PUTLEY born and bred, Norman Stanier with his wife Ann runs Dragon Orchard, which includes five acres of eating and cooking apples, pears, plums and quince, and 15 acres of bittersweet cider apples
His great grandfather came to the parish around 150 years ago to be the overseer for the Putley Court Estate when John Riley was an innovative grower who took advantage of the recently built railway to access new markets all over the country. This work established Putley as the heart of Herefordshire fruit growing and this tradition still continues.
He and his wife established businesses elsewhere before coming home to the orchard to build their permanent home thirty five years ago.
The single biggest challenge at the moment is definitely the climate emergency
In the last two years we’ve had record rainfall, summer heatwaves, droughts and a series of severe storms. Milder winters mean that for fruit growing, the crucial periods of dormancy are not happening which has serious consequences for plant and tree health.
The future will be more challenging than ever, not least because of the climate. Brexit has shrunk markets to Europe, seasonal labour has become far more difficult to access, costs are rising and outcomes far more uncertain.
There is also a considerable danger that only huge conglomerates will have the resilience to survive and that traditional small scale family farms will become more and more rare.
What has been your biggest farming mistake?
We have been fortunate to avoid any very big mistakes although farming is about making mistakes and learning from them. Our biggest was to sell our BBC Food and Farming Awards Drinks Producer of The Year Company to the wrong buyer, who chose not to develop it in the way that had been agreed.
What is the biggest misconception about farming?
That all farmers are the same and farms are similar. There are as many different people and opinions among the many different individuals in farming as in any other walk of life and many diverse views have to be understood and involved.
One of the most frustrating things about farming and living in a rural area is that those involved are actually a tiny minority of the workforce and a fraction of GDP and so many people nowadays have no direct experience of the way of life and the many challenges that take place on an everyday basis.
Farming can be excruciatingly lonely and terribly stressful and the average age of a farmer is increasing all the time. Many farms are involved in trying to rectify this.
Programmes such as Clarkson’s Farm have actually done an enormous amount in widening understanding of the issues involved.
What do you love about your job?
Working in an orchard can be wonderfully satisfying as it is one of the most benign and seasonal forms of of food production. An orchard changes subtly almost every day and the patterns and form of an orchard can be a very peaceful and healing space.
What keeps you awake at night?
Not a lot keeps us awake at night, especially after a good day’s work and a glass of cider from the apples from our own orchard ! We are also well supported and engaged with the Big Apple Association and our local community which makes a huge difference. We are very blessed to have a well-run cider company, Westons right on our doorstep. We also have some of the very best craft cider makers such as Tom Oliver’s Cider and Perry, Little Pomona and Kingsthorne, who are all an absolutely crucial part of our local economy and way of life.
Farming is a challenging way of life with many uncertainties and needs a certain built in resilience and fortitude and requires many different skill sets to make it possible.
Here in Herefordshire we still have a wonderful mix of farms but they will all need understanding and support if they are to continue to thrive and contribute to the delight and unique appeal and landscape of our county.
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