A dairy and sheep farmer from Somerset has created a social media campaign to highlight the work being done behind the scenes by female farmers during the coronavirus outbreak.
Victoria Dimond is a fifth-generation dairy farmer who keeps pedigree brown swiss and jerseys, 1000 commercial ewes, beef cattle and a small herd of milking goats alongside her partner, his father and their three children.
She said: “I created the campaign to showcase the amazing goods British farmers are producing 365 days of the year – pandemic or not. I want to get our message out there.”
Meet the campaigners
The campaign features 15 women from beef and turkey farmers to bag and soap makers, to vegetable growers.
These include Nicola Hooper, who went from city to country life after catching the farming bug, and now farms alongside her husband keeping rare breed cattle, sheep and pigs which they sell directly to the public from their farm in Cornwall.
She said: “For me farming is all about caring for the land and my animals and getting responsibly farmed, great tasting food out to people who care about where their food comes from and how it is produced.”
Dorset arable farmer, Emma Foot who farms alongside her father on their family farm says she hopes the campaign will give the public a better understanding of where their food comes from, and encourages more people to consider a career in farming.
Farmer and midwife, Florence Mannerings from Kent who keeps dairy shorthorns and holstein-friesians with a suckler herd of rare breed dual-purpose Albion cattle alongside said she is extremely proud to be part of British farming.
“I believe publicity and education is key to providing a sustainable future where people know where their food comes from. With the climate the way it is we need to encourage people to always buy British and support local farmers.”
To keep up to date with Victoria's campaign head over to her Instagram page @dairyqueen_shepherdess