Glebe Farm

Ian Clark came originally from Thornford and after moving to Martinstown he bought Glebe Farm, so named because of its ecclesiastical connections, from Mr Vine in 1954. He is now semi-retired and, as his son is pursuing other interests he has sold some land, which is farmed by contractors, and buildings, which are now holiday cottages. However, he still runs a few beef cattle which are mostly of the old-fashioned Longhorn breed. He lives in the farm house which was built in 1924, the original farmhouse now being occupied by Vic Fiveash.

Mr Clark tells how farming has changed over the years. It used to be possible to employ lads straight from school who would perhaps work for two years or so before moving on, and to hire and fire labour according to requirements. Modern rules do not permit this, leading to increased costs to the farmer, and it is more difficult to recruit labour as more lucrative jobs are available. The replacement of horses by tractors after the war resulted in some smaller fields being amalgamated, so that there was less land lost as headland. This is the land at the edges where turning tractors cause the land to become compacted. In fact, in 1954 grants were available for the removal of hedges for this purpose.

On the arable side corn was held in corn ricks waiting for the thrashing contractors to arrive and, of course, hay was kept in hay ricks. Neither type of rick is seen today. After thrashing, corn was placed into sacks of 12–18 stones, depending on what kind of corn it was. Nowadays corn is cut by combine harvesters which cut and thrash it in one operation, ready for the grain to be transported in bulk lorries or put into 1 tonne sacks. Modern pesticides and fertilisers, which are stronger and more sophisticated, result in very much larger yields, giving us an exportable surplus.

Barns and outbuildings are often not suitable for modern methods since their doors are too narrow and their roofs too low to admit modern machinery, resulting in their having to be replaced by larger, purpose-built buildings. The introduction of light-weight and easily transportable electric fencing has lead to the demise of hurdle making except for a small demand for other purposes.

Animal farming has changed also. For example, Ian now no longer keeps sheep. Dairy farming has changed, with much stricter rules, but modern methods result in much greater milk yields, a cow now producing up to three times as much milk as one in the 1940s. However, demand has not increased proportionally so that fewer cattle are farmed now. The modern use of silage as a feed means that much fewer mangels are grown – a much more labour intensive crop requiring hand-hoeing, singling etc., and clamping.

The reduction in freight traffic on the railways has also lead to changes. For example, fertiliser used to come in sacks in rail wagons, which had to be unloaded by the customer at Dorchester West Station, unless it was bought at a higher price from the merchants. Similarly, sugar beet was loaded into open wagons whereas it is now transported in bulk in lorries. Increasing Government regulation has resulted in much more paperwork; for example following the BSE crisis every beast now has to have its own record card detailing its pedigree, identity, and other details, and any sale or movement must be recorded and reported to the appropriate authority for inclusion in the national data-base. This, of course, increases costs. However, Ian has resisted the temptation to computerise, preferring to keep his records in the traditional way. It is extremely doubtful if he could continue to do this if he were not semi-retired.

Geoff Small

BSE (bovine spongiform encephalitis) is a disease in cattle. It was unknown until the late 1980s when significant numbers of cattle began dying from the disease. At first there was not too much concern and there was some suggestion that the disease was similar to scrapie in sheep which had been around for many years without any harm to human health. The real shock came when strong scientific evidence emerged suggesting a link between BSE in cattle and a new form of fatal brain disease (nv-CJD) in humans. The source of BSE was thought to be improper production of processed cattle feed. The concern with the linkage to human health resulted in stringent regulations to control the release of beef products into the human food chain and the introduction of rigorous controls in abbatoirs. All this has had a disastrous effect on farmers’ businesses and beef exports. The regulatory measures have caused the incidence of the disease in cattle to drop greatly.