VERNHAM Dean parish magazine carries its own story of farming people in every monthly edition.

On The Farm is written by Mark Melly who, with wife Jane and supported by three sons, Matthew aged seven, Gay aged five and three-year-old Charlie, describes how life at Box Farm is changing as the production process turns into an organic holding.

The couple, who met at agricultural college - although neither are from farming backgrounds - took the decision to go organic two years ago after Mark had worked on the nearby Linkenholt estate.

Box Farm belongs to Jane's parents but had been worked under a tenancy agreement.

In his first introductory article in the magazine Focus, Mark pinpointed the difficulties that farming is facing. Small farms, such as their one, had become uncompetitive in the modern world of global farming.

The price of corn and animals was being set by low cost producers from abroad and bore no relation to the costs of his production.

"It was time to make big changes or give up," he wrote. "We had to look for some kind of specialist market to justify us continuing."

Neighbouring farms faced similar decisions and chose other routes to a hoped-for financial balance.

Mark and Jane farm 300 acres at Box Farm and lease another 300.

It is a traditional holding with small fields and lots of hedges which support abundant wildlife.

Going organic, backed by an essential government grant, was a big decision and a long-term, three-year process before the total changeover from conventional farming is achieved.

Mark and Jane, with the aid of a single employee, Andrew Sullivan, are growing 180 acres of cereals, producing 50 head of beef cattle and running a suckler herd of 45 cows.

There are sheep at Box also - 375 breeding ewes, producing nearly 700 finished lambs.

This coming spring will be the first Box Farm organically produced lambs and calves to be marketed.

On the cereal side, the farm's milling wheat, instead of being transported to Southampton for export, went to an organic mill near Ham, meaning that a Box Farm product was sold to local shops. And the price was better.

It's hard work and it is nerve-wracking with the Mellys hoping that prices for the produce will hold up but they are quietly confident and positive about their future.

They see that the need is for the public to be prepared to make top quality food a priority.

"We need to sell to people who care about food, how it is produced and how it tastes. Our priority is good quality food on their tables."