Alumna diversifies family's farm

Emily Goodson (Environment and Business 2020) used her course and research knowledge to diversify her family’s farming business during the pandemic.

The events in 2020 saw many students return to their family homes to be closer to their loved ones. This was no different for alumna Emily Goodson (Environment & Business 2020) who returned to her family’s farm in Castle View Farm, Bottesford, Leicestershire.

Faced with the new challenge of the pandemic and equipped with her university research she was undertaking from her dissertation at the University, she worked with her family to diversify their family-owned farm business.

During her research, Emily spoke to a number of farmers who had been diversifying due to external factors in the farming industry. One of the farmers mentioned they were getting into the natural burials business.

Goodson said,

I definitely thought it was a weird concept at first.

But the more she thought about it, the more it seemed like an intriguing proposition.

“This is all very new,” Goodson says. “We’ve had some interest, but we’ve had to explain to people that we’re not taking bookings yet,” she says. “We’ve had lots of support from the village, too. When I told people about the idea, they all thought it sounded really good.”

Read the full Guardian story