Barny Butterworth Copyright Matt Austin Two farmers have praised our Farms Estate and have credited the opportunities we have given them as the reason for their successes today.
The Estate comprises of 65 fully equipped residential dairy and mixed livestock farms over more than 9,570 acres and aims to provide people with their first opportunity to farm and help them to go on and secure an independent livelihood from agriculture.
Liz Warner, who farms in Blackborough, Cullompton and former tenant Barny Butterfield, owner of Sandford Cider Orchards in Crediton, were both asked by Radio 4’s Farming Today about the opportunities given to them despite their families not having a background in agriculture.
“I’ve always lived in a rural community and when I left school, I knew I wanted to work in agriculture,” said Liz.
“But we (with her husband Marcus) thought after a few years that we didn’t want to work for other people so we decided it would be nice to do it ourselves and started looking for tenancies.”
She added: “I think we would have struggled going into the private sector straight away …by going down this (Farms Estate) route we were able to cut our teeth…before moving towards the private tenancy sector.”
Barny now employs 30 people at his thriving business – as a tenant he supplied organic poultry to a major supermarket chain but found he had the opportunity to grow apples and produce cider.
“It took a while for the business to grow,” he says. “But that’s the gift the county estate gave me, the ability to try these things out.
“One of the things you need (if you are trying to start a business) is room (and) if you are starting from outside the sphere of agriculture, you are going to struggle.
“I’m not from a farming family – but county farms didn’t mind (as) they are looking at the future of agriculture, the future of employment (in Devon).
“People need to know that these opportunities’ are open to everybody.”
Councillor Jeremy Yabsley, our Chairman of the Farms Estate Committee, said that the Estate is a vital asset, not just to Devon County Council (DCC) but for the county as a whole.
“It generates a net revenue of around £500,000 a year for the county council; it is self-sufficient and produces a profit.”
When asked if DCC had considered following the lead of other councils by selling the estate he said it was discussed then quickly discounted 2010.
“It was considered that the wider value to the county council and the community far outweighs any (one off) cash influx.
“They are our Crown Jewels.”
The report is now available on BBC Sounds.