@@askiff1415 - Yes indeed. One of the great strengths of RU-vid is that everybody's their own Editor in Chief; and one of RU-vid's great weaknesses is that everybody's their own Editor in Chief! With such high production values available to ordinary people - amazing drone footage, stable cameras, excellent audio, slick editing - it's very easy to mistake some Channels for professional TV output, with all of the alleged impartiality and rigorous journalistic process that that implies, but the facts are exactly as you say - it's just someone's opinion. I do like Harry's openness. I know nothing about farming politics and finance, but I enjoy his content. As with so much in life it's a case of 'caveat emptor' when someone's trying to sell you a point of view (especially if it's on Twitter...) ;-)
@@askiff1415 Very true. As an owner of an American farm/orchard, I'd love to hear more about the British govt's stance. I'd also love for Harry to tell us more about his tree planting plans (types of trees? Are they purely an environmental pursuit or is there a financial gain involved, like fruit trees?) Harry mentioned the various types of farming in different regions across England, it would be great to hear from those farmers and how the new rules affect their livelihoods. Harry (and son) are fortunate enough to not depend solely on farming for their income so I'm sure they'll be fine. The farmers who don't have multiple income streams are the ones in real trouble (as Harry sympathetically mentioned.) Obviously my love of all things mechanical/automotive brought me here but now that I have more than cars in common with Harry, it's quite interesting to see how all of these things vary between countries. Hopefully I can even get ideas from Harry (and other British farmers) that I can institute in my own operation.
I only knew Harry from his “Garage”, so this is a totally surprising revelation. As a fellow car-nut/farmer I now feel a kinship, but we couldn’t be more different in the details: Harry farms commodity crops on thousands of acres in Britain and owns a large collection of Porsches, Lambos etc. I farm less than 10 acres of vegetables in the western US and collect one old Capri V-6. Slightly different.......
@@grahamatsea3575 I just happened to see your reply. Thanks! Yeah, I always wanted one as a kid and got lucky finding this very solid one a few years ago. Unfortunately, I might have to let it go. Ain’t life grand?
All offices in government should be staffed by people who have actually worked in the field (pun not intended) they represent. Studying PPE at Oxbridge does not qualify anyone as to how the country really works. Career politicians are the worst thing for running a country.
@@petegowland6201 I worked in IT in the civil service (sorry) - I am an IT professional.. I can tell you that civil service jobs are not given away, you need to go through a competency and skilled based recruitment process. However, a job as a politician is a different matter - to become a politician you need other skills and resources (e.g. money and influence) to get voted in - this is not a competency or skill based recruitment process i.e. any idiot with money and influence can get the job, and some often do.
@@sellsidedream8766 spot on! that is the problem - the civil service is packed full of very well meaning, just about competent at their job, individuals; some exceptions of course, usually the leaders; but the foot soldiers are not over achievers.
Except that it's not a factory. All the factories in the world become meaningless if we can't produce food. The key ingredient is solar energy and the producing is done by plants not by humans.
Couple of points Harry, some land is rented with farm payments, some without. Trees are as big underground as they are above and not all the carbon is released when they decompose as the matter ends up in the soil. Brilliant as always, honest reporting how Refreshing! Thank you
@ There are species, like oak which are as deep as they are high where the soil allows it. This is true of the English oak (Q.rebar), which is the commonest in the UK so I'm afraid you're going to have to swallow some humble pie over that on.
All those in favour of Harry being the Agricultural Minister say “Aye”. As like most farmers Harry, you talk total common sense, shame that the powers that be don’t follow suit. Really informative insight again. And as for the Hawks, they were fantastic (somewhat biased as have worked them myself).
Couldn't have said it better myself Harry. This is what the BBC and Countryfile should be telling the population, rather than the drivel they usually dish out. Its great to watch Harris hawks at work, such intelligent birds, Thank you for sharing.
I agree with your view re the BBC output. However, they did report on the Red Kite restoration earlier today, which was quite complementary - just for a couple of minutes on R4.
@@marcob1729 A bit too far to the Left for my taste Marco, I find a lot of the reporting a tad too politically biased considering they are supposed to be beyond that sort of nonsense. Don’t get me wrong, some of the series and programs they make are world class, but I no longer think they are beyond the realm of fake news, if it suits their own leaderships agenda.
@@FarmerP Interesting. I do agree that it seems a bit left, but also sometimes a bit of favoritism to the current government. For example, when Boris unveiled his "green plan" the other month, BBC reported it as such. Some American outlets tore into it saying it was all bluster and no substance. Those were typically left leaning American reports. Truly is fascinating to see how certain entities report one way on local issues and another on foreign, but then it gets all turned around when the shoe is on the other foot. I do know that I appreciated talking with locals at the pubs when I visited England. It's always healthy to hear how others live their lives and view the same world
@@marcob1729 : Political neutrality is difficult to achieve, but a lot of the presentation of news stories is simplified these days, with nuance and subtlety lost.
Your grass is full of weeds Harry! I farm 150 dairy cows and 80 replacements. I stopped re-investing a few years ago and will not invest a penny more in an industry that is 100% certain to decline into massive losses. I'm out sooner rather than later and hope some wealthy townie will buy the farm and turn it into a jungle. I'm not going into further debt to provide cheap food for the UK population at the expense of my own family and their health.
@@richardharrold9736 Weeds are OK for sucklers but hardly productive and vastly lacking in energy and protein compared to a clover-rich [or not] clean perennial ryegrass sward. It matters not, because he is paid to grow weeds and to not graze or cut for conservation during certain periods and most farmers will soon be paid, not to grow weeds, but to actually plant trees instead of keeping cattle on any type of pasture. Goodbye British landscape. You soon literally won't be able to see it for the trees if current proposed government plans are ratified, which they will be.
@@hedydd2 the problem is that farmers of former generations used so many weed killers that we ended up with a monoculture in which biodiversity didn't exist. We also lost a huge amount of native woodland to mechanised farming and forestry. Now we're putting native tree species back again.
@@richardharrold9736 Woke bullpoo! Hardly any herbicide is used on grassland. Never has been. Not remotely on a regular basis. Most deforestation of native species occured during the First World War where wood was the main recourse for pit props and so on to keep the engine of war going. Hedgerows were grubbed up to make cheaper food available through mechanisation through the Wars, rationing of food until 1956 and through to the end of efficiency grants in the early 1980’s. Certainly since then there has been a substantial net gain in hedgerows [planted] and forestry. Not everywhere is like Norfolk or Lincolnshire you know and most of the UK is a patchwork of fields, valleys, hills and native woodland teeming with diverse wildlife. Hedges are not natural and are a fairly recent development anyway in historical terms, legally encouraged by the Enclosures Act for more efficient animal production on the small scale possible back then. Hence the small scale of fields everywhere, especially as you move West
Any of your family has European heritage ? Get the passports and get to Europe . I would suggest the old Eastern block , your expertise wuold help a lot . Don,t ever be too clever , be nice . xxx You can do it xx
“There’s no detail, so we can’t plan“; an all too familiar story from many different businesses around the U.K. when it comes to trying to get information out of our current government. Everything seems to be organised (if that’s the right word) on a wing and a prayer. There’s this idea it’ll all come good in the end. Well, let’s hope so, but I think for many businesses if it does come good at all, it’ll be too late. Thousands of jobs have been lost already. I fear there’s a lot more to go yet. Brexit and Covid has whipped up the perfect storm.
How lucky we are to have Harry bringing us all up-todate with life down on the farm... I really enjoy these thought provoking insights into just what it takes to survive as a farmer in today's global market place... Season's greetings...
Fascinating video as always, Harry. Have to say I’m troubled by the apparent shortsightedness of our government. Appears to be affecting individuals and business from all backgrounds.
Simplest way for sequestration of co2 would be growing consumer goods and replacing plastic/packaging etc. with hemp and the like. Imagine the co2 locked up!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp_for_Victory It's not like this is news. But politicians gonna politic and ruin fucking everything for all. Business as usual.
@Wolfgang Preier I'm a farmer and I have an electric car. Presently we grow a lot of crops for AD plants, biogas etc. It's madness, release co2 immediately back in to atmosphere. Governments steer what we grow.massively; farmers are passively steered in to what to grow in such ways. Like most things it boils down to politics.
Only 10k profit, and yet a barn full of exotic cars, a very nice boat, a seven figure house and regular trips around the globe. I love Harry but I can't help but think this is perhaps not the full picture. Or if it is the full picture and it's the subsidies which find the lifestyle then cutting them in half might be a good idea. I've been around farmers for a long time, small ones, gigantic ones, all of them claim to be poor as poor can be. When you examine their assets compared to the average working class person, and compare the help they get from the government compared to the average working person, I never end up feeling sorry for the farmer. It's a noble and traditional profession, it has shaped our landscape for hundreds of years. The only thing as old as the way we farm in Britain are the complaints of British farmers...and yet somehow they manage to carry on farming.
@@DodgeViperAS Yes but where did that money come from to start the mag? Farming perhaps? I imagine he did make a few quid out of Evo though, and good on him:-)
@@ianrkav I think if you listen to the collecting cars podcast when Chris Harris interviewed him, Harry took a risk with Evo and it paid off. My memory might be off though!
Really interesting thoughts Harry. I’m not a farmer but live rurally in fabulous North Yorkshire farming countryside, and it’s really insightful to hear how this all works,and how things may change. So long as the government don’t see this as an opportunity to build on ‘failed’ farming land, and as you suggest use this economic juncture to introduce radical new ways to tackle climate change... I’ll be a happy man!!!
Fascinating. Farmers in the UK face some tough choices soon. Here in the US we have a different scheme. Our government encourages the planting of oil wells in our wild and public lands with support payments going instead to politicians.
All right leaning /conservative governments are the same, their goal is to syphon off public money into the pockets of them and their backers, whilst simultaneously fobbing off all the regular people by blaming it on lies about immigrants or other such rubbish people are keen to swallow.
@@TheDoosh79 - This all started with the socialist ideals after WW2, which gave birth to the welfare state, looking after the ordinary hard working people whose sacrifices won the war. Then the gradual deregulation from the 1970's culminating in the greed of the bankers. Now so many wealthy people have excluded themselves from the system the rest of us have to live under, by hiding their money away from taxation in their precious tax havens, thus leaving us all the poorer. This is the true reason why millennials complain about the difference between their buying power and that of their parents! It is a long term rip off come to fruition today.
Absolutely fascinating Harry. I started watching your Harry’s Garage videos years ago and am now an avid viewer of this channel too. I particularly enjoy this style of episode where you get into the ‘nuts & bolts’ detail of modern farming. As an aside, someone should be offering you a job on a Government farming/environmental advisory board ASAP.
Hey Harry! Craig from Montana here. I help my dad farm 1100 acres, and I just want to say I love your videos and your perspective. Though we are half a world apart and in wildly different ecosystems there are parallels to the logic and economics of farming that you present through your channel. Thanks for helping communicate to the world and to your country what we as farmers do and how we contribute!
I really enjoy your Farm updates as my best mate is a farmer and I can have an inteligent conversation with him with the bits I learn from your films. Thanks.
Lunchtime routine is make some food and sit down for half an hour with Harry and his farm. Really interesting Harry, thank you for sharing. Should teach this stuff in schools! Real world examples on how stuff works out there.
It just dawned on me how stressful the last 7-10 years before retirement must be... In my country you have to retire at 67, and I do believe your payment from then on is based on your income the 3 previous years. 66% of the best out of last 3. Any norwegians here who know? I would shit my pants every day from age 64.
Excellent summary. The combination of removing/reinventing farm support payments to allow politicians to press the environment buttons is dangerous - Harry understated the likely effects. The politicians, again pressing the environmental buttons insist that UK farmers operate responsibly, seed treatments banned etc while allowing produce produced to very inferior standards in to get a trade deal. We teach our children that actions have consequences. Shame that the politicians don't seem to understand this or is that these things don't affect them.
The Brexiteers Agenda was to get rid of EU Farm Payments , The environmental Proposals are Little More Than spin to Justify Cutting Payments That's why so Little detail
The problem is that we have a Government that is obsessed with the great mass of Brexit, but which has barely enough intellectual Bandwidth to tackle a huge change like replacing the CAP alone. a couple of Years ago, I went to ask my ex-remain Tory MP why she was now a slavishly loyal brexiter, and she gave the iniquities of the CAP as a reason, but she couldn't explain why we had to ruin the rest of the economy, simply to dump a clearly imperfect system. But then again, we now might 'no-deal', anyway, simply on behalf of a Fishing Industry that contributes less to our Economy than Harrods ....
Gosh. And to think, my main concern is whether I should spend a whopping £0.65 on a loaf of 'budget' bread from my local Tesco Express, or pedal my ancient bike the 4 miles to town and back so that I can get a cheapo loaf for £0.36 from Morrison's. Does the energy-expenditure calculation make calorific sense? How much more food will I need to consume to replenish the energy used on a 4 mile bike ride? I've got no idea; but this is the north of England in December and the weather's 'orrible - cold, blowing a gale and chucking it down with rain - so there's no way I'm going to Morrison's in this! It's all hills anyway, and they only ever go up, and every wind is required by law to be a headwind (no matter which way you're travelling) so I think I'll forget about bread and make myself some yummy DIY muesli instead. Oh, er, and thanks for all the cereal, Harry! :-)
I really enjoy your Farm updates as my best mate is a farmer and I can have an inteligent conversation with him with the bits I learn from your films. Thanks.
No business can run with such high levels of uncertainty. I am no fan of the present EU, but it does look like we should have stayed. Farming is supposed to feed us, right...?
I can't believe you aren't getting the direct payments for rented land!! here in sweden it's regulated that it's the farmer who receives the payments, not the land owner! incredible!
@@HamJumbo3 hope so. I just read that the new eu cap 2021-27 aims to make sure farmers are the recipients of direct payments and other environmental schemes and not just land owners. I guess it’s hard to know if the uk will adopt a similar approach considering the lack of details at this moment. I feel for you guys! Crack on!
Good point, but maybe the landowner should also get some incentive, otherwise they could use the land for a housing or industrial development, something more profitable
in reality there shouldn't be any payments at all, and the market should pay what it costs for the goods, if the farmer can grow something else that's more profitable for him, he should be free to do so, instead things took a turn some where, some good some bad for every one and now some areas have effectively regulated production. there's a doco on land payments in the EU on youtube and direct payments can be bought and sold, and farmers are incentivized to do some pretty retarded things, like plow soil, but plant no crop, own farm land but grow nothing or make any improvements. .
Oh well, I guess a big house in the country , no neighbors , peaceful silence , serene walks , off roading , big tractors and a FO big red combine and a juicy subsidy is not enough any more. Plenty of room on the local council estate and a factory job if ever you want to compare the two lifestyle's .......oh sorry forgot the supercar/motorbike collection and stables / horses etc lol, great video H.
Nice video. I plant trees on our forested lakefront estate all the time. Out walking in the city park, find some acorns, pick them up, bring them home, toss them into the forest, a decade later we have dozens of oak trees, some are 6-inch diameter and 25-feet tall already. I'm constantly planting trees of as many varieties as I can find. If you have too many rabbits, bundle them up and ship them over to us here in Canada. LOL
Not sure if you read these comments, but i wanted to thank you for this channel. I live in London but spend a lot of time (well, I did Pre Covid) walking in the cotswolds. I spend so much time wondering about various countryside and farm matters as I journey along footpaths - and your channel is SO informative. I shall be able to bore my partner rigid then next time we cross a farm. I am so grateful to you and please keep it up.
Harry, I've only just found your channel and subscribed. Your explanations into the workings of a farm, the bit that people don't think of, the finances, the forward planning etc is absolutely brilliant. I would love to be a farmer. I grew up around them and would love the lifestyle, but it is just too expensive for me to get into. Maybe one day, but I doubt it. Please keep making the videos in the way you do, I feel like I'm a neighbouring farmer having a chat. It's fantastic!
@@ckm-mkc but, but, where does this magical EU money come from? er subscriptions from member states, and that's why we pted to get out, because we pay more in subscriptions than we get in subsidies - it's obvious! we would never ever get more back than we pay in!!! ( unless we were deemed to be one of the 'poor' member states).
Hi Harry we are an intensive dairy farm up in the lake district. We are Tennant farmers we are currently thriving, we don't need the single farm payment. But we are members of Arla and get an extremely fair price vs the rest of the market.
Loved this video - thank you! I grew up on a 5,000 acre wheat farm in Texas - that was back in the 1980s. So really interesting to see the perspective from the UK in the 21st century.
In a way, yes, but living trees are more effective at reducing CO2 than trees cut and manufactured for buildings. support.sbcindustry.com/Archive/2006/aug/Paper_302.pdf
@@rbfishcs123 yes and no, after a certain age they stop absorbing at there youthful rate, and at some point the Forrest reaches equilibrium, taking the carbon and doing something like cutting it, converting it to charcoal, (pureish carbon) then pushing it into a old coal mine would be great, instead in some places they cut it and burn it for fuel.
Thanks for sharing Harry as always very descriptive and informative,the wild flowers remind me of what an old uncle of mine used to say ,nature always finds a way.
Fascinating insight. Must be difficult planning that far ahead while waiting for Westmonster to get off its collective backsides to sort out the new farming policies.
A terrific explanation of EU Farm subsidies and how farmers rely on them to stay in business, especially sheep and dairy farmers. The NFU should use this video to explain to the public the dilemma faced by farmers due to Brexit.
It's fascinating to learn how much government support farmers in developed countries get. Thank you Harry for educating the rest of us. It's particularly important for someone like me who farms in a developing country and gets zero government support.
@@ezys3215 That makes sense, our governments don't need to worry about that, as much as yours do. Which is a clear justification. There is obviously an issue of what that does to farmers in developing countries. But that is an issue of another forum. Thank you for educating me, I really appreciate it.
Food security should be discussed, being dependent on foreign imported food maybe cheaper in the short term, but it's a dangerous policy. Look back in history to see what happens when a country can't feed itself.
Iirc the Brexit legislation the Government introduced specifically absolved the Government of responsibility to secure Britain’s food security. Madness, absolute madness, Churchill , Attlee et al. Must be spinning in their graves.
I can see more farming land being sold off and replaced with housing estates or solar/wind farms. Seeing more and more of those pop up and it's demoralising.
What a joyous video as always, I shall admit I’ve never been one for farming I was always been drawn to Harrys garage however taking a left turn into the farming channel, it’s absolutely fantastic filled with a vast amount of knowledge of farming. Thank you so much Harry
thanks harry, you are a true man and those politicians do not know anything about country side and real life. The just want to be in charge and keep getting their monthly money. that is all they care about
Very interesting Harry. This is why Great Britain had colonies like Australia and New Zealand to supply the Mother country with food under Empire trading schemes. Then, GB found the EEC and said to the colonies - 'bugger off". Nearly sent the Kiwis broke. But it actually did us both a favour - we eventually learnt to sell farm produce on world markets without farmers relying on subsidies and tariffs, like this area payment nonsense. As UK farmer numbers plummet (as they did in Aus/NZ) we will happily negotiate with Boris to resume food supply at fair pricing, and the good news you wont have to deal with the French! I think the environment/carbon sequestration is the future for land use in the UK.
Hey don't forget us, Canada.. By the turn of the twentieth century there were 1,242 cheddar factories in Ontario, and cheddar had become Canada's second largest export behind timber.[1] Cheddar exports totalled 234,000,000 pounds (106,000,000 kg) in 1904, but by 2012, Canada was a net importer of cheese, and a manufactured cheese product "Kraft Dinner" macaroni and cheese had become Canada's most popular grocery product and de facto national dish. James Lewis Kraft grew up on a dairy farm in Ontario, before moving to Chicago. As writer Sarah Champman writes, "Although we cannot wholly lay the decline of cheese craft in Canada at the feet of James Lewis Kraft, it did correspond with the rise of Kraft's processed cheese empire."[1]
+the subsidies don’t forget,they’ve had it good for years, I’ve worked on farms for last 36 years getting up at 4am going out with the gangs cutting veg piece work, hard graft and never see the farmer 😉 I’m earning no more now than I was 20 years ago they want the cheap Eastern European’s but even they don’t want it now,they should ve looked after their own instead of calling all English lazy. This is no reflection on Harry, big fan but let’s not feel too sorry for them, look at their houses and cars and if they sell up, probably millionaires 👍
I'm trying not to become addicted to Harry's Frm the way I am, Harry's Garage! I love your analogy, 'like a factory without a roof'. I can remember as a young salesman visiting a farm in East Anglia, and having to tell the farmer his price for insurance has doubled. I said 'I'm sure your prices increase year on year'. He says 'we're selling peas for less than we were in 1950'. As I drove away I saw three nearly new Range Rovers in a line, with plates.....
Harry, thank you giving us details about how risky farming can be, however is it great to see someone being positive about 2021. People may not like it but you are support traditional pest control, birds and ferrets 👍. Finally I can your frustration about the lack of planning or implementation of the farm stewardship scheme. Also tree planning has been discussed for years as a way of helping to control flooding down stream and erosion, it is still being talked about.
When I was a kid growing up on a farm in Ontario, our problem was ground hogs. We controlled them by using the exhaust from a small tractor. Basically fill all the holes but one where you put a flex pipe from the exhaust down the hole. Run the tractor for a few minutes, pull out the pipe and fill the last hole. It animals just fall asleep and never wake up. Their burrow becomes their grave. Very humane and effective. Would work for your rabbits. You could use a Lamborgini one day and a Jaguar the next.
Fascinating stuff Harry, thanks. Is it just the case that some forms of farming (eg Lakeland sheep) could never stand economically nowadays; ie only propped up for cultural/historical reasons? I live near the Lakes and I know there are arguments that we should move one and re-wild the place. Can see both sides. And is it only milk prices that supermarkets dictate, not arable crops or other products also? Would be really interesting to hear your thoughts on these if you can in another video. Loved the Harris hawks!
Good luck with the weather for the crops you have in the ground. With the extreme weather events that seem to be becoming the norm it looks like agriculture is in for a challenging future.
@@richardharrold9736 Well, Boris and his fascist thugs are currently flogging off Britain piece by piece to their billionaire mates. Disaster capitalism at its finest. Its funny how those same billionaires own the newspapers telling you that Corbyn is the reincarnation of evil itself.
I'm not British but it's interesting to me that many rural areas of the UK where actually for exiting the EU/CAP. Seems pretty harsh on the local agricultural industry. 🤷🏻♂️
Fascinating insight to life as a farmer. It also demonstrates how little the government understands farming and the forward projecting of farming. It doesn't look good for the future!
I’ve got a question for you. When I came into arable farming in the late 50s/early 60s, the row spacing was approximately 10 inches. Then in late 60s ideas changed and we went down to 4.5 inch rows. The idea being that the plants could better utilise the top dressed fertilizer. Now I’ve noticed, on your farm and around where I now live in Wiltshire, that sowing has reverted to 10 or 12 inch row spacing. Can you explain what has happened in recent years for a return to the old methods . Obviously there must be an advantage, but I was a little puzzled seeing these changes.
Sadly, this govt. is utterly incapable of understanding or planning anything. July 2021 - they can't even come up with a comprehensive plan to deal with shortages of trucks, workers and the 'pingdemic' in spite of the loud calls from everyone trying to keep their businesses afloat. They dumped the experts and replaced them with people who did not know what they were doing, who knew nothing about logistics, distribution, procurement. I could go on but it's too depressing. I hope farming remains viable in spite of the govts' best efforts. I'm sure you are right with your ideas on carbon capture.
Very well put Harry. Getting the point over very well about how difficult the farming job is for us that are involved with so much reliance on continuous uncertainties. Puts Countryfile to shame!! 👍🏻
Harry need to be a government consultant . It so interesting listening to his problems and thoughts when we have governments that think is the short term for political reasons.
Happy Christmas Harry; thanks for putting us in the picture on what it's like to be in your situation; with farming roulette you never know for sure how lethal the bullet will be. I suspect the constant delays over Brexit make it impossible for the government to go into the all important detail so that you are able to plan ahead instead of WORRY. Have you read 'Wilding' by Isabella Tree?
Really enjoy your candid reviews Harry. Australian farmer ' I have a good year I buy a house on the beach , in a bad year I sell it'. I don't see how you can produce commodities on a world market on a relatively small scale and expact to survive? Please don't dismiss organic. Go niche , go big or get out!