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- by Cllr Ken Thornber, Leader of Hampshire County Council

Most people will agree that farming is a tough livelihood. Stories in the press about pressures placed on farmers by supermarkets to meet their exacting price demands and the recent outbreaks of foot and mouth, blue tongue and bird flu, have put the struggles of the country's farmers in to sharp focus.

It is therefore heartening to hear of the tremendous success stories that have come out of Hampshire's farming community recently, which show us what can be achieved by individual entrepreneurs who have embraced diversification.

Hampshire County Council's tenant dairy farmer James Hague came out top in a national 'Local Food Hero' competition this year. Mr Hague, who runs Daisy's Dairy at Lyde Green Farm, Rotherwick, has a herd of 80 Friesians, bottles his own milk and cream and delivers to 1,600 customers within 24 hours.

Another of our tenant dairy farmers, Oliver Neagle of Uplands Farm in Botley, was nominated for this year's Farmers Guardian Dairy Farmer of the Future. Mr Neagle, who came in third place, produces milk from his pedigree Hiltonbury herd of Jerseys. Oliver Neagle is a third generation dairy farmer and I am delighted that he has been recognised for keeping his business alive through enterprise.

However, all our tenant farmers are extremely busy and deserve recognition for their achievements. Many of them supply local and national businesses, as well as our school catering service HC3S, and some take farm animals to schools as part of the Year of Farming and Food, to educate young people about where food comes from. In addition to Mr Hague and Mr Neagle, there are ten other dairy farmers on our farm estate producing high quality milk for the processing industry.

Hampshire County Council's 1,971 hectares (4,870 acres) of farm estate provides people like James and Oliver with the opportunity to begin farming and establish their own successful businesses, with the land remaining to be a strategic asset for the County Council as landlord.
The estate is managed by the County Farm Team and our holdings are suitable for dairy, arable, horticulture, equine and livestock.

Here at Hampshire County Council we not only take an interest in the success of our tenant farmers, we want to improve quality of place for all our residents, and through our Economic Development Office we have led a number of initiatives aimed at improving the fortunes of Hampshire's rural communities. For example, by taking part in our Market Town Project 'Healthchecks' towns and villages have identified ways of improving either their local economy or sense of community and put plans into action with positive results.

It is true that the rural way of life has seen many changes in recent years and it is important that we support communities who are having to adapt to survive. The closure of bank branches, local amenities and many other essential services has meant that many market towns and villages have had their role as rural centres undermined. At our last meeting of the Full Council a motion was unanimously agreed criticising the current proposals for Post Office closures in Hampshire and urging Government to look for new business opportunities that could allow them to prosper. I feel strongly that the Government needs to think about the social impact of closing Post Offices and not just the financial impact of keeping these facilities alive and should be looking for ways to retain the local Post Office rather than closing them.

It is vital that we fight to save the businesses and industries that breathe life in to Hampshire's rural communities and I hope our projects and policies encourage those people dependent on the rural economy to think of new approaches that could revitalise their livelihoods. For more details about our rural initiatives go to http://www3.hants.gov.uk/business/rural-initiatives.htm

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