Support for farmers during a stressful time of year

The sun is setting, the wind is whistling through the farm buildings, but it’s going to be a long night for Anne Robinson and daughter Sally.

We visit Grange Farm in the middle of lambing season – an incredibly intense few weeks. The Robinsons are 28 days into a round the clock routine of delivering, feeding, rotating, checking and keeping everything crossed that the newborns will be healthy.

With lambing season comes a seemingly endless stream of jobs, all equally important.

“No rest for the wicked,” says Anne.

Luckily, she has a good friendship with one of our rural property specialists, Andrew Robinson. Although he shares their surname, Mr Robinson, a chartered surveyor, isn’t related to the family but he has become a close part of the set up at Grange Farm. He visits regularly to see how things are going on the farm, what issues the family are contending with, and how he and his firm can help.

“Lambing comes and goes in such a blink of an eye,” Anne explains. “It’s all hands on deck here. My son is moving out next month but I’m still going to be calling on him to help at this time of year.”

The Robinson farm has experienced a lot of change over the years. Following a successful strategy to diversify, the farm now caters for arable, beef, sheep and dairy.

In hectic periods like lambing and harvest, the last thing farmers like the Robinsons need is extra stress to contend with so Anne believes it makes sense to bring in professional help from an agent such as Andrew Granger & Co to take some of the strain off.

“Having Andrew here does make it a lot easier for us to concentrate on the lambs,” she says. “It means other issues like land sales can be forgotten about, and you know it’s being looked after by someone you trust.”

The Robinsons have recently added a £250,000 new building and want to purchase more land to cater for their increasing variety of produce. As rural property specialists in the East Midlands, Andrew Granger & Co are well placed to help with those kinds of projects.

Mr Robinson says: “It’s not just financial management issues that an agent can help with. We understand the peaks and troughs of farming, and we know when to take the pressure off the landowner, whether that’s in spring, during harvest or when the weather turns tough.”

Rupert Harrison, another rural advisor with us at Andrew Granger & Co, explains how a good land agent can act as the peacemaker between regulatory bodies and farmers.

“How an agent can help is with the liaison between farmers and the authorities. With trickier legal exchanges, an agent is experienced with ensuring there is a good relationship between our landowner clients and the regulatory bodies.”

Do you need some advice from our rural property specialists? Get in touch!