Somerset farmer enjoys working within the trade however says it faces challenges | EUROtoday

“I reckon my schoolfriends think I’m mad. They probably thought I would give up – but I haven’t.”

Bridgette Baker is a 24-year-old, fifth-generation farmer who farms alongside her dad and grandad within the gently sloping fields of south Somerset.

It’s a beef and arable farm, with just a few lambs and pigs for his or her meat enterprise promoting to native prospects.

With some farmers indignant with the federal government over inheritance tax guidelines and adjustments to farm funds, why would a youngster need to keep within the trade nowadays?

“At school, we weren’t encouraged to go into farming. It’s such a shame,” mentioned Bridgette.

“Everyone thought: ‘Oh, you’re clever enough to do something else.’

“People do not assume farmers are intelligent, but it surely’s probably the most sophisticated job. You have gotten to be actually clever to be a farmer.”

Bridgette said the agriculture industry has so many opportunities that it should be more of an option for people in school.

“When I used to be 15 I began calf-rearing with my grandad and simply actually loved it.

“I kept at it from then onwards, waking up early to prove I was keen enough,” she mentioned.

Now, she begins the day by feeding the livestock, together with her uncommon breed pigs.

“I really enjoy this breed. They’ve got such a nice temperament,” she mentioned.

Bridgette and her mum make and promote their very own sausages from the farm.

“Obviously I’ll be biased, but I really enjoy the sausages and bacon too,” she added.

Having studied agriculture, Bridgette graduated from college a few years in the past and returned to her household farm, the place she hopes to remain long run.

She mentioned: “There’s always loads of challenges thrown at you, but I’m hoping once I’ve got a nice system in place on the farm, I’ll have some spare time to do agricultural journalism or another job on the side.

“You at all times want a plan b with farming, which is a bit disappointing, because the farm’s not very worthwhile, so we have at all times been bold in making an attempt to do two jobs directly as a household.”

As Bridgette farms alongside her dad and grandad, I was keen to find out what she thinks of the government’s planned changes to inheritance tax on farms.

“When the federal government introduced the inheritance tax it was fairly a shock for the rural group,” she said.

From April 2026, there will be a charge of 20% inheritance tax on agricultural assets worth more than £1m for the first time, although the threshold for some farmers to pay would be £3m.

The government expects the changes to affect the wealthiest 500 estates each year.

Ministers have maintained it will make things “fairer” and protect “small household farms”.

Bridgette said it means family farms, like hers, are now needing to save up to pay the tax “for at any time when one technology must move the farm onto the subsequent”.

But, she said, that means they cannot invest in the farm’s future “as a result of we have to plan for this payout”.

She said she was concerned family farms could have to be sold off, which would have an impact on the wider rural economy.

She said: “We use tyre corporations, equipment gross sales, vets, mechanics, feed corporations – it impacts plenty of the financial system domestically.”

Bridgette also thought food prices could go up for consumers if there was less competition from family farms against imported meat and crops.

Earlier this month, the government announced it was closing an environmental funding stream to new applicants, which had been designed to replace EU farm subsidies, post-Brexit.

The government said the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) had been a success, with 37,000 funding agreements agreed.

Bridgette’s farm receives SFI for environmental management including conserving hedgerows and trees.

The government said all the scheme’s budget had been allocated and no more new applications could be accepted.

Bridgette said this announcement “shut the door within the face” of farmers who were preparing to apply.

“They’ve finished all of the paperwork to calculate the land that can go into it and all the opposite bits which might be concerned,” she said.

“So now, this rising 12 months on the farm, if something goes unsuitable they usually do not make a revenue, they do not have that SFI fee to maintain them going.”

Bridgette told me she feels the government has made “very huge choices, in a short time, with out a lot session”.

While the beef and arable enterprises are her farm’s main income, Bridgette’s passion is her rare breed pigs and three-year-old Dotty is clearly a favourite.

Pregnant with her third litter, she’s due to give birth again in May.

Bridgette said: “She’s been a extremely good mum and he or she’s taught me find out how to breed pigs – some pigs they will take care of you. She’s handled all my errors.

“In farming, there’s so much to learn. You won’t learn unless you’ve got the experience.”

A authorities spokesperson mentioned its dedication to farmers “remains steadfast”.

They mentioned: “We have committed £5bn to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production, and we are developing a 25-year farming roadmap, focusing on how to make the sector more profitable in the decades to come.”