Clarkson’s Farm. Where do we even start?
Jeremey Clarkson has certainly taken the world by storm with his latest programme and, with the announcement that series two is on the horizon, what better time to write about it.
I’ll be honest – I was a huge sceptic when I heard about it. I thought it would be over-hyped, trashy TV that felt completely fake.
I thought Jeremy Clarkson was just a rich individual doing that thing we farmers hate where they buy a farm and then do nothing with it while creaming in the pound signs (although that is maybe half true because he has owned it since 2008).
However, despite that I take my hat off to him.
In series one, he – and Amazon, of course – have done what many farming documentaries have been trying to succeed at for decades.
He captured the nation’s hearts. He drew us all in and took us on his journey with him.
He did what so many have failed at when he appealed to both a farming audience and the general public.
Clarkson’s Farm is a winner because viewers can relate to it.
It’s compelling to us as the nation’s food producers because we feel his every emotion – the frustration as sheep plough over a century-old sandstone wall, the anxiety watching the weather roll in, the exhaustion after hours and hours of non-stop work, the joy when we achieve something we’ve worked so hard for, the disappointment at trade prices and, of course, the upset of saying goodbye to stock.
As we watch it we sit and sympathise with every situation he faces, knowing exactly what it feels like to be stood in his muddy, worn out shoes.
What makes it absolute gold is how it really draws in the general public because it starts at the very beginning.
So many farming documentaries or programmes start half way through somebody’s journey or once they are settled and running a successful farming enterprise.
Clarkson’s Farm finally brings home the proper reality of what it takes to come from “townie to farmer” – or just what it takes to be a farmer – and as someone who has lived through this whole journey personally I couldn’t have celebrated this any more.
For generations, farming has been considered a “labouring job” or, to put it bluntly, a “thick person’s job”, and Clarkson’s Farm immediately smashes that stereotype to pieces.
It shows that the role of a farmer often encompasses skills, knowledge and experience from an endless amount of job sectors, be that veterinary, engineering, business or agronomy, just to name a few. Let’s be honest, the list goes on.
It allows people to see the trials and tribulations of learning to farm, every failure is shown and every lesson is highlighted. With this bravery and vulnerability comes a sense of respect, not just for Clarkson, but for our entire industry.
I can’t say I was ever his biggest fan, but hats off to Clarkson, he has done a lot for the industry in a very short time.
Now it is for us to carry it on, to create a seismic shift in the perceptions of farming and in our engagement with the public.
We need to do this if we are to ride out the unpredictability of the near future and if farming in this country is not only going to survive but to thrive.
