Farming Matters: Unique life of a farm child

The orginal list was posted on www.sellmylivestock.co.uk and I wasn’t the only journalist to pick up on it.

The list, including things like finding baler twine in the laundry and days out that consist of visiting market, did the rounds of the farming press.

And now the journalists on Farmers Weekly have put together a similar list of memories from the viewpoint of sons and daughters of farmers.

I won’t reproduce their entire list, but a couple of things certainly jumped out at me, as memories of my own childrens’ childhood down on the farm.

One memory related to being picked up and dropped off at school in questionable vehicles, and this is something that my daughter would surely read with a groan.

To this day she bemoans the memory of her father collecting her from the school bus stop in a tractor and converted muck trailer.

He expected her to sit in the trailer in her smart school coat, whilst her fellow pupils watched with amusement from the school bus.

On the plus side you can usually always guarantee that your dad has a penknife handy, but if you want him to use it to cut up the apple you’re eating it’s probably best not to ask what he last used it for.

And if you ever have the misfortune to go into a shop with your dad that isn’t an agricultural merchants, be prepared for other shoppers and assistants to turn their noses up at the mucky overalls and the aroma emenating from them.