皇家华人

Getting to know farming across the pond

18 August 2025

A group wearing high viz jackets in a field in front of a celery harvester

A delegation of US state agriculture commissioners headed to Cambridgeshire as part of a visit to find out more about British food and farming.

The group, organised by NASDA (the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture), visited Childerley, an arable farm with diversifications near Cambridge, before heading to the Fens to find out about the G鈥檚 business near Ely.

It included agricultural counsellors from the US and Irish embassies, as well as the agriculture, food and drink attach茅 from the British Embassy in Washington, William Surman.

The Cambridgeshire visit took place after the group met the NFU, including NFU President Tom Bradshaw, in London the previous day to discuss national policy issues. They had also visited Ireland.

NASDA CEO Ted McKinney said: 鈥淲orking with the UK embassy, we want to get to know the UK farmers and agriculture generally and they to get to know us.

鈥淲e've had a group of our secretaries, directors and commissioners on, I think, eight trips to the UK and we've had now three or four return trips.

鈥淚t's all to build trust, to lower the temperature, to understand the different ways of farming, whether it's crops, or livestock.鈥

At Childerley the group met second generation farmer Martin Jenkins and his neighbour Rob Witherow. Martin explained how the two businesses had merged to create Overhall Farming, managed by Rob, which farms around 4,500 acres of its own and contracted land.

The group discussed key issues including climate change, the impact of policies such as the planned inheritance tax changes and the current poor economic returns from growing arable crops.

After visiting the farm, Martin鈥檚 sister Jocelyn took the group around Childerley鈥檚 historic gardens and to a room in the hall where King Charles I met Oliver Cromwell after the king had been taken prisoner.

At G鈥檚, the group heard how the company had grown from 1952, when Guy Shropshire bought 330 acres of land near Ely, into one of Europe鈥檚 largest fresh produce businesses.

They were taken to a field near Ely Cathedral to find out about celery growing and harvesting, including riding on a driverless celery harvester.

County Adviser Rory Kerr said: 鈥淭his was a great opportunity to share information and experiences. The visit demonstrated the huge differences there can be in farming practices, cropping and soil types within UK agriculture, even just 20 miles apart.鈥

Mr McKinney praised the NFU's work on behalf of farmers and said he hoped a way could be found to resolve the inheritance tax issue.

鈥淥ur family has a farming operation in Indiana. We have two farms that are 150 years old,鈥 he said.

鈥淣ow that pales in comparison to you in the UK, but it's a big deal for us. And to think that you could lose that overnight with the signing of a pen or the passage of legislation.

鈥淚 don't want to get into the UK governmental affairs, but I hope that your leaders would find it worth their time to understand what it means, because it could be devastating if it's not handled properly.鈥


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