Paul Cobb has retired from his Kent advisory role with FWAG (Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group) South East after 40 years.
Hailed as a ‘trailblazer’ by colleagues and business associates alike, Mr Cobb has been presented with a silver lapwing trophy and honoured with a celebratory gathering of colleagues, farmers and friends, in recognition of his achievements during his long-service as a FWAG Farm Conservation Adviser.
Among those paying tribute to Paul at his retirement party in his home village of Wye, near Ashford in Kent, on December 7, were Kent salad grower Stephen Betts and farmer Hamish Monro, a former chair of Kent and Sussex FWAG.
Paul was always welcoming, incredibly well-briefed and productive, said Mr Monro. He summed up how Paul Cobb’s unassuming manner proved influential, recalling: “As a regular attendee and speaker at Canterbury Farmers Club, Paul was quietly encouraging farmers in the right direction…and achieved an enormous amount across the whole of Kent and parts of east Sussex.”
During Paul Cobb’s long career, there have been dramatic changes in farm support. Regular reforms of the EU Common Agricultural Policy have taken place, with shifts away from production-based subsidies in 2005, to today’s post Brexit domestic farm support, with the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) at its heart. The audience at Paul’s send-off laughed at a long list of farm policy changes summarised by fellow FWAG South East adviser Colin Hedley.
Paul’s work has seen many miles of new hedgerow and numerous trees planted through Kent, plus species-rich grasslands created and maintained in the North Downs and beyond. He has advocated for the survival of pollinating insects and farmland birds, and seen new crops grown specifically for these put in on farms he has worked with. Paul particularly loved working with fruit farmers in the orchards and the opportunities of the horticultural industry all around him in the “Garden of England”. Fully accepting that the farmed landscape is always changing for growing markets, Paul and his team enjoyed a visit to a new vineyard in Chartham on the day of his retirement celebration.