Third generation farmer Graham Nicholls took over Treway Farm near Boscastle from his father in the 1990s and has farmed through the BSE and foot and mouth outbreaks.

Graham’s grandfather initially farmed cattle, sheep and pigs, as well as turkeys and geese to meet demand at Christmas. He also grew cabbage plants which proved so popular that William and Graham’s father John (better known as Jack) carried on cultivating and selling them into the late 1980s.

These days Graham grows grass, barley and wheat, and provides winter sheep keep at Treway, contracting out his tractor-led services, which mainly comprise ploughing, drilling, mowing, raking, tedding, and muckspreading, to other farms.

“My grandfather did a little bit of everything,” Graham said. “At any one time he might have had anywhere up to a couple of dozen dairy cows, 45 beef cattle, 120 sheep, a dozen pigs and 100 poultry of various types.”

At the start of the Second World War, the government created War Agricultural Executive Committees, known to farmers as the WARAG. Such was the demand for food production during the war, each area committee had the remit of ensuring that farmers like William grew wheat, potatoes and sugar beet – crops that were most desperately needed to feed the nation. Their land could have been confiscated if they didn’t comply.

“This meant that my grandfather was instructed to grow crops on any land that he wasn’t already using for growing, even if it wasn’t suitable, such was the need at the time,” continued Graham.

As a child, Graham used to accompany his father as he worked the farm and fondly remembers his introduction to the farming way of life.

“The farm was a fun place to grow up; there were always people to talk to. I never thought about not continuing with the farm,” said Graham, who joined full time after leaving school at 18.

In the 1970s William and Jack decided to end the milk production side of the operation, with the cows being kept on to upscale the beef production to 80 head of cattle. Jack was very well known for his cabbage plants but growing them was one of the most time-consuming aspects of the farm.

“We used to sell at Launceston Market on a Tuesday, Holsworthy on a Wednesday and at Hallworthy later in the week,” Graham recalls. “And we used to sell the plants from home and deliver them.”

The introduction and evolution of bigger and heavier machinery has had a huge impact on the farm over the years.

“Back when my grandfather relied on heavy horses, there would have been around 11 farm hands on the farm. By the 70s there was just one regular workman.

“Our first tractor was a Standard Fordson with steel wheels, while the next one had pneumatic tyres. Then in 1961 my father bought a Massey Ferguson 35 and in 1967 he bought a second hand Fordson Major to replace the Standard Fordson. In 1980 a brand-new Massey Ferguson with a Q cab arrived.”

The family sold its sheep in 1989, and Graham and his father decided to sell off the remainder of their cattle when BSE hit in 1996. The foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2001 meant Graham couldn’t work for more than two months as movement between farms was minimised in order to prevent the disease spreading. When Graham was able to return to work after the outbreak, business was buoyant.

“There was lots to do because farms were so behind with their work,” explained Graham, who continued to grow corn and straw on the land he retained for his own farming.

Graham and Jo are being celebrated as one of NFU Mutual’s longest standing policy holders in the west country. Graham’s grandfather William took out the family’s first tractor policy in 1947. Chris Roberts, NFU Mutual’s Regional Manager for the South West, said: “Many of our policyholders, like the Nicholls, can trace their links to NFU Mutual over several generations and it’s been an honour to serve them over the years. Since NFU Mutual was founded by seven farmers in 1910, our commitment to customers and providing a local, personalised service has always been the first priority.”