23 year old Tim Korbey describes New Park Farm as being situated "right in the heart of the Garden of Eden". It is no idle boast. Sat on the road between the New Forest towns of Lyndhurst and Brockenhurst the 240-acre holding is surrounded by thousands of acres of ancient forest. The sounds of birds and wild animals including deer and New Forest ponies provide constant background sound while unpolluted forest streams provide endangered birds, such as grey wagtails and robin redbreasts, with a flourishing habitat.
Underneath this seemingly perfect picture, there are deep-rooted problems however and New Park Farm is feeling the economic pressures faced by many small farms in the UK today. A 78-strong cow herd just about breaks even with milk quotas and prices set by big business taking their toll on those at the bottom of the business food chain.
Tim's father, John Korbey, has been on the farm all his life and has continued to manage the land which been leased from the Crown by his family since 1877. John has seen a multitude of changes affect the farming community and New Park Farm is no exception. "The farm has changed in the last 30 years - up until 1972 the farm was a mixed farm with a lot of cereals but the EEC changed all that and promoted specialisation - we got into milk and camping. There was more money around in the past but things have changed and the 1984 milk quotas produced real panic among farmers". John points to the fact that larger herds are needed to maintain deliveries to fulfill contracts with larger dairy operators.
As the beef crisis has affected beef farmers there have been wider changes to the dairy industry as well. "We're affected by Sterling's strength" explains John, "it can be cheaper for the big buyers to go to France for example and cut us out - the funny thing is that the prices in supermarkets never seem to go down".
There is a genuine sense of irony among many in the farming community and it is hardly surprising given the economic pressures people are under. "Firstly they put a quota and then they control the price - they've got you by the short and curlies ... the deregulation of the milk market in 1996 meant dairy farmers were picked off by the big firms. We've got to stick together as farmers, these big companies are governed by their shareholders and they've driven the milk price down".
One alternative to reliance on a single product has been for farmers to diversify into other areas of production and Tim, who finished an Higher National Diploma in Agriculture last year, has got some ambitious plans: "I got the idea of an entertainments licence to do weekend festival, I've also looked into mushroom farming - it involves a small area and you can get a high yield. The main problem is the capital costs". Tim's financial considerations are a key obstacle to developing the farm in the direction he wants and dreams of moving towards organic development or diversification to reduce the risks of operating in only one area of farming are likely to remain dreams for the immediate future. Tim feels that the course gave him an understanding of te issues of farming but failed to develop the commercial aspects which are so important in farming nowadays.
New Park fulfills every aesthetic ideal of the perfect English farm and the courtyard reception where milking cows and inner-city children mingle is an idyllic setting. Yet, as property prices increase in the area and margins for smaller farmers decrease the options for those living and working locally continue to shrink.
