Listen: Archers anniversary marked with future of farming discussion on BBC radio

With BBC Radio Four marking the 75^th anniversary of the Archers this year, Farming Today has taken the opportunity to look forwards this week.

As part of a Farming Tomorrow series of programmes running across the station, Farming Today presenters have been talking to leading figures in agriculture – from James Dyson to Jeremy Clarkson – to ask them how they see the future of farming.

To round off their week, they came to Harper Adams University to talk to its students and alumni about where the industry is currently – and the changes they expect to see food and farming in the next seven and a half decades.

Vida Thorpe graduated from her Rural Enterprise and Land Management degree last month and is now an Assistant Land Agent for Balfours, based in Herefordshire.

Looking at how current farmers see their role, she said: “I think every farmer would go ‘I'm a farmer because I'm feeding the country. If I'm not going to feed the country, what am I going to do? That's the only reason I'm here.’

“It's a complete mental change to go from ‘I'm growing grain’ or ‘I'm producing beef’ to ‘Oooh, let's plant some bird seed’, you know, or put a solar farm in - all valuable things, but to go from food production to something else is quite difficult, and I think farmers see ‘if I'm not producing food, the government's going to buy it in from abroad - and that's arguably worse for the environment and the economy.’

“So I think they see their role, quite importantly, as food producers for the country.”

Final-year Agriculture with Animal Science student Becky Roberts noted: “I think there's definitely still a place for livestock farming in the future of agriculture.

“Many landscapes in the UK are only suited to the production of livestock, and the public's perception of where their food comes from is something very important - without the consumer there's no market at all.

“Farmers have got to adapt very quickly to get on board with that and stay at the forefront of what they do.”

There are reasons to remain optimistic about the future of farming, Agriculture with Crop Science students George Heming, William Chinn and Pippa Phillips all believe.

George said: “I think there's a lot of opportunity still in being able to work outside and seeing the job you can do, and then also speaking to the customers and them appreciating the quality of what you're producing.”

William added: “I think there's a real opportunity now to go in there and change what the status quo is and make your own mark on it.”

And Pippa said: “I think it's really important that our generation do remain optimistic.

“We're all here, wanting to get involved in this sector, so I think it's promising - and there's a lot of new technology coming in, so it's just going to give us opportunities. It's not going to reduce them, which is exciting!”

Considering the opportunities the farm of the future offers, William concluded: “The technology is going to get cheaper, so you might have one per one person looking after three robot tractors rather than a man on every seat.

“But I'd like to think that the backbone of the farm is going to stay the same - and that some of the traditions and some of the cultures are still going to stay the same.”

Listen again to the whole piece here.

_{Vida Thorpe, Becky Roberts, William Chinn, Pippa Phillips and George Heming with the BBC's Charlotte Smith and Beatrice Fenton.}