New Isle of Wight columnist Sian Grove writes about farming

I first got involved in farming through the Island’s Young Farmers Club, which I initially joined to make some new friends and am now the current chair.

I’ve also got my own small flock of sheep, who graze fields across the Island, as I don’t own any land myself.

In my free time, I volunteer as secretary for the Gilten Market, which is the Island’s only livestock market, and I am also involved with the National Farmers Union (NFU) but my main job is secretary to the Royal Isle of Wight County Show.

I really enjoy connecting the public with the Island’s farming community.

Over the next few months, I’ll be keeping you updated on the latest in Island farming and agriculture.

The group of Island farmers at Parliament (Image: Supplied) With the clocks going back and the evenings drawing in, we are all faced with a lack of daylight but the farming doesn’t stop!

In fact, with the mild weather we’ve been having, some farmers have been making the most of it, working to drill wheat and other cereal crops (planting the seed directly into the ground) before the ground gets too hard from frost, or too wet for the tractors.

The milder weather has also raised some problems for livestock keepers, with Bluetongue now on the Island, putting us into a restricted zone.

Bluetongue is a viral disease spread by biting midges that are often blown over from mainland Europe during spells of warm weather.

Bluetongue, which affects all ruminants (e.g. sheep, cattle, goats and deer) and camelids (llamas and alpacas), can cause infertility and breathing problems in some animals.

Although it is a notifiable disease, it does not affect humans or food safety.

On Tuesday, November 19, I joined tens of thousands of farmers in London to attend mass lobby events, demonstrating about the Chancellor’s changes to Inheritance Tax.

These limit the existing 100 per cent relief for farms, to only the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property.

66 per cent of farm businesses are worth more than this £1m threshold, over which a 20 per cent inheritance tax will now need to be paid.

The day was about solidarity, support and protecting our special and vital industry.

I was proud to join fellow Island NFU farmers and growers to lobby in Parliament with my local MP, Richard Quigley, urging him and his party to reconsider the tax, to save family farms for the next generation and protect our rural communities.

Farmers are asset rich, but cash poor, meaning their businesses don’t have enough profit to pay this tax.

There is a misconception that farmers can just "sell some of their land" to pay the tax.

For a lot of family farms, that would mean the business is no longer financially viable, as they would be selling off the very thing that makes money.

A banner at the protest (Image: Supplied) Selling land may also mean that it goes to more developers, meaning less green space for our public footpaths and a reduction of land for our environment and wildlife.

The tax could reduce food production, either increasing the price of shopping baskets or food imports, leading to more emissions being released due to increased food miles.

It could also mean lower welfare standards in the food we consume, with less traceability.

The UK has some of the highest welfare standards in the world, and we should be so proud of that and the food we produce for the British public.

As we approach Christmas, our Young Farmers are gearing up for their Christmas Party tomorrow (Saturday), which is an opportunity for club members, and the wider farming community to get together and catch up before the busy Christmas period.

We are also preparing for Newport Christmas Parade, which will be on Saturday, December 7. at 5pm. Keep an eye out for our convoy of tractors and trailers – see if you can spot Santa and his group of elves!