THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, took a tour of a farm near Darlington this morning as part of their visit to the region today.

The Duke and Duchess were at Manor Farm in Little Stainton to hear about the work being done and the technology being used to ensure the farm is as productive and sustainable as possible. 

Farm owner, Clare Wise, who is the fifth generation of her family to farm at Little Stainton, said she was passionate about animal welfare and ensuring natural habitats are protected within the farm.

Kate and William were given a tour of the calving sheds and were chance to get behind the wheel of a hi-tech tractor guided by GPS. 

The royal couple then sat down with a group of local farmers to discuss the challenges the industry is facing and how they’ve fared during the Covid pandemic.

During the sit down discussion with a group of northern farmers, William and Kate heard the challenges they’ve had to overcome during the Covid pandemic. 

William praised those who have had to juggle homeschooling with farming, saying it was ‘very impressive’. 

He sympathised with farmers losing the social aspect of the industry in not being able to attend markets and country fairs during the national lockdowns. 

He said: “That is one of the ongoing things, being at home all day, it starts to wear on people and the pandemic has take away those coping mechanisms.”

Ahead of the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow later this year, the group also spoke about the work that is being carried out across the industry to improve environmental impact and help deliver the UK’s commitment to ‘net zero’ carbon emissions.