Every week, another farm sells up. Derbyshire's industry is in crisis

Extreme weather, ever-rising costs and 100-hour weeks have sent the farming world into a depression

Every couple of months Kathryn Ferris, a Derbyshire farmer, would get a brochure through the door when a local farm had decided to sell up. Now, she receives the sad brown envelopes every week. Each one fills her with dread.

"It’s the worst few years I’ve ever experienced in my time farming. It's a depression," the 48-year-old says. “Everyone thinks that farmers have a nice job, where they ride around in their tractor all day stress-free, but we work hard. I know people doing 90-to-100-hour work weeks for nothing because the yields are down and costs are as high as ever."

Derbyshire farmers have been hit very hard in the past eighteen months, with profits down 50%, costs ever rising, extreme weather delaying crops and subsidies being phased out post-Brexit. All while international competition is getting cheaper and being imported more frequently into the UK.

This has also put a massive mental strain on farmers who are already at a high risk of low mental health, with reports of a higher risk of suicide in the agricultural industry as a result.

Kathryn, who grew up on her family's arable farm in Ashbourne and has been in the business her whole life, adds: "It’s been harder ever since Brexit and the removal of subsidies. Our maize used to be really high but now it's half the height for the second consecutive year. They used to give us subsidies so that we could always sell our produce at a good rate, but that's gone now.

"We want to get across to people that farming is really difficult at the minute and people need to support British farming. I appreciate the supermarkets are cheaper, but please buy British because it makes a difference."

Rob Holmes, 43, another Ashbourne arable farmer, predicts seeing a lot more farmers leaving the industry in the next 12 months if it doesn't get better.

Rob says: “It’s been a tough two years, it started with the late spring crops they never grew to potential. Then last year's autumn and winter were really hard, it was all so delayed, and just not ideal. Two years of bad yields and not great prices, we could handle one year of it but two years takes a lot to get over. If we have another 12 months of this, not many farmers will be able to continue. It will take some very resilient businesses to survive another year of this."

“Our profits are down at least 50%, and costs have gone up as well. It takes more fuel, it takes more labour and it's all more expensive as well.

“The prices don’t reflect the effort and the struggles we’ve had, especially the grain market it's a global market but it's driven by outside drivers like Brexit and the conflict in Ukraine.”

With global factors damaging prices, costs rising and over 12 named storms as reported by the Met Office, Rob says: “We are being hit from all angles and it's going to push the less resilient farmers out."

While this is a national issue that has hit farmers all over the UK, Rob told Derbyshire Live that the locality has always been in a “cold spot” making it harder than the rest of the nation.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) released their survey results in May 2024, stating that 65% of farmers have seen a decline in their profits, as well as confidence levels in the industry reaching record lows not seen since 2010.

Hartington farmer Jane Bassett, NFU county chair and Derbyshire regional chair, says: "While parts of Derbyshire have not been as hard hit by the weather as some across the country, it is tough out there and farmer confidence is low. We have had some terrible weather, ruining some crops, with rain on saturated ground making already difficult conditions even worse.

"I do think we are at a critical moment for Derbyshire farms and those across the Midlands, which is why the right policies are needed to help address the many food production challenges being experienced.

"Food and farming is essential to Derbyshire families, to jobs, our communities and the environment and we thank county shoppers for their continued support."

Ashbourne farmer Rob adds that while they have been struggling with the prices, the regulations that “Red Tractor” British farming has to go through means that UK farmers are put through a “mentally straining and rigorous” assessment that importers outside the UK don’t have to adhere to.

Rob says: “We get assessed every 12 months. It's hard and it’s mentally straining. We are put to standards that our competitors aren’t and they often can sell imported goods for cheaper than us. It’s a really hard time for UK farmers.

"All I want is a fair price for our hard work. We are eternal optimists so we always think it's going to be better next week and the week after that. Who knows though?"