The saying goes ‘never work with children or animals’. But after Springtime on the Farm (Channel 5, 9 April, 8pm) I think I’d steer well clear of soap opera farmers too.
Watching Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher retch into a haystack as he assisted with lambing season at Cannon Hall Farm near Barnsley, before cradling the newborn, naming it after his daughter and nearly bursting into tears, wasn’t the only vaguely embarrassing moment of the show, though.
Presenters Adam Henson and Lindsey Chapman attempting to broadcast live over the bleats of ewes giving birth wasn’t much better. Nor ex-boyband member (turned venison farmer) JB Gill being given nothing to do other than don a pair of overalls, hold a lamb and grin inanely at the camera.
But clunky execution aside, a show shedding a light on the work of UK farmers, too often known only in the context of supermarket or Brexit-related clashes, holds huge value. With lambing season in full swing, many will be working round the clock right now.
For livestock farmers the icy chaos wrought by the Beast from the East has only added further challenge to this time of year. All this against an ongoing struggle to make ends meet in some cases, with 55% of farmers forced to diversify, many into the types of tourist destination that enabled Cannon Hall Farm to fight off its creditors.
Life as a farmer in 2018 looks relentless, chaotic and unpredictable - perhaps an ambience Channel 5 was intentionally mirroring in this week-long look at the sector.
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