Hidden heroines of the farming world

And we are now being called on to recognise the "hidden heroines" of farming.

While farming was traditionally a male-dominated job, women have always played a role on the farms and are now stepping up to run the business – often while raising a family at the same time.

Stuart Morris, of NFU Cymru, said: "Women in farming are still very much the hidden heroines of the industry. Very few want to claim the limelight, preferring instead to contribute behind the scenes.

"Many children have been raised on farms sitting in pushchairs watching mum pull calves, milk cows or drive the tractor. They are ordinary women, who perhaps don't realise that what they are doing is extraordinary.

"The reality today is that many farms are run in partnership and the "farmer" is not always a man.

"Women are not only running farms, but also in today's tough financial climate, often running a separate business or going out to work to bolster the family income, while juggling childcare and family life."

It is almost 10 years since one brother and sister team saved their pioneering organic farm from being snapped up by developers by selling shares to the public.

Now Charlotte and Ben Hollins, who run Fordhall Farm, near Market Drayton, are continuing to branch out the business.

As well as rearing cattle, sheep and pigs, one of the biggest aspects of the business is providing outdoor catering.

Thanks to its fleet of mobile catering units, the Fordhall name has become well known across the country as it continues to provide food and drink at a number of top events.

Only last week was Fordhall Farm providing its own produce to spectators at a one-day international between England and New Zealand at Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham. It is an example of a new breed of farmer enjoying success through innovation – and the equal role women now have in the industry.

Charlotte said: "We started catering in 2006 when we bought a second-hand griddle which we used at farmers' markets.

"We were then asked to do local agricultural shows which we really love doing. We got more and more people asking us to cover events and it grew from there. We reinvest everything back into the business.

"It has been going really well and we have the potential to have 10 catering units this year.

"We cover the Shrewsbury Steam Rally, Shrewsbury Flower Show, Royal Welsh Show, Midlands Game Fair, and more recently at Edgbaston. Every week we are out somewhere. We travel the whole country such as Cambridge and the Sussex Game Fair."

Ben added: "I think people are really interested in knowing where their food comes from, and they like buying direct from the producer.

"We make all our own burgers and sausages on farm. We also work with other local farmers to fill in the gaps when we run short.

"I would like to see us at more local agricultural shows. There are quite a lot in the area we don't do and we would like to be involved in them."

The farm became England's first community-owned farm in 2006 when more than 8,000 people from across the world clubbed together to buy community shares in the business. Now rented by Ben, the farm is owned and utilised by a community trust to use the land as an educational and recreational resource.

In recent years it has been transformed from a run-down derelict farm to a state-of-the-art farm shop, tearoom, restaurant, butchery and bakery.

At the Walford campus of North Shropshire College the number of women enrolling on farming-related courses has been steadily growing.

This year more than a fifth of agriculture students are female.

The picture is the same at Harper Adams University, Edgmond, near Newport, where in 2014, 204 new students enrolled on agriculture courses – and 55 of them, or 27 per cent, were female. One of the students planning a career in agriculture is 19-year-old Emma Davies, who is studying for a Rural Enterprise and Land Management BSc.

Her family has been involved in farming for many years, but Emma found her enthusiasm was sparked when she joined Eccleshall Young Farmers' Club three years ago.

That allowed her to get involved in a wide range of farming and rural activities, from carcass judging to farm walks. She is also a Young Farmers county winner in Brain Trust, a team competition which debates rural and farming issues.

She said: "Having such an active involvement in Young Farmers and growing up in a rural area with horses and the odd flock of sheep on the field, helping Grandad with bailing and rolling fields, I've always had a valid and thriving interest in the farming lifestyle.

"I've worked on numerous dairy farms milking and helping calf rearing. I relief milk at weekends at Lipley Farm in Cheswardine, and sometimes help to feed the calves.

"The key subjects we study at Harper Adams are animal production, sustainable crop production, rural geography, law for estate agents and construction and surveying. I'm in the process of gaining work experience with Strutt and Parker in the summer with agriculture consultancy, and after my degree would like to pursue a career in agriculture consultancy."

Anne Davies, from Frodesley, near Dorrington, grew up on a farm but said she too only gained a real interest in farming after joining the YFC.

She said: "I grew up on our arable farm but didn't really take an interest in farming until I joined my local Young Farmers and started helping out on the farm. For the last two harvests I helped my dad with grain carting and also helped with cultivation of the crops. We grow oilseed rape, wheat, and we have contractors growing maize on our land this year.

"Once I finish my course I'd like to enter into one of the training programmes run by agronomy companies – agronomy is soil and crop management – to hopefully become a fully trained agronomist and be able to advise farmers on what is best for their arable crops."

Looking at another side of farming is final year student Catherine Bennett, who comes from a family of farmers in Meifod, Powys, and is studying for a BSc (Hons) Agri-food Marketing with Business Studies.

The 22-year-old has already travelled widely because of her interest in farming, attending the International Summit of Young Farmers in France as one of just two representatives of the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs (NFYFC).

She also represented the NFYFC at the European Council of Young Farmers Spring Parliament in Helsinki, where she discussed issues that policy holders need to address to support the future of young farming.

Catherine, whose family farms a mixed poultry, dairy and sheep system, said: "I hope that all of the new skills that I am picking up during my time away at university will be beneficial to both me and my community when I return home.

"I'd like to take my experience of working at an international organisation such as McDonald's, where I was on work placement, and apply that to any opportunities that come my way in the future.

"Ideally, I would love a similar role to that of my placement, but for another agriculture-related organisation a little closer to home."