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DOI: 10.5836/ijam/2018-07-01 An appreciation of John Nix Emeritus Professor John Sydney Nix 1927 - 2018 Professor John Nix, who died on March 15th 2018, results of his research directly to individual farmer had an outstanding career as the leading figure of his clients. generation in the study of farm business management. This gave him a unique insight into the practical Through his teaching, research, publications, public data needs of farm planners and was a stimulus to the speaking and involvement with organisations, such as production of The Farm Management Pocketbook, the the Institute for Agricultural Management, his aim was first edition of which came out in 1966. This publication, to improve the application of management skills to now titled the ‘John Nix Farm Management Pocket- agricultural businesses at a practical level. He was book’ and under the editorship of Graham Redman of remarkably successful in that endeavor and in doing Anderson’s, is currently in its 48th edition. Estimated so he became a household name amongst the farming to have sold a quarter of a million copies by the time community. His influence has been both far reaching and John retired in 1989, it became a standard reference for profound in the UK but it has also been significant business in UK agriculture. internationally. He always emphasized that the data was for planning John was brought up in an urban environment on a purposes only and should always be modified if local Council Estate in South London. An academic high conditions or knowledge suggested it. He was sometimes achiever from a very early age, he gained a scholarship to frustrated by the way in which figures from the Pocket- read Economics at Exeter University. On graduation book became treated as fixed targets, goals or objectives, he joined the Royal Navy as an Instructor Lieutenant. rather than as guidance as to what was likely in an He had hoped to see something of the world in his new average year in a particular situation. He was also on one job but sadly this did not extend beyond the confines of occasion taken aback when one farmer said that he HMS Ganges, a shore-based establishment in Suffolk. found the Pocketbook very useful for filling in compli- After three years in the Navy, he decided in 1951 to cated farm survey questionnaires about yields, labour use apply for a post as Senior Research Officer in the School and other items (thus completing the data circle!). of Agriculture at the University of Cambridge. It was John built, over time, a large information exchange this somewhat unlikely change in direction that started network with the industry to source data for the Pocket- his lifelong passion for agriculture and agricultural eco- book, for mutual benefit. An example of this was the nomics. His new job involved touring East Anglia dairy advisory support group Kingshay, which John visiting farms and collecting data and in doing so he helped found in 1991, and was then its President until developed an understanding and a fondness for the 1996. John updated the Pocketbook on an annual basis. industry that never left him. Whilst at Cambridge John He imposed a strict timetable for himself and during this authored a number of studies into the economics of time he went into purdah. Woe betide anyone who inter- various farm enterprises in East Anglia and he became rupted him over that period! involved with the early modelling work on farm systems As an academic, he was known for his analytical approach which was developing at that time. to farm management problems. The first edition of his In 1961 he moved to Wye College (University of textbook Farm Planning and Control, jointly authored London) to join the Economics Department as lecturer with C.S. Barnard, came out in 1973, with a second edi- and also as Farm Management Liaison Officer whose tion in 1979. It was regarded as the best UK treatise task it was to provide economic and management sup- on the subject, was used throughout the world and was port for the NAAS, the state run agricultural advisory translated into Spanish. He also authored, together with service of those days. This latter role meant that, as Paul Hill and Nigel Williams, a second textbook Land well as conducting research and teaching within a and Estate Management which appeared in 1987 and ran university environment, he was expected to extend the to three editions during the 90’s. There was a third textbook, International Journal of Agricultural Management, Volume 7 Issue 1 ISSN 2047-3710 & 2018 International Farm Management Association and Institute of Agricultural Management 1 James V.H. Jones and Paul Webster An appreciation of John Nix Farm Mechanisation for Profit with Bill Butterworth Management. He was President of the AES in 1990-91 appearing in 1983. and in 2011 the Society honoured him with its Award for In 1973, following the expansion of the economics Excellence in recognition of his outstanding contribu- teaching at Wye, John was appointed as Head of the tion to public policy and the farming industry. He was a Farm Business Unit. He lost no time in developing a founder member of the Farm Management Association tight unit with a strong focus on teaching and research. which was formed in 1965. He chaired the FMA from He was always supportive of his staff in the development 1978 to 1981 and edited the journal Farm Management of their own careers and encouraged them to explore from 1971 to 1995. The organisation was later to become whatever avenues they felt might be productive. He was the Centre for Management in Agriculture and is now a popular lecturer with a heavy teaching load both at known as the Institute of Agricultural Management. The undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His notes were Institute honoured him with its first National Award in legendary, often consisting of a few ragged foolscap 1982 and a Fellowship in 1993. sheets with scribbles added year after year until almost The large number of other awards which John received illegible. One of his secretaries even found a discarded give some indication of the very high regard in which he sheet and had it framed. He supervised many PhD was held in the industry as well academia: Companion students and a number of these became good lifelong of the British Institute of Management (1983), Fellow of friends. Shortly after his retirement in 1989, he was the Royal Society of Arts (1984), Fellow of the Royal appointed Emeritus Professor and in 1995 he was made Agricultural Society (1985), Agricultural Communica- a Fellow of Wye College. tors Award (first recipient in 1999), The Farmers Club John’s personal success and that of the FBU at Wye Cup (2005), NFU Lifetime Achievement Award (2006), led to him being granted a personal chair in Farm Busi- Honorary Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society of ness Management in 1982, the first such chair in the UK. England (2007) and the Farmers Weekly Lifetime In 1984 he oversaw the introduction of the undergraduate Achievement Award (2014). degree in Agricultural Business Management at Wye. John’s life was one full of extraordinary achievement This became highly successful and well regarded. Despite and impact within the subject of farm business manage- his commitments within College, he always maintained a ment and on the agricultural industry. But for those that heavy programme of lectures at farmers’ meetings, con- knew him and worked with him it will be the extra- ferences and other gatherings up and down the country. ordinary warmth of his personality, enthusiasm and He was in demand as a speaker or advisor to many friendship that has left such a huge impression on so organisations associated with the industry. At one time many of their lives. His first wife Mavis, by whom he had he was a regular on local television. His easy style and two daughters and a son, died in 2004. In 2005 he willingness to explain things in simple language endeared married Sue who survives him. him to his audiences. John had considerable influence within the Agricul- tural Economics Society and the Institute of Agricultural James V.H. Jones and Paul Webster ISSN 2047-3710 International Journal of Agricultural Management, Volume 7 Issue 1 2 & 2018 International Farm Management Association and Institute of Agricultural Management REFEREED ARTICLE DOI: 10.5836/ijam/2018-07-03 Till death do us part: Exploring the Irish farmer-farm relationship in later life through the lens of ‘Insideness’ SHANE FRANCIS CONWAY1*, JOHN McDONAGH1, MAURA FARRELL1 and ANNE KINSELLA2 ABSTRACT The senior generation’s unwillingness to relinquish managerial duties and retire is a globally recognized characteristic of intergenerational family farm transfer. This is despite the array of financial incentives put in place to stimulate and entice the process. Applying Rowles’ concept of ‘insideness’ as a theoretical framework, this paper brings into focus the suitability and appropriateness of previous and existing farm transfer policy strategies, by presenting an insightful, nuanced analysis of the deeply embedded attachment older farmers have with their farms, and how such a bond can stifle the necessary hand over of the farm business to the next generation. This research employs a multi-method triangulation design, consisting of a self-administered questionnaire and an Irish adaptation of the International FARMTRANSFERS Survey in conjunction with complimentary Problem-Centred Interviews, to generate a comprehensive insight into the intricate, multi-level farmer-farm relationship in later life. The overriding themes to emerge from the content analysis of the empirical research are farmer’s inherit desire to stay rooted in place in old age and also to maintain legitimate connectedness within the farming community by remaining active and pro- ductive on the farm.

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