“WE NEED to run our businesses the way Tesco does, there’s a lot to be said for how it runs its operations,” says Richard Hirst, although he admits with a wry smile that he struggles to get the kind of deals out of his suppliers that Tesco manages to get out of its.
One of the first things that comes across when talking to the new chairman of the National Farmers’ Union’s horticulture board is his energy. Hirst is without a doubt very enthusiastic about his new role, supporting UK producers in the face of stiff competition, both internally and from abroad.
“I am extremely enthusiastic,” he says. “What’s driving me is to ensure there is something of benefit for my children.”
Hirst is a second generation farmer and has been farming all his life, having taken over the business from his parents.
“My father was a first generation farmer, starting the business in 1955, and I’ve known nothing else - it was what I always wanted to do.
“I went and did an agricultural HND in Shuttleworth when I left school. It was probably a waste of money but it was a good three years!”
However he has seen some changes in his time and has experienced, first-hand, the harsh economic realities of the business.
“The farm is around 280 hectares, but until about three years ago, it was a much bigger operation.”
Under ever increasing pressure, Hirst said his brother, who was working with him, decided to come out of the industry. “We decided that we weren’t going to stay in business if we kept on with what we were doing. We just weren’t able to get the returns we needed, so we gave up all that in 2001. My brother wanted out, so we had a family re-organisation and I bought him out. It gave us the opportunity to simplify our operations.”
He says he has no axe to grind with the supermarkets over the issue. “We don’t blame the supermarkets,” he says, although the growth and dominance of the big retailers limited his options when it came to finding other outlets. “If the crop wasn’t good enough for the retailers, we had nowhere else to sell it.
“The specific requirements just became too difficult and we were just leaving too much of the crop on the field. However hard we tried to manipulate the crop to get it into spec, there was always something that would mean it wouldn’t happen, such as the weather.
“Yields weren’t as high and coupled with increasing costs, particularly labour and reducing prices, the equation just didn’t add up anymore so that’s when we decided to give up growing.
“We sold a chunk of land and I came to the conclusion a simpler life would be best. I was fed up of working all the hours and making no money. We were on a treadmill and getting nowhere with it.”
Despite that, however, he did not want to give up: “I still wanted to carry on farming. I have a family that’s very keen to come into the business, particularly my son, and I want to give them the same opportunity I had.
“We now have a much smaller farming system now, which keeps me sane and means I have a few less grey hairs, plus I still get to ride around on a tractor, which I find very therapeutic.” Although he gives the impression he may have to fight his son for the keys on occasion.
The biggest income now is from the land he rents to other growers, who produce salad crops and potatoes. “We’ve decided to let other people take the risk,” he says.
However, he has retained a strong interest in the production of vining peas, and is chairman of the local producer organisation, Anglian Pea Growers. “That’s a co-operative formed of 209 growers, all of whom supply into Unilever.”
The whole experience appears to have given Hirst a far more commercial outlook: “We never grow anything on this farm without it having a market to go to first. We need to know that the produce is going to be sold before it goes into the ground.”
Simplifying the business also provided a further bonus, giving him the opportunity to indulge his interest in politics and get more involved with the NFU.
Previously, a lack of time had curtailed his ambition, although he says he had previously held the role of chairman of the Norfolk NFU brand for a while, ironically during the height of the foot-and-mouth outbreak. “That didn’t really affect this area, so we weren’t really involved, but that got me interested. I’d always had an interest in agricultural politics, but just not had the time.”
The changes he had made to his farming operation meant that he no longer needed to be on-site to run the day-to-day operations. All of these changes co-incided with the announcement by Graham Ward, previous chairman of the NFU horticulture board, that he was intending to step down.
“It fitted well with my life plan, so I put my name forward and was extremely honoured and surprised to be elected.”
Since his election, in March this year, Hirst has found himself on something of a whirlwind tour. “It’s been very interesting - it’s a very diverse sector. Not just on the edible side. There’s a lot of areas that I’ve had little or no contact with before It’s been a steep learning curve. There’s a lot to learn.”
He has been visiting the various sectors, and says he has set himself a target to look into every area in his first year, and is still in the process of doing that.
Without a doubt he has inherited a vibrant sector: “There’s hundreds of issues facing us,” he agrees. One of the most pressing at the moment is the rising costs of energy. “Everyone is being effected by the rising fuel costs, but particularly the protected production sector.
“Some people, pepper producers, tomato and cucumber growers, even the cut-flower suppliers, are facing increased costs of up to 100 per cent. But further up the food chain, there hasn’t been the recognition that these costs need to be passed up. We can’t just carry on with these huge increases.
“Growers are becoming as efficient as they can, but there’s a limit to how far that can go. It’s our job to keep raising awareness of these issues.”
Another big issue he is getting his teeth into is the Water Framework Directive, which is due to be finalised in 2015. “The implication of this will have a big impact on our industry,” he says, “on what we do and where we grow our crops. At the moment, the requirements are still not very clear.”
He says the changes could lead to cut-backs in usage, and he fears that farmers and growers are likely to bear the brunt. “The issue is providing us with opportunities to look at water, how we use it and how we can do so more wisely.”
He says he is also keen to create a dialogue with the water companies, to offer them opportunities to share reservoirs, but as yet, that has not been well received.
“If you talk to the water companies, they simply say they’re fine thanks, but we think they shouldn’t be so arrogant. There’s a good opportunity there.”
For farmers, the environment is also a big issue, and one they ignore at their peril. Hirst says it is something they are addressing. The changes in legislation could see some areas of the country being forced to abandon production due to the risk of pollution to water, he warns. “We’re going to have to think about how we do things. This all adds pressure to the viability of a production base in the UK.”
Maintaining a vibrant UK supply base is something he feels strongly about: “I hope production won’t become unviable in the UK. Because then we will just become park keepers.”
He says there are lessons to be learnt: “We may just have to have a rethink and change the way we do things dramatically, crop in a new way that reduces risks of things like pollution.”
While many are quick to point the finger of blame for some of the industry’s woes at the door of the retailers, Hirst is not so quick to cast the first stone. However, he says there does need to be renewed focus on the relationships between retailers and suppliers. “Some people are doing very well with them. But margins are reducing all the time and that can only go on for so long. Volume is fine, but volume at minus figures isn’t going to make you any money, which is why we gave up here.
“I think with regard to the levels of business that are going on, those trading relationships have to be looked hard at.” He points to the fact that a lost contract for some operations could mean the failure of a business. “In light of that, there needs to be some way of ensuring those supply agreements are fair.”
He has doubts that the talk of fairness from the top is filtering down to those at the coal face making the trading decisions.
Promoting UK production is another issue that will help ensure the industry is sustained, he says, but it is an uphill struggle.
“Our costs of production are so much higher because of issues like minimum wage and farm assurance schemes. I can’t produce a tonne of peas as cheaply as someone can hand-harvest them in Kenya. So we’ve got a big battle on the promotion front to extol the virtues of production in the UK.”
He is a strong supporter of the Red Tractor scheme, but he remains wary over plans to promote generically. “We support the idea of promotion, but would like to ensure that crops grown in the UK get the benefit of any increase in consumption that promotion would bring.”
He is a big advocate for the re-introduction of seasonality - and is keen to see the retailers start to re-introduce gaps in the supply calendar.
“It’s a big marketing tool the retailers can use - who wants to be buying parsnip and broccoli in the middle of summer? Maybe we should be thinking about having some gaps in supply so that when the UK season comes on, it can be promoted and that can give us a huge boost.
“I would rather have new potatoes from Suffolk in June and July than a new potato from Egypt at Christmas because they just don’t taste the same.”
He also has a strong belief in frozen produce. “I know I have a vested interest in frozen, but I honestly believe frozen can be fresher than fresh. I had some fresh peas that I tasted in a store the other day and I didn’t think they were as good as frozen peas.”
He says providing a viable frozen outlet for crops will help to enable the viability of UK production and provide longer periods of UK supply.
“There’s nothing better than eating freshly produced UK produce, the quality can’t be matched, but it doesn’t have to be just fresh if the quality is right when it’s frozen.”
Overall, Hirst has a great deal to get his teeth into, and while he may be aiming for the simpler life on his own farm, he’s certainly bitten off plenty to chew on with his new role.
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