By Andrea Meanwell, Farming officer, The Lake District National Park Authority

TODAY is a sunny day here on the farm, the birds are singing in the trees and the grass looks like it is at least thinking about starting to grow. It has been a long, wet winter in Cumbria but it does appear as if the end is in sight.

We have been busy vaccinating sheep in preparation for lambing to start on April 10. Cupboards of lambing equipment are being turned out, bottles and buckets sterilised and hurdles cleaned in readiness for lambing time.

The world is so full of uncertainty at the moment but work continues as ever on a farm. We are lucky and privileged to be working outdoors in the beautiful Cumbrian countryside and I am sharing positive images from the farm via social media with those who are isolating in their homes around the world.

Like most of my national park authority colleagues I am now working from home and we unfortunately had to postpone our Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) meetings and farm visits. We will all do what we can from home, following government guidelines and minimising contact with others. We will also work on a revised timetable for the ELMS test once we are in a position to be able to do so. It is important work and it was very disappointing to have to postpone but it was not going to be possible to deliver the project without meetings to discuss farmers’ and stakeholders’ ideas.

It was great to hear local MP Tim Farron asking in the House of Commons whether the Government would “back British farmers” in order to supply people with food in these difficult times and receiving an answer that they would. 55 per cent of the food we eat in the UK is produced by British farmers and we are proud to supply quality food from Cumbria. What we will be asked to do in the coming months remains uncertain, but farmers are ready and willing to help as they have done historically.