'I'm skint - I know why people buy cheap meat': the truth about being a farmer

From financial struggles to arguing with vegans, Sally Urwin's new book lifts the lid on farmingSpring in the countryside near Hadrian's Wall is a scenic season for visitors, all grassy meadows and lambs gambolling in the sunshine. But it's hard labour for Sally Urwin. The small, cheerful Northumbrian farmer is lambing from 6am to 9pm every day (her husband, Steve, takes the night shift). Her first book, a diary of a year on their 80-hectare (200-acre) farm, has been published, meaning Urwin must also take a bottle-fed lamb to various "scary" literary festivals. Then, looming over every family farm like a particularly black rain cloud, is Brexit.Farmers have a reputation for looking on the gloomy side of life, but Urwin, 44, is a naturally upbeat person. A Farmer's Diary combines humour and the stark reality of modern farming, often in the same anecdote, such as the moment the "knacker van", filled with a pungent pile of dead ewes, drives into their yard just as guests assemble for a wedding party. Continue reading...