Young farmer Bethany digs in to save family farm

Bethany Sharpe works the land, accompanied by her dog Willow

When Bethany Sharpe lost her mother in 2021 and her father fell ill to lung cancer in 2022, it could have meant the end of the family farm she had grown up with.

Instead it became a turning point, cementing Bethany's decision to take on the business and continue its success.

Now S Sharpe & Daughter has a thriving fruit and veg shop in Langworth, Lincolnshire and the farm continues to grow.

In February, Bethany, 29, was a young farmer finalist at the National Arable and Grassland Awards in London.

Bethany Sharpe sells fruit and vegetables from her farm shop in Langworth

"To this day I still don't know who nominated me," Bethany said.

"It's nice to be recognised for what you do."

Since taking on the farm, Bethany's day has begun at 02:30 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, when she travels to Sheffield market to buy and sell produce.

At 07:00 she has a quick breakfast before setting up the farm shop where she works until 16:00.

A few deliveries follow before she heads back home for "tea, shower and bed".

The bulk of the work is shared between Bethany and her father, Stephen.

"Dad is the sprayer and fertilizer spreader. I do land work," Bethany said.

At this time of year that means setting up irrigation pipes due to the drier conditions.

"She's planted since she was 10 years old," Stephen said. "It makes a vast difference that you've got the next generation that's interested in wanting to do this sort of thing."

Bethany's mother Polly died in January 2021

The Sharpes' current success has come after a difficult period.

Thirty-five years of trading at Cornhill Market in Lincoln came to an end in 2020 when Lincoln City Council said they had not complied with the requirements of their licence agreement.

They launched a petition against the move, but greater challenges lay ahead when Bethany's mother, Polly, died in 2021.

"It was one of the hardest moments of my life," she said.

"We were very, very close and it was obviously during Covid so I wasn't allowed to visit mum, which was really hard, so didn't get a proper goodbye."

In December 2022, Bethany's father was diagnosed with lung cancer.

"You have to find ways of coping and getting through it. Life tests your resilience sometimes, doesn't it," Bethany said.

"But you have to move on and try your best."

Stephen has since completed his treatments and said his daughter had made him a "proud parent".

Bethany said farming was still a male-orientated sector, but hoped other women could be inspired to be farmers too.

"If you enjoy it and want to do it, you have to just go for it," she said.

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