SHEEP, BEEF & ARABLE, CUMBRIA: Joe’s family have been farming in the Eden valley near Penrith for five generations, most recently as dairy farmers. But Joe is a very different kind of farmer from his ancestors or neighbours. He grows cows and sheep for market and calls himself a farmer-trader.

It took a while for Joe to catch the farming bug. “As a child I wasn’t interested in farming – it seemed boring and simple. I craved problem solving,” he says. “But after losing my job in a pub at fifteen I began milking cows for a local Nuffield scholar who was a fantastic mentor and inspiration.”

Joe’s mentor showed him he could do things a bit differently from previous generations by linking farming with finance and learning how his farming practices could impact the bottom line. Agriculture could be fascinating after all!

After graduating in Agriculture with Farm Business Management at Harper Adams University, Joe travelled to New Zealand to work on high-altitude livestock farms before returning to the UK to work as a farm business consultant. Wishing to reconnect with practical farming, Joe undertook the management of a 3,000-acre (1,214-hectare) regenerative agriculture project on the Southannan Estate in Scotland where he designed and ran a close-to-zero input farming system. The estate was also a pilot farm for upland carbon sequestration.

In 2023 Joe’s father passed away unexpectedly, bringing him back to the family farm sooner than anticipated. “I was planning on heading to Zambia to run a regenerative farm there, as I didn’t think dad would want me at home for another 15 years at least, so his sudden death was a bit of a shock,” says Joe. “It’s been a rollercoaster of emotion returning back to continue my family’s legacy. The weight of expectation bears heavy but so far I feel I’m doing them proud.”

Today, Joe fattens both sheep and cattle on the 200-acre (81-hectare) family farm, constantly keeping an eye on markets to judge when to buy and sell to the commodity market for maximum profit. In particular, Joe monitors religious festivals when demand for certain meats will be high. “The number and type of animals I have is never constant, but varies according to market conditions,” he says.

He also grows barley and forage crops, both used to feed the livestock. Some is also sold to the commodity market. In addition, Joe works as an independent farm advisor, specialising in grants and systems advice. He’s also looking to diversify into areas such as tourism and storage.

Although it’s early days, Joe is already looking at ways he can make the farm more sustainable, using some of the learning he gained in Scotland. These include reducing fertiliser use, sequestering carbon and improving water quality by reducing soil disturbance, and planting trees and hedgerows to increase the range of habitats on the farm. “We pick the best bits of all systems, whether it’s industrial, regenerative or organic,” he says. “Aligning with just one would limit my business, and as a small farm, profitability is a necessity.”

Joe enjoys the independence that being a farmer offers, and the fact that he can continually change and improve the farm. On the downside, he finds it disappointing that many in the industry are so resistant to new systems and techniques. “It would be wonderful to see people being more welcoming to change,” he says.