that have no plan or roadmap of where they want to go or do. So 'do nothing' becomes the acceptable position.
 

czechmate

Member
Mixed Farmer
My Dad and I got on very well whilst i was happy to be an employee when i thought i should have some input into the business is when things went wrong. I wanted to drag us into the 19th century but he wasn’t keen so i had to leave. This has worked out very well for me but i wasn’t able to help him when he needed help which is sad. As such i will try to give my kids a bit more leeway which is always easier in a bigger business than a smaller one it’s also helped by us being on different continents.


If you don’t mind me asking, what is happening with the place in linc now?
 

czechmate

Member
Mixed Farmer
I got on well with my late father,he was very happy for me to start buying at auctions from the age of 16 and by the time I was 20 odd,after 3 years at ag college, some of the management and decision making was being handed over to me and younger brother.He did,however,remain in charge of the office and paying the bills.I remember him moaning about one bill for around £200 saying it was unnecessary and yet when I walked in,one day,and told him I had bought a brand spanking new combine his reply was "OK,",which seemed a little bizarre at the time.I remember us alternating weekly when buying store lambs and we would both moan at the price and quality of lambs we were each buying,on one occasion he came home with a lorry load of Beulah lambs for ,I think, about £23/head.I went ballistic and said I wouldn't sell them when they were fat.He said "don't worry ,I will" .So 6 weeks later he comes home from market after selling them for £47 and told me that some of the smart types weren't necessarily the best payers.Luckily he knew the buyers well which helped somewhat.
A lot of our moaning was very light hearted banter and I am so grateful he was willing to pass over decisions when I was such a young age."You learn by your mistakes " was one of his comments and this was emphasised when I came home,one day,with a bunch of dairy bred continental bullocks that never did as they had had a touch of pneumonia as calves and I guess had been seperated out and sold.He never had a go at me over that purchase as he realised it was a steep learning curve for a youngster such as me.
Moving forward and my son,sadly,wasn't keen to farm choosing to do computer stuff from a young age.When he finished uni,however, after reading Geography he took a short term odd job man at one of our local ag dealers and 14 years later he is still there as a machinery salesman,doing the export paperwork along with building and running a new website for them.He lives locally and manages to persuade us to buy alot of their kit !
He has also provided us with a lovely granddaughter and we are fortunate to see her regularly, I also have another in London whom we don't see so much due to the distance and more recently Covid.
Overall I consider myself quite lucky really.


How will the farm continue? Is there niece/nephew on the farm now?
 

Lowland1

Member
Mixed Farmer
If you don’t mind me asking, what is happening with the place in linc now?
I got rid of the pigs while Dad was ill about a year ago. There’s only a small bit of owned land left that we plough and drill and a relation sprays and combines. The kids knocked down a lot of the pig buildings and we will put a corn shed up next year when Covid dies down and i can travel again. I am transferring it to the kids and they hope to use it as a start up probably growing veg to complement what we do in Kenya.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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