‘Farmers’ daily lives haven’t changed that much during pandemic’

She manages farm life around her full-time estate agency business in Portadown and parenthood.

The cattle breeder, approved cattle judge, and long-time stalwart of the Balmoral Show believes the pandemic may not have had the same impact on farmers as those working in towns and cities.

“To be honest I think the farming community has been the one that has been least affected, because they are usually working at home by themselves, no matter about Covid, and going about their daily life and feeding the country and doing their usual tasks.

“A lot of them have adapted to dropping their livestock at marts and watching their sales online. I think, quite honestly, it’s more the people from the towns that have been affected more dramatically, because they are not used to being at home.”

Libby added: “I obviously work as well, so the first couple of weeks of lockdown I stayed at home, but that suited me well because we were calving all our cows.

“My kids are teenagers, so they are able to work away with Google Classroom.

“It would be different for somebody with small children, where you would have to sit with them, but once they are teenagers, they are expected to adapt and look after themselves.

“I do think for teenagers it is harder, because they miss their social group. We had to cancel my daughter’s 16th birthday party with her friends, even though it was going to be outside.

“I think for adults who are farming and living in the country, there’s zero change for them, but I think for young people living in the country, it’s harder - what they have had to adapt to has been dramatic.

“Farmers still need to get up and feed their stock, so we just have to carry on regardless.”

However, Libby said her work as an estate agent selling agricultural land and properties has changed - and that has had an impact on her farming life.

“We have to restrict numbers and adhere to social distancing protocols, so actually I am working longer hours because you can only have a certain number of viewings and in between viewings you have to sanitise and things take longer. Because of this, there’s later finishes on the farm, but that would probably be the only change.”