There is, perhaps, a perception in certain quarters that farmers are generally grumpy gentlemen of a certain age, prone to muttering under their breath about the weather, prices, having too much paperwork to deal with, or various other topical issues.

This impression would have been quickly dispelled by the three farming couples who talked about their thriving businesses at this year’s Devon Winter Conference.

During a panel discussion moderated by county chair Richard Tucker, the Camps, from South Devon, the Warners (East Devon) and the Ratcliffes (North Devon) talked about how they coped with various challenges, including environmental legislation, sourcing labour and fluctuating prices.

The first session of the meeting featured NFU Vice President Tom Bradshaw, who spelled out many of the reasons why farmers might be forgiven for being a little on the grumpy side.

Tom talked about how the policy mechanisms needed to enable farmers to prosper must be put in place, as currently this was not the case.

He described the attitude being taken towards the use of organic manures in legislation like the Farming Rules for Water – which many businesses are currently grappling with – as “bonkers” and “using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

“It is important we get issues like this sorted out as more and more we will be looking to the market for returns,” he said.

Mr Bradshaw also highlighted concerns around plans to reintroduce species like beaver.

“There must be a method of control as beavers can spread. We are working on it, but bear in mind that their protected status was not open to consultation, that was not part of it at all.”

He said the NFU was trying to make sure that the various schemes being designed to replace the basic payment system were not too complex for their own good.

“If you need a land agent then it is too complicated. Simplicity is what is needed.”

The Vice President’s remarks were followed by a short video introduction to each of the three farming families.

David and Helen Camp run a fully organic farm, rearing beef cattle from their predominantly South Devon-based herd to a finish. They also have sheep, a flock of meat goats and grow vegetables.

The produce mainly goes to Riverford for use in their meat boxes and the Camps are also members of the South Devon Organic Producers Co-op, which grows veg for Riverford.

They started the goat enterprise at the beginning of 2019.

“The meat is mainly sold direct, we supply a local farm shop who can’t seem to get enough of it, we also supplied local restaurants until Covid knocked their trade, but that’s more than made up for by increased direct sales,” said David.

“For the goats we use no fence collars, a system of ‘virtual fencing’ which enables us to use the grazing more efficiently and move them round a bit more strategically as they are very good at clearing out odd bits of scrub.”

They are hoping to open a farm shop in the near future and David told the meeting that despite the feeling of farmers that they often feel themselves to be under attack, the feedback they get from neighbours is overwhelmingly positive.

Engaging with the public and countering negative messages about dairy is partly what prompted Cath and Ian Ratcliffe to start bottling some of the milk from their 370-strong Holstein/Norwegian Red herd.

It goes out as part of a local box scheme and they use the attractively branded bottle to let customers know how the milk is produced. They are so popular that making sure they come back is not always easy.

“We wanted to reconnect with the customer, which is what we felt had been lost, and the bottle was a nice way of getting a positive message across, we wanted the bottles returned so there’s a sustainable packaging option and so far it’s worked really well,” said Cath.

Ian pointed out that keeping staff happy was important when it came to retaining them. A new rotary milking parlour had cut down the time required to milk the herd and flexibility with rotas and time off – where possible – was also key.

Liz and Marcus Warner have 15,000 free range ducks producing eggs for packer Clarence Court and a similar number of quail, which produce about three million eggs a year.

“Ducks are a bit niche, there aren’t all that many people doing them so we don’t suffer from other market forces as much as chicken eggs do, but it is a smaller market,” said Liz.

It is also a labour-intensive business, with the eggs having to be collected every day so finding enough staff is not always easy.

Despite all the challenges faced by their different businesses, the panel’s enthusiastic attitude was very impressive and it was clear that the future of Devon farming is in safe hands.