12/10/2026
Young farmers need our support more than ever.
My letter to the editor in the latest Crediton Courier Newspaper ⬇️
On Sunday 4th October I attended the Devon Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs Harvest Festival at Exeter Cathedral.
So many farmers I’ve spoken to recently have told me this has been the toughest year they’ve ever had. Heatwave after heatwave. Week after week without rain. Early, low-yield harvests. Wildfires. And then bluetongue.
At a time when farming feels especially difficult and fragile, young farmers need our recognition and support more than ever.
Farming is much more than a job - it’s a way of life that is driven by a passion for the land and a calling to put food on our tables.
But climate change is having a devastating impact on farmers’ ability to do that. And it will hit young farmers harder than most.
If we want our young farmers to have the best chance of taking on this noble profession, and of continuing it for many years to come, we have to do everything we can to tackle climate change and support them to mitigate the effects we’re already experiencing.
During the service, the Reverend Jeremy Putnam relayed a conversation with a farmer in Sandford, who said that in all his years of farming:
“This has been the hardest year so far. But I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. It’s what I’m here to do.”
Our young farmers aren’t in this job to make their millions, they’re not in it for the glory, and certainly not for the lie-ins. They are doing this because it’s a calling - to feed the nation.
And so we owe it to them to do everything we can to protect our planet, look after nature, support farmers through the already devastating impacts of climate change. And especially to look out for their mental health as they work in such a tough, often isolated environment.
