2023 harvest turned out to be a financial disaster, which is why things had to change for 2024. In this video I explain why 2023 was so bad and what changes we're making to make sure it never happens again.
So gradually over the next few years, less and less farmers grow food/crops and more rewild, grow nettles and trees. I can understand why Harry and other farmers are doing this, they have to keep themselves solvent, but the whole thing seems totally barmy to me, I thought all governments would realise that you have nothing if you don't have energy or food security, then the powers that be make decisions like this, foolish in the extreme!
@@xperyskop2475 Does that mean UK farmers don't produce as much food as they possibly can to feed 60 million people, or we simply pay them to have nice wild flower fields and feel great about the pretty landscape ... just think about how we feed 60 million people three square meals a day , it's not going to happen so thats 120 million meals (two meals a day) every single day ... how many free range chickens and pigs do you think there are?
@@xperyskop2475UK population is too lazy (currently) to be self-sufficient in food. We have enough land, just depends how hungry people have to get before they accept they will need to take matters into their own hands. And also accept they will have a vastly more seasonal and restricted diet.
Political stupidity. As we know that the police are there to support criminals and mad protesters, the farming policy is also like the police is not to produce any food. Everything that comes from the politicians is the reverse of what should be done.
Last year 15.4 Mt of wheat was produced in the UK, half of it (7.14Mt) was used not as food but as animal feed. The future of farming is not by forcing poor fields to grow marginal qualities of produce and subsidising those intensive practices (which make us dependent on Middle East fuel and Russian fertilisers), but to rethink our food strategy (what we eat and how we grow it). or we can continue our old ways and watch Harry lose another 50K each year?
Insanity when food prices rise weekly, I feel so sorry for farmers, this channel and Clarkson have really opened my eyes to the ongoing lunacy in our country.
You feel sorry for farmers? Is this all farmers or just those that struggle to make a living? It would be difficult to feel sorry for a farmer who has a big garage full of expensive motors!
@@ChrisJohnson-pd4hh If you think those cars were bought with the proceeds of a business that makes £37k in its best ever year then you're delusional. It is possible for these things to be true at the same time: Harry has lots of money from non-farming ventures, and the environment for farming ventures in this country is complete lunacy and it is possible to be sorrowful for anyone trying to operate in it. People are more complex than rich and poor.
*world. It's a lot more worrying than people think Whole europe, India, South America, North America, in summary lunacy exactly like this is being a world wide effort from all governments left right and center.
I wish the country and wider public would start opening their eyes to the potential huge impacts of having substantially less food production. We have not been hungry for almost 80 years - but the way government policies are shaping up ( along with an increasing turbulent global climate ) indicate a potential disaster for UK food security. It's madness at all levels.
@@tintinjacks4371 Same thing is happening on Continent. Look what happened to the dutch farmers! All in the name of the NET ZERO nonsense. It's insane.
@@tintinjacks4371we are self sufficient capable country but people need to wake up to what is unlawful, Law, Legislation and Regulation. Local Councils are pushing WEF sponsored Climate Hoax using fake news and false data. Brit Farmers need to grow a backbone and think out the box they have been put in!
As ever, the best explanation of the madness of UK farming. Thanks Harry. From a business approach you are absolutely right to de-risk following a £50K hole (and a rather expensive year in the Garage...!), but it does beg the question of when do you no longer consider yourself a 'Farmer'? With 60% less of the land under cultivation, at this rate you'll need to change the channel name to 'Harry's Garden'....!!
Another great insight into the UK agriculture industry. It just seems crazy to me that a country pretty much built on farming over the centuries, with such fertile land and some of the most experienced farmers in the world, will only be producing a small percentage of what we actually consume. Relying so heavily on imports for our needs seems like an unnecessary risk. Have we learned nothing from the energy supply fiasco?
Blame that on the fickle consumer, wanting green beans, strawberries etc in winter. I was born around 1950 and I remember the meals we had back then as a kid. Turnips, swedes, spuds, parsnips, carrots etc in some meat stew. Never saw green beans, except for runner beans, never saw avocados or exotic fruit. The ONLY time I saw anything unusual was on holidays with my grandparents who were prolific veg & fruit gardeners. The UK cannot produce enough food for 70+ million population, unless you force everyone onto a diet of swede and spuds...
Completely nuts, I emigrated from the UK over ten years ago - and watching from afar I just do not understand decisions that are being made. I was in the UK last year, and you can see the changes, everything is more run down, untidy, you can see there is no money. You can see poor decisions and the outcomes. It is awful and so sad. There needs to be a sea-change in all levels of government and get some pride back. Support farmers, support business, increase productivity, fund social services and heath. Become world leaders as a modern, caring, supporting society and as a proud nation.
Harry , I’ve been having exactly the same conversations with some of my contract farming clients today ,we could have written the same script . Whilst the risk reduction options are welcome with regards break crops the public must realise that the only way we farmers can access any public funding is to reduce the amount of food we produce , whether that be by reducing yields or replacing an arable crop altogether which examples you show . This government has zero food strategy that seems to be slipping under the public’s radar . As ever Harry you highlight this in the most eloquent manner . Keep up the excellent work .
Peter , that's the whole point . As farmers we love growing food and looking after the countryside. I've spent the last 30 years building up a farming business to do just this but since Brexit we have been removed from the previous regime and now are beholden to the new ELMS scheme of the British Government. There is no mention of food security or food production in this regime. In fact the opposite. All the government wants is for us to grow our existing crops less efficiently by offering payments to in effect reduce the yield of the crop or for us to replace whole fields with various environmental mixes. In all things there is a balance to be had and I personally feel that the pendulum has swung from what the public would deem sensible to an all out emphasis on reducing crop production wholesale in the UK. More food will then have to be imported which will further increase the risk of the supply being at the whims of world events. Indeed only a year ago wheat went from £180-00 per tonne to over £300-00 per tonne pretty much over night as a result of the Ukraine situation. Is the British government happy for this to happen with the associated inflationary issues? Do they care? Who knows? As Harry says we have to do what's available to protect our businesses. If that involves growing flowers then I guess that's what we have to do. And we wonder why it's difficult to get young , motivated fresh blood into our industry. Yours disgruntled. @@petermgruhn
It’s all down to the WEF “world economic forum”. They’re coming for all farmers, look at what has been going on around the world (now in Germany) with farmers being dictated to on what crops they can grow and how many cattle they can have because of the carbon narrative (which is all bollox). They’re putting farmers out of business on purpose so the government plus big organisations can buy your land cheap.
This govt. has zero strategy for any sector by any reasonable analysis. Follow the money, tangibly in these stewardship schemes to keep your businesses afloat, but also forensically to see which types of businesses donate to and influence tory policies. Nothing to be gained by energy companies if we all get govt. incentives or subsidies for dwelling-level micro-generation. Ditto, better insulated homes require fewer kwh to heat them. Nothing in it for supermarkets if they can buy cheaper abroad and undercut UK agriculture.
The best farming channel on RU-vid by far ( I speak as a 61 year old farmer ) Well presented Harry you're a great spokesperson for the small family farm. Ag-industry is clearly marching toward us, I doubt a lot of us will see it through to 2030.
@@oldmcdonald6319 no, my son (33) is an area manager for highways , my daughter (30) is a head veterinary nurse. My son had the option but decided he didn't want a life of working for nothing and very little time to live and enjoy other things. We are a tenanted business not a family farm that owns land, it's a very different economy for us with no future infront of us. Still three generations , 110 years, we had a fairly good run.
I've got a second job in a completely different industry to try and get us through, the farm is pretty small so as long as it doesn't loose money... We can (fingers crossed) can make it past 2030 - Big business/ gov certainly want it owned by the corps
Many years ago there used to be a Milk Marketing Board. It had its own problems, but I would love to see a farmers board for produce, to collectively sell to the supermarkets, so that farmers are not at their mercy. Also, some of us, who long to grow some of our own produce but have no land ( and look enviously to the dakkas of eastern Europe)We would love to be more involved on farms but opportunities are as rare as hens teeth. Farmers ( understandably) get defensive because they feel under attack re farming methods, etc.,, but because of this it can be hard to find out what is going on in the farming world. Ordinary people are largely unaware of the issues so people need to hear from their local farmers first( otherwise public action will result in anger) Talk to us, like Harry does. Get your young folks talking to their friends too. Share your concern about food supplies and how farming works. Finally, i am a keen veg grower but cannot get land at affordable price, so have to work with a tiny patch of garden. Even if farms were at full production again, we need more people growing for food security and keen individually can grow at bigger density than farms. Those of us at the lower end re income would then have spare pennies to be able to buy, from the farm or others locally, what we cannot produce ourselves. Perhaps there are ways to involve keen locals helping on farms, if you share with them a bit of produce, or a corner of presently unproductive land ( and a bit of manure)at token cost, or a bit of help on the farm work. Teach us what you do, as Harry does, and what TO do. Even rural schoolkids and adults are largely ignorant of how food is really produced nowadays. And we could all put our minds to how could local farms help avoid the need for local foodbanks. People used to be involved in gathering crops but now its all big tractor-y devices round my way. I know its cheaper but sharing where possible benefits you too, look at the problem some farmers had when cheap labour from Europe was cut off.
I do find it absolutely absurd that UK Gov are happy for us to import more rather promoting growing our own. As an island you'd think lessons from the past would have been learnt about food security. Keep up the good work Harry. I really enjoy these short educational pieces saying it as it is.
Mr Metcalfe, Thank you again for being an ambassador for farming. If the supermarket shelves go empty then nobody could reasonably say that you didn’t try to prevent that! Your message is important across the Western world. I now believe that hunger might change people’s attitude to the countryside, but at 72, I was hoping to avoid the hunger that I believe that my mother and her parents experienced in their lifetimes. Your liaison with a certain neighbour ensures that a fairly broad spectrum of the population are reached. God Bless You, both!
@@MrJudgementday99no they are both unelectable,you need to ask yourself a good question,why are we letting in terrorist into the country on a daily basis?,why are they cutting our home food production?why are us brits quality of life going down on a daily basis ?this is all ploy tactics to get us closer back to the EU,the government told us what they would do after brexit now they seem to be doing the total opposite,the sooner we get a government who actually cares about the country and its people the sooner we can stand on our too feet,I’ve voted Tory my whole life”NEVER AGAIN”,if me voting for Reform UK gives us a Labour government then that’s a risk I’m willing to take.
I'm looking forward to the £10 loaf of bread! It amazes me how little insight the so-called leaders have in this world. Maybe they also have shares in the Yingtong wheat futures market? 🤔
Thanks Harry you explain the issues between the political and the practicalities of farming in the UK with excellence - I wish more people watched your channel - Keep it up
The UK doesn't have farmers just small factory managers pretending to be farmers, where most things are contracted out and cost a fortune. While they drive around in expensive 4x4 vehicles telling everyone how hard it is to make ends meet. Land costs tens of thousands per hectare if they were making losses on it constantly it wouldn't cost that much!
It is essential that the UK is largely self-sufficient in food production in order to secure the food supply for the nation - that means farmers have to be able to make a reasonable profit in all circumstances.
If your premise is correct - that it is essential that the UK is largely self-sufficient in food; how is it this hasn't been achieved for around 300 years?
Thanks Harry for a very interesting video. As an ex farmer your analysis is also very good re the finances. A £50,000 loss in any business is unsustainable. You make a very interesting point about food security and domestic supply. I was farming in the 1970’s and we had quotas and food mountains which today seem years away. I am older enough to have spoken to and known people who lived through the war and the food shortages and supply issues which occurred and carried on into about 1953 I think. Planting eco friendly schemes is fine but we can’t eat grass, flowers or trees and food security is the key to all densely populated areas which includes the UK.
Growing population decrease in crops what could possibly go wrong. Wait for the food prices to go through the roof, and the government will make out they didn't know it was coming. Great video Harry thanks
Harry, This is a disaster for all our hard-working farmers; it's been the wettest winter season I have seen in years. Farms are a financial black hole, and we have to subsidize them to get our farmers to grow food. As the world climate changes, we need to change with it. Farms must rest their land to recover and be market gardens for us. Harry keep up the great work on spreading the word about how tough it is for this sector.
Happy new year Harry to you and your family ! I really appreciate your hard work in both of your RU-vid channels. When I first saw you were going to open another channel I wondered what you would have to say about farming. Your garage channel is as unique as they come and I have noticed of late how many channels from younger generations are following your lead. But you took it to a whole new perspective by sharing your personal farming victories and your woes. You impart a lot more than just watching someone plowing their land. Again I appreciate your unique perspective. Thank you Harry! Well done!
I know precisely zilch about farming, Harry, but always find your videos fascinating and instructive. It shines a light on a facet of governmental incompetence that I was hitherto oblivious of! Thanks for sharing your expertise with us town folk x
Thanks Harry for another insightful video. It’s amazing that something as vitally important as food security is only reviewed every three years. Well done on keeping a spot light on how things are affecting farmers in the UK. Do you have many problems with crop loss due to deer?
People that think, 20% less wheat production is not a lot, it will have a significant ripple effect down the production chain. UK better be ready for the consequences of going all out on environmental schemes.
The ultimate plan is to help the environment by having less people. Starvation is part of that. Other recent gov actions have also already made a big contribution. You know what I mean.
Excellent update, thank you Harry. So, the madness continues, but not to worry - our leaders check status of food production every 3 years . . . . . . . . .!
As someone keen on the natural world I expect to see regular updates from your new bird channel😂 pleased you don't seem to have been affected badly by the recent flooding, all the best for the farm in 2024
I find it bizarre and scary with what is happening and truly can’t understand it. I know Sunak has slightly decreased the rush to net zero, because he says it needs to be more pragmatic, but in farming we are carrying on destroying the industry. My fear is that with Labour it will only get ten times worse. Is it the case that the Tories are monumentally stupid or is it that the civil service disregards what politicians want and ploughs on with their plan to destroy the UK to try to get us to move back into the EU? I suspect it is both, but will be worse under Labour. I then look at Europe and the EU is trying its hardest to destroy farming and that scares me even more. You wonder what truly is behind all this.
It would appear many of us are asking the same question? But where do we go to get an answer? I was in the Netherlands just before Christmas and there were still a few bridges over the motorway being blocked by the farmers tractors. So it would seem the madness is still ongoing there ?
@@rogerblackwood8815 it is all across Europe farmers in Germany are calling for a general strike on Monday and it is just not being reported in the mainstream media.
Politicians will do as they're told by their Globalist masters, their party is irrelevant. They are two cheeks of the same bottom, and both smell equally bad. WEF will have their meeting soon at Davos and make decisions for the world, backing their decisions with their incredible wealth, and the use of bribes and blackmail on their puppet politicians. Fortunately a change is in the wind and I think a wind of change may have started to blow by the end of this month with a lot of international swamps being dredged, and shock revelations about who these creatures really are and what they indulge in. It's all about control.
These are so interesting but a bit scary. The next couple of years look to be testing to say the least, I do hope 2024 is a great year for you Harry! Also, great to see ELV1Y out and about and looking gorgeous ❤
Harry, hope as a country we are getting this land use right, thanks for the interesting insight into your farm and business, always find your videos fascinating, take care.
A chap i work for had numerous break crops within the scheme, he put 95ac into bird food and wild flowers. Last year I ploughed one of the little 10ac fields up and drilled in spring barley, despite the piss poor weather we had a real bumper crop and no nitrogen was needed. The only thing I would say about the wild flower mix is their a lot of Scottish thistle's within and it would seem they're immune to roundup..
I remember walking through fields as a child near Weymouth where thistle was a common and tenacious plant. Especially as my sister kept breaking off some to hit me with. Never been keen on them ever since.
Harry, could you please do a video explaining the protests by European farmers (German, Dutch etc). Why are western governments trying to stifle food production?
That is an easy answer: So called ‘Environmental schemes’ attract voters. …….Until those voters become hungry. Which they most certainly aren’t at the moment, but eventually will be.
The protests are Huuuuuuge! Across many EU countries. But you won't see any of it shown on BBC etc of course. Nor in the useless newspapers. Look beyond, to see. [search Tw i ter - "X" ]
Thank you Harry for the openness in revealing your financial outcome. . I’m a bit of a conservationist but it’s clearly madness to prejudice food security.
Yes, there seems to be a general offensive towards farmers , not just in the UK but other countries as well. The people who create these policies obviously don't eat food.
Another really insightful update Harry - I had to watch it twice. Seems mad that we’re prioritising nesting ground for lapwings over food for the UK population
And therefore there will be no need for the government 'pay the farmer not to grow' rewilding (grab control of food produce) programme whilst importing over a million legal and illegal immigrants. What do you think is happening in Germany, Holland and France and has already devastated the Sri Lankan rice industry?????? www.gov.uk/government/news/government-unveils-plans-to-restore-300000-hectares-of-habitat-across-england
Interesting and timely video. There is one thing I'm left wondering bout tho, do the figures you quote include government subsidies etc ? I remember Clarkson totting up after his first year and coming arriving at something like 13p but then adding £90,000 from government grants/subsidies.
An absolutely fascinating video which makes me question the future of British farming and the general public being able to buy healthy food instead of processed at sensible prices. A brilliant video Harry and explained in a way everybody can understand. ❤
As ever, Harry, a fascinating insight into what actually goes on on your specific farm, and in British agriculture in general. Two related questions: A) Over the past four years, your farm has generated total net profit of just shy of £50,000. That’s less than you spend on your car fleet some years. So does the £50K income from the farm include all subsidies, etc, or is that really it? B) Following on from that, in your case what’s the point? You’re a successful businessman and could easily make at least £50K a month doing other stuff. I get the lifestyle aspect of farming, but it seems like an expensive indulgence. Clearly you have other sources of income, but it must be desperately difficult for most farmers without your external resources.
I can’t get my head around farming these days. Surely, in an increasingly uncertain world, food security should be the priority? World events thousands of miles shouldn’t affect us. The focus on climate and the environment doesn’t put food on the table and surely importing more food is worse for the environment. This world just doesn’t make sense anymore.
"The focus on climate and the environment doesn’t put food on the table " Yes, yes it does. There won't be much farming when climate change really hits either. See Harry's remark at 07:06
@@OnzeManInKazakhstan I don’t get it, at 7:06 he talks about not exposing himself financially to the risk of growing food by going down the stewardship route. The country can’t eat that.
Many comments on the madness of scaling back food production and I agree but when you're facing losses in the tens of £thousands your hand is forced to look at alternatives. Many farmers across the country are in dire straights with the record breaking floods we've had with entire crops effectively written off in the worst hit areas. I think consumers are in for a shock in the next few years with not only the price but availability of many basic food products.
Many thanks to Harry for continuing to give us all a proper insight into the realities of farming. 2023 - all that work and a £3.5k loss. I'm in sheep country and last week some prices dropped 50% overnight. It ain't easy.
Thank you for spelling the difficulties out to those less attuned to where our food is produced. It would seem like common sense that farmers grow food to prevent England from being held to ransom. Remembering the war years where every spare plot was dug up and planted with potatoes, carrots, wheat etc. "Dig for Britain" I think it was called. Keep banging on that drum Mr Metcalfe.
We've lost our industry, our ship building, our energy production and now they are taking the food production away. I suppose we'll depend on other countries who can do what they like. At least the wild birds will be happy.
The only industry the UK has now is financial products - in a global system facing financial collapse. It is very vulnerable - if I were there I would plan to get to a country with more basic resources.
As a farmer I expect it really frustrates you to be subsidised to brow stubble rather than being subsidised to grow crops. I would have thought it made far more sense for both the government and the economy to have UK farmers growing crops, and give you a subsidy so you can earn a living whilst doing that. It isn’t your fault, you need to make a living, it is a mad government policy
Good video Harry, it will be interesting to see how things play out with what you plan to do. I fully understand you need to do something different to make the farm work. However, it seems madness to think you can turn over so much land to non food alternatives. Along with the problem of a wet winter and the effects this will have on crops this next harvest. Surely our Government needs to realise this and be pro active in securing our food. I am sure there will have to be some changes in farming and the governance of it. Our Government need to support our Farmers to grow food to feed ourselves.
Sounds like my job taxi driver work very hard for no cash always thought farmers were kinda well off thanks to harry for the explanation complete madness paid not to grow stuff
How can we end up with a situation where our farmers are paid NOT to grow food but feed the birds, this policy will also have a severe knock on effect to all the companies and workers who support the farm industry, not to mention the inevitable price rises in the shops as we import more and more.
Thanks Harry. Classic bureaucratic answer. “We only look at food security every 3 years.” Completely out of touch with reality, lost in their cubicle mazes. How will you eat?
We seem to lurch from crisis to crisis in the UK. I keep thinking that surely things can’t get any worse - and sure enough something worse comes along!
Really? More efficient in what way ? The whole point of ANY kind of industrialisation ,farming or whatever , is that it reduces labour input per unit of output thus reducing the cost , I can’t see either how yields would be any higher either . No idea what the figure per square meter is but you can get around four tons of wheat per acre on a modern farm , how is this surpassed by growing it on a no dig plot ?
WOW......... very interesting Harry thank you so much for this insight, for sure you are running a buisness. You HAVE to do what needs to be done for your buisness and that is that and you're not the only one in that "boat". Again many thanks, OH also A Happy New Year to you and yours.
Do those profit / loss numbers include an income for you and family who work on the farm? Could someone without other sources of income make a living from a farm the size of yours, taking into account the costs (e.g. combine) you have left out of your figures?
Another wonderful video and no one can blame you for doing the government scheme. But what the hell is the government doing cutting food production at this time, they don't seem to have a clue.why not just give farmers help to produce the extra food the UK needs.
As a youngster I remember my father saying that the best thing to do (as a farmer) was the exact opposite of what the government was recommending farmers to do. I predict that 2 years from now there will be grain shortages worldwide. But of course that's what the World Economic Forum want!
Yes I agree, with doing the exact opposite of what government suggest, same applies to main stream media. Still there’s no point in producing grain, only to sell it at cost of production or slightly lower.
Would it not be good idea to bring back the various marketing boards to regulate production according to need??. They used to work pretty well before we went into the EEC.
It's crazy, I don't know of any other UK business sectors that get paid to do nothing! They need to scrap subsidies for large farms, and let farmers join the real world of commerce and start earning a living from the land through growing food and materials for industry.
The global traders won't let farmers make money, they trade off one country against another (like manufacturing - prices get driven to the lowest for producers and workers - the China model). Consumers still pay high prices however as middle men and supermarkets price gouge them. To many big players with too much market power.
Thank you Mr Harry for another valuable update. I have very, very little trust in gov’s of any hue, and this ‘strange’ emphasis of not growing food is worrying. Might it be said, some years from now, “this land has not been used for food production for years” …so it can be built-on to meet demands for social housing.? Just as farmers plan years ahead, gov’t agendas do too.
Seems to contradict the need for food security, which was highlighted not that long ago. What will you use for a break crop for the reduced wheat acreage?
The one year fallow, or enhanced winter stubble, will act as a break crop. Not as good as good a break as growing peas or beans but is much less risk and has a guaranteed income, which is just what is needed right now..
We all realise that farming is a business, it's their to make money and I respect that but I'm truly worried that we will not be producing enough food. It's like always, someone gets a bee in their bonnet about something (in this case ecology) and we see an enormous overreaction. We have a growing population with a shrinking food production, that's not right. Looking forward to seeing the farm in '25 in its new party frock.
Wow Harry - really refreshing and actually quite sad to hear you talk so openly about the reality of food production and farming in the UK. I totally agree with you that the public at large is generally so far removed from where food comes from and the government appears to want us to be reliant on imports rather than home grown! Its such short term thinking its scary. To hear you say its basically financially better for the farm not grow food is absolutely upside down to me! If every farmer did this in the country send why wouldn't you ! Then what the hell would we do?? I absolutely despair and you guys on the front line are really up against it... fair play
The government promotes 'environmental' schemes, not crop producing schemes. Leaves farmers with little choice. Ultimately less food produced. If Yes Minister was on TV today, the best run farm in Britain award would go to a farm with zero farmers, zero workers, zero crops, zero activity, but fallow ground as far as the eye can see. Meanwhile every public servant in every government department would be both baffled and outraged by skyrocketing food prices and food scarcity. Perhaps the channel should be renamed from Harry's Farm to Harry's Simulated Farm.
There is pertinent episode somewhere in Yes Minisiter and Yes Prime Minister for pretty much everything that has happened in the last few years - plus ca change
