Co-op AGM 2022
Rebecca Heys
The Tablehurst and Plaw Hatch Co-op AGM took place on Saturday 10th September at Tablehurst Farm. It was well attended with the new Co-op rules being voted in and several new members putting themselves forward for the Co-op Committee. It is an important time to focus on the future of farming as there are some very real pressures on the horizon over which we have no control. You are all aware of the huge rise in energy prices; at Plaw Hatch our energy bill is set to more than double this year. We are just emerging from a sustained drought which caused a very real lack of grass meaning we had to give feed saved for the winter to the herd – we will need to buy in hay and silage to cover the shortfall. The drought also caused our spring to dry up, increasing our water bills substantially. And there are other kinds of pressure – loud voices decrying farming altogether…
We are doing okay, we have a strong bank balance, healthy cash flow and a stable supportive and happy team. It is this team that unpins all our successes. The wider issues will all need to be addressed to ensure the resilience of our farms. At Plaw Hatch we have just embarked on a Resilience Strategy exercise which will look at these pressures individually. We are always learning, and we might not always get it right first time, but we hope with the help of the new Co-op and that of our customers we will be here for years to come.
After the AGM, there was a well-attended talk by Geneticist Dr Michael Antoniou and Claire Robinson of GMWatch about genetic modification in crops. This was followed by an enthusiastic Q&A.
