HERE is the weekly farming diary written by Jasmine Holliday. 

I’ve been enjoying getting out to the shows over the last couple of months, meeting lots of people and seeing some great quality livestock. I think we can all agree that it is great to see our local shows back up and running after a long wait.

We’ve been continuing to work with our New Entrants group.

This is a project with the National Trust and Farmer Network to help engage our next generations of farmers and help them take the next steps to start a farming business in the Lake District.

We recently took them on a visit to Park House Farm, Torpenhow, to look at how they make a sustainable and high welfare food product, and directly sell it to the public. This was a really interesting and inspiring session for the group. Jenny and Mark who farm there explained how they developed their cheese business, The Torpenhow Cheese Company, marketing products that are regenerative, high welfare, organic and locally produced.

We know that new incomes streams could be an important part of the future of agriculture. So it is great to see inspiring models like this and start to think about the range of diversification opportunities for different farms. Be this direct selling a product, creating a visitor attraction or hosting events.

Farming in Protected Landscapes has kept our team busy as we get half way through the second year of the project. We are still welcoming projects to be completed this financial year, ending in February 2023. If you are a farmer or land manager and have a project which is about climate, nature, people or place do get in touch. There are more details on our website www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/FiPL

We are hoping to welcome a new assistant farming officer to the team in the next month which will be a huge help, I’m looking forward to introducing them to all of our work.