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00:01Good evening! Evening, guys.
00:03Let's go slow so they're on telly longer.
00:05Caris, in particular, loves to be on telly.
00:07A wonderful crew, living the dream. Not.
00:09It looks calm, it looks serene, but let me tell you,
00:12a farm during winter is anything but quiet.
00:15Yeah, well, most of us are overworking the kettle,
00:17reaching for another blanket.
00:18Of course, our farmers are out there breaking the ice,
00:20feeding their stock and doing anything and everything they can
00:23to get themselves and their animals warm.
00:25Now, this is our final night of winter on the farm.
00:30I've got to be honest, I thought they'd be more disappointed than that.
00:32One job, guys!
00:34Even a few moos.
00:36But don't worry, we have a wonderful finale in store for you.
00:40Welcome to winter on the farm.
00:42So here we are, then, with Brothers and Farmers-at-Arms, Rob and Dave Nicholson.
01:02Very noisy in here at the moment, lads. How are we doing?
01:04Really well. Fern is much improved. Her eyes nearly open all the time.
01:10I think that injection's done the trick.
01:12It was lovely to see you, lovely to see Fern blinking away, but who is this?
01:16That's Little Dicky. OK.
01:18Right? Named Dicky after Dicky Bird, one of Barnsley's own.
01:21He was Barnsley through and through, he's a great man, a great umpire,
01:24and we thought it was fitting that we named Little Dicky, Dicky, in honour of him.
01:29And hopefully, Dicky will grow up into a really tremendous bull
01:33and win lots of prizes.
01:34You said bull and I thought he was a bowler and I was like,
01:36it's a stretch too far, David.
01:37Listen, it's great to see that Fern is fighting fit and Little Dicky.
01:40What an absolute champion.
01:42I love the way you keep edging back every time Fern's home's coming.
01:45I'm like a boxer, just an end of it. Yeah, yeah.
01:47Well, I'm looking at the back end as well.
01:48She thinks she's going to get another injection, that's what it is.
01:51You're all right, Fern. It's all been done and dusted.
01:53Now then, all this week, you, our wonderful farming army,
01:56have been nominating your unsung heroes of the countryside
01:59and it's been our pleasure to champion many of them.
02:02Today's farming heroes stepped up in a genuine emergency.
02:05When wildfires hit the North York moors this summer,
02:08the farming community rallied round.
02:10One of them was farmer Chris Ford,
02:12who helped lead the effort and picked up the nickname The Water Guy,
02:16as he collected water from farm ponds, slurry stores
02:19and even Whitby Harbour to help extinguish the flames.
02:22What an astonishing story. Yeah.
02:24Well done to you, Chris. Absolutely brilliant.
02:26Now, also coming up in today's show,
02:28I box clever with the Nicholson's
02:30as we work to help new feathered friends
02:32and we've tips on how you can help winter wildlife.
02:35Between JLS gigs,
02:36JB Gill finds time to visit the farm
02:38and help some new rare breed pigs settle into their new woodland home.
02:42And the Nicholson's make their last stop of the week in the Netherlands
02:45to get hands-on with some Dutch footwear.
02:48For many farmers, farming is in the blood, passed down from generation to generation.
02:54James Newhouse's grandad was a Swaledale farmer,
02:57farming the slopes around Ingleborough in North Yorkshire.
03:00Yeah, his dad took a different path and so did James,
03:03but after 20 years as an aerospace engineer,
03:06he simply couldn't resist the call of farming perfectly on cue phone.
03:10Thank you very much.
03:11And he returned to where it all started.
03:16Winter can be harsh this high in the Yorkshire Dales
03:19and it takes a special kind of grit to farm here.
03:22But 41-year-old James Newhouse is rising to the challenge
03:26on his 130-acre farm near Settle.
03:30I have always wanted to do it, ever since being a young boy,
03:33because my grandad, Bob Newhouse, he was a Swaledale sheep farmer.
03:38He's the one who got me into farming.
03:40Once you've had a taste of it and once you've got involved and done it,
03:44it never leaves you.
03:45We're farming Swaledale sheep.
03:47And today we've got our tupping, so you can see him there.
03:51So he's with 50 Swaledale sheep
03:53and hopefully, come April time,
03:55we'll have lots of lambs running around on the farm.
03:57James is the first new house to farm in the Dales
04:01since his grandad back in the 1980s.
04:03It skipped a generation with his dad, Roy,
04:06but he's here today,
04:07helping give these Swaledales their winter weigh-in.
04:12Right, this is the magic one, which reads the ear tags.
04:15It gives a number so it logs everything on this machine
04:18so we have a record.
04:19What we want is about 44 to 46 kilos.
04:22This one, 43, so everything's all right.
04:26He's always been interested in farming.
04:29He used to spend loads of time with his grandad,
04:31so he used to go with the sheepdogs on the tractor.
04:34He had to go and find it for his teeth and things like that.
04:37Look at that.
04:39Swaledales are the mainstay of the farm,
04:41but James keeps hardy cattle too.
04:43Come on, girls!
04:45These are our pedigree-belted Galloway cattle.
04:48The plan is to get them in to the barn
04:50so that we can see if they're in calf.
04:52Hopefully they are.
04:56Cows are pregnant for nine months
04:58and today local vet Andrew Linney is here to perform
05:01the all-important midterm scans.
05:04So hopefully they'll be three to four months in calf
05:09from when James put the bull out.
05:10Go on.
05:11And so we'll be able to show James as we're going along,
05:14show him the calf and hopefully we'll be able to see
05:16if the heifers are bull calves as well.
05:21Yeah, go on.
05:23So first one, let's see what we've got, James.
05:26It's looking good.
05:27So we're just coming on to the head of the calf now.
05:30You can see the head's just moving slightly.
05:33So this one in calf, two months, very happy.
05:41You look really carefully there, you can actually see the heartbeat.
05:44I can see it, yeah.
05:47Number four.
05:49With 12 cows and 100 sheep,
05:51you'd think James wouldn't pick favourites.
05:54So 600 236 is my favourite cow.
05:57Hard as hell.
05:58She has a calf every year
05:59and she's produced our first bull
06:01that we're going to keep on the farm.
06:07James' children, both his favourites,
06:09have got the farming bug too.
06:11Eight-year-old Elkie
06:13and five-year-old Ned
06:14are keeping the family tradition alive
06:16by helping with one of this winter's most vital tasks.
06:20Have you got that one?
06:22How many can you hold?
06:23Right, that's enough, that's enough.
06:24So we'll make a hole like that.
06:26Wedge that plant in there.
06:28That's it.
06:29Wedge it in together.
06:30Push it, push it, push it.
06:31And then stand round it.
06:33Just trample it in.
06:34That's it.
06:35These flower plugs are the key
06:36to enriching the pasture on the farm,
06:38leading to greater biodiversity
06:40and ultimately better tasting meats.
06:43This time of year the grass isn't growing
06:45so it's important to get these plants in
06:47to allow them to get the roots to establish.
06:49That's it.
06:50Wedge it in.
06:51Our animals, we don't just want to eat grass,
06:53we want to eat different flowers,
06:54we want to eat different things.
06:55That's it.
06:56High five.
06:57Is it hard work being a farmer else?
07:00Yeah.
07:01Do you love it?
07:02Yeah.
07:03Farming is one of those things that's in your blood, definitely.
07:08If you don't love it, then you're not going to be a farmer
07:11because when it's wet and when it's cold
07:13and stuff goes wrong, it's a very tough job.
07:16However, I think it's brilliant.
07:22What a fascinating story.
07:24And you two surely can relate
07:25to that generational instinct for farming.
07:28I think if you've got a love for the land,
07:30I think it grabs you
07:31and that's obviously what's happened there.
07:33Plus, a love for tractors and diggers.
07:35Yeah.
07:36The grandson has.
07:37But the thing is, it's not just about the emotions, is it?
07:39Like, you've seen how much farming has changed over the years
07:41and you might have thought,
07:42yeah, I'd love to do that,
07:43but actually it's not always financially possible for people.
07:46The farming landscape is changing so much.
07:48It's heartbreaking.
07:50It's all about whether you can make it pay
07:52and thankfully we've found a way to do that
07:55and if we hadn't done, it would have left a sadness.
07:57So, to anyone out there who's struggling to do that,
07:59I just wish them all the very best.
08:00I don't know many farmers now who just farm.
08:03No.
08:04Most work for Deferol, work for the auction mart
08:05or do other things in addition.
08:07That's just the way it is.
08:08They've just got other side hustles going on
08:10because if they didn't do that,
08:11they'd have to sell the farm
08:12and they wouldn't feel as complete as they do on the land.
08:14But when we talk about it being in the blood,
08:17what would be your way to define it?
08:19For me, every day I get up, I don't go to work.
08:23I just get up, I get on with it and, you know,
08:26it doesn't matter what time you finish, you know,
08:28the later the better.
08:29It's just fantastic.
08:30Unless he's going out.
08:32Or I'm off to Spain.
08:34And we know what happens when we go out.
08:36And I think we should unpack that on television.
08:38Right, join us after the break
08:39because Yorkshire vet Rowan Odula will be popping by,
08:42Jules will be on the tools making a nest box
08:44and we'll be checking in with an Indian organic farm
08:47that is also an animal sanctuary.
08:49Join us in a few minutes.
08:51So on these nights out,
08:52do you get really cross with him or just a left?
08:54I just keep him in check.
08:55We're all about Jules now.
08:57Yeah, let's leave it there.
09:14Welcome back to Winter on the Farm.
09:26Now, Rob and Dave, like most farmers,
09:28see themselves as custodians of the land.
09:30And they have recently discovered
09:32that Cannon Hall is being visited
09:34by some very special guests on night manoeuvres.
09:37I'm talking about barn owls.
09:38So with the help of Jules,
09:40they have rolled up their sleeves
09:42to give their feathered friends a helping hand
09:44through the winter and beyond.
09:46There's something magical about barn owls.
09:49And as expert pest controllers,
09:51they really are a farmer's best friend.
09:54Nice day for it, let's.
09:56Barn owls are often spotted on the fringes of the farm.
09:59We would like a desirable residence
10:01to put in that barn that a barn owl would flop to.
10:05Do you get the joke?
10:06Nice.
10:07As a bit of a handyman myself,
10:09I'm hoping to help Rob and Dave
10:11encourage them to be permanent residents.
10:13You're after an owl box, right?
10:15Well, it's a barn conversion with a twist.
10:17Yeah.
10:18En suite.
10:20I'm just not sure how big an owl box should be.
10:24Shall I have a look on the internet, Jules?
10:26OK, and I'll go down to the builder's yard
10:27and see what I can find.
10:28Yeah.
10:29And I'll meet you back in the yard.
10:30Sounds good.
10:31Yeah, right.
10:32It can't be that difficult.
10:33Tell you what.
10:34If Jules could make something like that,
10:35I'd move him meself.
10:36With the lads' shopping list from the builder's yard in my boot,
10:42I can't wait to see what they have in mind.
10:47Oh, look at you.
10:48Look at this.
10:49We've got this for you.
10:51Oh, this is nice.
10:52It's a good shape,
10:53and I like the way it's kind of naturally weatherproof
10:55with the sloping sides.
10:56Bit of a randa at the front.
10:57You got this off the internet?
10:59Yeah, and it must be right, because it's from the Barnail Trust.
11:02OK.
11:03Do you want to give us a hand getting these sheets out then,
11:04and we'll get on it.
11:06We're using shuttering plywood,
11:08which will do the job nicely.
11:11Hopefully we've got enough.
11:12Well, I think you've got enough for a row of houses.
11:15It's strong and weatherproof,
11:17so it should stand up to our Yorkshire winters.
11:20Can I give you some advice?
11:21Go on.
11:22Measure twice, cut once.
11:24Let me give you some advice.
11:26Measure three times, cut once.
11:28Let me give you some advice.
11:30Just let Jules do the cutting.
11:33Our owl box will be made up of a kit of parts.
11:37Right, make sure it's past the table, though.
11:39Right, here we go.
11:41This is my favourite bit.
11:44That was like a hot knife through butter.
11:47So that, then, is the shape of our owl box.
11:51The next one, then, are we doing the bottom?
11:54And then the sides?
11:55Yeah.
11:56Then we can start putting it together.
11:58In the UK, barn owl numbers are on the up,
12:01with more pairs nesting than previous years.
12:06So do you know how many chicks they would fledge a year?
12:09If they had two or three, they'd be doing well.
12:12I suppose it's feeding them once they've got them hatched.
12:14That's the secret.
12:15It's how much food is out in those fields.
12:17Yeah, yeah.
12:18What we need, Jules, is tussocky grass, dry stone walls.
12:21We need hedgerows.
12:22All these things provide food for the things at the top of the food chain.
12:26It's all about increasing the biodiversity.
12:29We do our job, right, as farmers, there will be mice for them to eat.
12:34Right.
12:35Okay.
12:36Not bad, aren't they?
12:37Not bad.
12:38We're attempting to attach battens to our pieces.
12:41He's a real man.
12:42I'm only a bit of a natural.
12:50Easier said than done.
12:52It's a good job.
12:53They're better farmers.
12:55Could have happened to anyone that, Rob.
12:57But it couldn't happen to a better person.
13:00Finally, we can start assembling our pots.
13:03I love it when something comes together.
13:05Just try that.
13:06Oh, now, wait a minute.
13:08It's an inch too much either side.
13:10Right, let's notch it out.
13:12An improvised adjustment.
13:15The ability to adapt to design is important, Jules.
13:19And we're back on track.
13:22Right, last bit.
13:23Go on, whack it in.
13:25We're in.
13:26It is.
13:28There.
13:29Are we having a topping out ceremony?
13:31Not bad, even if I do say so myself.
13:35Almost done.
13:37I'll hold the ladder, shall I?
13:38It's a big moment, this, isn't it?
13:40Jules, thank you for coming down and doing this for us
13:43and doing it for the owls and for the countryside in general,
13:45so we really appreciate it.
13:47Can't wait to hear the good news
13:49that you've got the pitter-patter of feathered feet.
13:51How about that?
13:53Well, it would be something special.
13:55Anyway, Jules, I think we owe you a cup of tea
13:58and what about a pork pie?
13:59Oh, come on, lads.
14:01Come on.
14:02I'll get the ladder, shall I?
14:03Yeah, well done, Dave.
14:04Yeah.
14:05We'll get you one as well, Dave.
14:07Thanks.
14:11I'm delighted to say that we are joined now by Sally Coulthard,
14:14who is an author and a smallholder.
14:16We're going to talk to you in a minute, Sally, but what was that?
14:19Well, that was what happens when three cowboys get together
14:22to build an owl box.
14:23I don't know what you mean, but I could have moved into that.
14:25I thought it was for Barn Owls.
14:26To be fair, lads, you were heading off to the sales in Eamon, weren't you?
14:29So we didn't have long to put that together.
14:31But all in all, is it still up?
14:33Is it working?
14:34It's still there, but nothing's moved in yet.
14:36Funny that.
14:37Well, I have to say I was inspired by what you did,
14:39so I went home and I made another one.
14:41Have a look underneath that green rug.
14:44There we go!
14:45Ah!
14:46Look at that!
14:47Oh, my word!
14:49And I've given it some owl furniture.
14:51What do you think, Sally?
14:53That looks like a dead res for owls.
14:55It is.
14:56It is.
14:57There you go.
14:58Yeah, it's ready to go.
14:59Because I've got a lovely old oak tree at home.
15:00We've got a couple of owls.
15:01I can hear them all the time.
15:02I'm going to put it up in Herefordshire.
15:04And, fingers crossed, they might move in.
15:05Oh, so what you're saying is, here's what you could have won, guys.
15:08He's taking that home.
15:09Yeah, yeah.
15:10I've left you with that one.
15:11I'm taking that one with me.
15:12Yours is lovely.
15:13And do you know what?
15:14I'm sure, come spring, there will be plenty of barn owls
15:16who will move in there and enjoy it.
15:17We'll keep you posted.
15:18Now, Sally, just tell us, how many books have you written?
15:20Because I'm pretty sure I've got half of them on my shelves at home.
15:22Well, it's about 35 at the last count, so, yeah, quite a lot.
15:25But at least one of them does focus on barn owls,
15:28but many others champion what we can all do
15:30to encourage and help wildlife in our own gardens.
15:32That's absolutely true.
15:33And the message that I'm really keen to get across
15:36is that looking after wildlife shouldn't be difficult,
15:38shouldn't be expensive, and one of the easiest ways
15:41is to plant things with berries on them.
15:43You've got things like hawthorn, even ivy has berries,
15:47and lots of people don't realise that it does,
15:49and birds will devour them all.
15:51What about this, though?
15:52What are we doing with this?
15:53So, I wanted just to show you
15:55how to make a queen bumblebee house.
15:58So, plant pot, that's all you need.
16:00Yep.
16:01I just fill that inside with some hay,
16:03but you could use dried leaves.
16:05So, this would go on a redundant flower bed or something?
16:08Flower bed, under a hedge, anything.
16:10Or you could even do it in a container,
16:11and you just simply pop it on top like that.
16:13So, the queen will go through the hole
16:15and then find her way down through into that warm layer of hay.
16:18She will. Yeah.
16:19Now, we've got a lovely set here, lots of twinkly lights,
16:22but you've brought some lights in here to highlight an issue.
16:24I have. I'm really keen not to spoil Christmas.
16:28But actually, studies have found that cool coloured lights,
16:31so things like the blue lights,
16:33are more distracting than the warm lights.
16:36So, if you can, stick to warm coloured lights
16:39and also not flashing.
16:41We're going to cause domestic arguments up and down the corner.
16:43I know. I've cancelled Christmas already, it seems.
16:45Sally, it's been an absolute pleasure.
16:48Thank you. Lovely to meet you.
16:49Keep writing those books. Can't wait for more.
16:51Now then, from a very chilly Barnsley
16:53to the subtropical hills of Himachal Pradesh in northern India.
16:57Peepal Farm is an organic farm, but also an animal sanctuary,
17:01and it's where Robin Singh is preparing for winter.
17:06Hey guys, my name is Robin, and I'm here at Peepal Farm,
17:09which is an animal rescue, but also it's my house,
17:11where I also have a tiny farm where I'm able to produce some food for all of us.
17:16Almost all our winter plantings been done.
17:20By that sugarcane patch is our potato beds.
17:23Behind me is mustard.
17:24Then we have three variety of peas.
17:26We have radish, turnip, carrots.
17:31You would also see a lot of these mulberry trees
17:35because we need these as fodder for goats, sheep, cows.
17:41Bananas and papayes are something we keep harvesting all year round
17:47because the climate here is subtropical.
17:51An interesting thing in our cow shed is this compress.
17:57We use this to compress this cow dung and some ash from our wood stove
18:04to make these cow dung pots.
18:08We don't have to pull this off like a plastic,
18:10so there is no chance of root shock.
18:12And when the roots grow, they have a nice manure package to grow into.
18:21Self-fertilising cow muck plant pots.
18:25I wish I'd thought of that.
18:26Do you want it for Christmas?
18:27No.
18:28We're joined now by Yorkshire Rose and Yorkshire vet, Rowan Odula.
18:33Rowan is busy doing a little test on gorgeous Yorkshire Rose here because...
18:38Because we're trying to raise awareness around colic
18:41and it's so important to recognise the signs of colic early
18:45and to act quickly.
18:46And, Rowan, what do you look for?
18:48Because I suspect there's a bit of misunderstanding around colic.
18:51There is. It's a really varied condition.
18:54In fact, it's not even really a condition.
18:56It's just a description of symptoms.
18:58So colic just means abdominal pain.
19:00OK.
19:01So the first thing we often do will be to listen to the heart,
19:03listen to the guts.
19:04We want to know that there's gut sounds on all four quadrants
19:07and that it sounds as it normally should do.
19:09But what would cause an animal to present in such a way
19:13that you suspected colic?
19:15There's a lot of signs when horses are just not quite not themselves
19:19and things such as if they're not passing poo as normal,
19:22if they're subdued, if they're kicking their flanks.
19:25In severe cases, they'll even go down and be rolling around.
19:29I know that you boys watch with an eagle eye over all your animals,
19:33but we lost Hercules.
19:35Has that made you even more cautious around Yorkshire Rose?
19:38100%.
19:39One thing I encourage our team members to do
19:41is when they're mucking out, make sure there's enough muck in the barrow.
19:44You know, if he's not done enough, then there might be a reason for that.
19:48And then that's an early flag.
19:50It's a head start on finding out if there's something wrong.
19:53Yeah, absolutely.
19:54So it's very much a case then of forewarned, forearmed, getting there early.
19:58Yeah, absolutely.
19:59I think the sooner you call the vet out, the better chance we have
20:02of turning things around.
20:03And a few of the checks we often do, I'll come round here,
20:05is just a little feel around here.
20:07You can feel their pulse around there and see there's a strong pulse.
20:11I'm not sure what's going on now.
20:13You're going to get a scratch as well.
20:15And the other thing we often do,
20:16just have a little look at the colour of the gums
20:18and we can see they're lovely and pink, which is what we want.
20:21It's also important at this time of year
20:23to stay on top of worming treatment
20:25and being aware right now is the big risk period for tapeworm,
20:28which is another cause of colic.
20:30I think one other thing you've got to think about as well,
20:32the general public feeding horses out in the field,
20:34you know, they're on a balanced diet
20:37and anything that varies from that can be disaster.
20:39Colic can be caused by overfeeding.
20:41Yeah.
20:42I've got to say, whatever you're doing with these horses,
20:44you're doing a great job.
20:45They're absolutely magnificent.
20:47Beautiful, that is.
20:48You're the queen of the crops, Rose.
20:49Great to see you again, Rose.
20:51Don't tell me you're my favourite.
20:52Now then, coming up after the break,
20:53we head to the Isle of Aran
20:54where farming in the winter is more than challenging.
20:57We also check in on some of the young farmers
20:59we met back in springtime
21:01and JB Gill helps the boys introduce
21:04a new herd of pigs to Cannonhall Farm.
21:06We'll see you in a bit.
21:07Welcome back to Winter on the Farm.
21:32Well, we're heading now to the gorgeous Isle of Aran
21:35off Scotland's west coast.
21:37Home to Bellevue Farm
21:38and brothers Donald and Andrew Currie,
21:40seventh generation farmers
21:42who are preparing for winter
21:44in the most stunning surroundings.
21:48Hello, Winter on the Farm.
21:49I'm Donald Currie.
21:51We've got 50 suckler cows, 250 bignows.
21:56So when we're feeding the calves every day,
21:59we always have to check their water,
22:02make sure it's clean.
22:04So we put a mix of silage into these calves
22:06every second day and every other day.
22:08We'll push up the silage,
22:10check their waters,
22:11make sure they're all coming and eating
22:13and they're all fitting well.
22:14So I'm here feeding the pigs.
22:16This is the last two in this batch.
22:18They're on this rough bit of ground
22:20and they've barely come on recently.
22:22These are home-bred yow lambs.
22:24They were born in April time this year.
22:26They're with the Belltech stubs at the moment
22:28and the plan is to lamb them
22:29to the new year at approximately one year old.
22:32We're just drawing some fat lambs out of here.
22:35We've just noticed there's a few with dirty bones
22:37and just giving them a quick clip of these clippers.
22:39Oh, what a wonderful slice of island life.
22:48Beautiful place to live.
22:49Thank you for sharing your story.
22:51Talking of stories,
22:52this year we have celebrated some inspirational young farmers
22:55and we always talk about the next generation.
22:58The future's looking bright if we think about
23:00some of the people we've met this year.
23:01The future is young people and young farmers
23:04and without them the industry will stagnate,
23:07go backwards and will not survive.
23:10Well, in fairness, you two have led from the front on this.
23:12Do you remember Stanley?
23:14Oh, yeah.
23:1511 years old.
23:16Started off with, I think, six sheep.
23:18Now he's got over 70.
23:20And he's got his dad and his granddad raped here
23:23and they're building him a new lambing shed.
23:25That's just what happens, Jules.
23:26It snowballs, isn't it?
23:27You know, we'll have 200.
23:29Look at what's happened here.
23:30But that is what you need, don't you?
23:32That energy.
23:33It's a leveller for a lot of people, isn't it?
23:35You remember five-year-old Henry?
23:36He has doubled, well, more than doubled his flock.
23:38He had three, now he's got ten.
23:40He's been showing and winning adult classes.
23:43That's the kind of story that really puts a smile on your face
23:46because his whole family said that those animals
23:48have really helped him navigate neurodiversity.
23:51Yeah.
23:52I think animals showing, all that sort of stuff,
23:56can just be the catalyst for improvement and happiness
24:01and calmness and all those things.
24:03Do you remember young farmer Joe?
24:05Not so young anymore.
24:06Now 13 years old.
24:08Never.
24:09Yeah.
24:10And, of course, you've gifted him, aren't he?
24:11You're Jacob Ram.
24:12He's now got 35 Jacobs and a diary booked up
24:15with school visits for next year.
24:17So he is inspiring in the way that you inspired him.
24:19Oh, that's wonderful, isn't it, Dave?
24:21He's an inspiration to us as well, Jules.
24:23With that sentiment, I think it is worth acknowledging
24:25and applauding all of our young farmers and everybody.
24:28Yes.
24:29Big round of applause.
24:32Now then, trying to manage their ever-increasing patch
24:35of woodland here at Cannon Hall
24:37is a challenge that the boys have met characteristically
24:40by bringing in some new arrivals.
24:42To be specific, a collective of rare breed pigs.
24:50Just a stone throw from the gleaming glass and steel towers
24:53of London's financial district
24:55lies a little oasis of countryside.
25:02Mudshute Farm is run by Tom Davis,
25:04and it's one of their very special rare breeds
25:06that's brought me and Rob 200 miles down from Yorkshire.
25:12We're here today to examine the possibility
25:14of some rare breed pigs.
25:15We've got some large whites, we've got land racers,
25:17we've got hampshires, but I've heard there's some middle whites.
25:20Middle whites are my favourite pig.
25:22They do look like they've run into a wall,
25:24but they're an old breed.
25:26They're nearly 200 years old.
25:28We've got a nice bit of woodland that we want to regenerate.
25:31We want those wildflowers to come back,
25:33and what better to do that than a load of pigs?
25:38Pigs root up the ground,
25:39which turns the soil and helps spread seeds.
25:42Middle whites are really good at this.
25:44We've made the journey to the big smoke
25:46because the pigs here have a good bloodline,
25:49and good genes makes for better stock.
25:54Now then, Tom, how are you doing?
25:55Hiya, Tom. How are we doing, chaps? Welcome.
25:56Yeah, I'm Rob. I'm Dave.
25:58Good to see you, and welcome to Mud Shoe.
26:00Well, what a place.
26:02I'm blown away already to the proximity to central London.
26:05I mean, you're literally right on the doorstep.
26:07We're the largest inner-city farm in Europe
26:09at 32 acres, right here in the middle of London.
26:12Am I right in thinking
26:13there's only 80 or so breeders of these pigs in England?
26:17Yeah, there was around about 350 registered-breeding females left,
26:21which makes them rarer numerically
26:23than things like the giant panda and the tiger and stuff like that.
26:26Right.
26:27So it's a critical thing.
26:31Once one of the most successful pig breeds in England,
26:34these beautiful beasts were on the brink of extinction in the 1950s.
26:40Numbers are still low, so we're keen to do our bit.
26:43As middle whites originate from Yorkshire,
26:46we struck a deal with Tom
26:47to take two of his rare woodland bloodlines back home.
26:52These are a Woodlands Lady bloodline,
26:54which is a rarer line within the middle whites.
26:56So you're doing a fantastic job
26:58taking them back to where they came from
27:00in an environment where they would have been originally anyway,
27:03in woodland.
27:04So, you know, it's a match made in heaven.
27:08Go on, George.
27:09Go on, George.
27:12You woke him up.
27:13Yeah.
27:14That's a girl.
27:16Oh, right, yeah.
27:18See, that's a boy.
27:19Yeah.
27:20He's got a dangly bit.
27:21Yeah.
27:22Well, I didn't want to say that.
27:27Straighten up, Rob, and then you can pull forward.
27:29Any animal needs some cajoling to get in a trailer.
27:39But pigs take the biscuit.
27:41This should be fun.
27:43They probably won't want to go up the ramp.
27:45I think we should brace ourselves for a little bit of squeaking,
27:48a little bit of assistance required.
27:50Let's hope you can stop a pig in a passage.
27:52I've never heard that before.
27:54It means you might be bow-legged or something.
27:56So, keep me legs together.
27:57Exactly.
27:58Keep your legs clenched and your butties clenched
28:00and you'll be all right.
28:04Gladiator, choose your weapon.
28:06I've only got a small one.
28:07No, Dave.
28:09If that's what nature intended.
28:13Come on, pigs.
28:14Look at this.
28:15I'm thinking, wow, we've never been out for a while.
28:17Come on, piglets.
28:19Oh, look at this.
28:21Oh, look at this.
28:22It's the pig-pied piper of London who needs a board.
28:25Well, I'm going to give you 10 out of 10 for that.
28:27Cheers, mate.
28:31Well, that went way better than expected.
28:34What Tom did there, cajoling those pigs on with a minimum of stress,
28:37was really impressive.
28:39I'm really chuffed to get them aboard
28:41and we're ready to set off back to Yorkshire now.
28:43I'm excited to get these pigs back.
28:45You know, get them into the woodland
28:47and doing what they should be doing.
28:49Home again, home again.
28:50Jiggity-jig.
28:55So the pigs made it up the M1
28:56and JB, Gill and farmer Charlie were on hand
28:59to help Rob and Dave settle them into their new home.
29:02Oh, this is very exciting.
29:04I cannot wait to get these pigs out.
29:06There's nothing like moving house, is there, JB?
29:08Ah!
29:12They're bonny, aren't they?
29:13Yeah, they are.
29:14Charlie, what do you think of these?
29:15These are gorgeous.
29:16It's exactly what I was looking for.
29:18And a rare breed, of course, as well, which is very important to me.
29:20Absolutely, yeah.
29:21So a lot of our native pig breeds are all endangered.
29:23A lot more rarer than a giant panda,
29:24and the middle whites being one more in particular.
29:26Their small size means they're not a great porker,
29:28but I just love their little scrunched up faces.
29:30Yeah, look at them.
29:31They're looking good, to be fair.
29:33Consider these, Charlie, your Christmas bonus.
29:37So what's the plan for them, then?
29:39Well, we've got a piece of woodland here
29:41that was being sort of drowned out by non-native shrubbery.
29:45Yeah.
29:46So we've cleared all that out.
29:47We've opened up the woodland canopy.
29:49These pigs are going to work the magic by disturbing the soil.
29:51I'm hoping that, come springtime,
29:53we'll have bluebells, cowslip,
29:55all kinds of wildflowers that'll set this woodland alight.
29:58Can I tell you what?
29:59If there's one thing that pigs love,
30:01it's fresh woodland to get themselves stuck into, isn't it?
30:03Well, I can't wait to see them venture out into the new territory
30:06and just turn over the soil a little bit.
30:08Well, it looks like they're itching to get out of the new playground.
30:10Charlie do the honours, eh?
30:12Come on.
30:13Oh, let's see what they think.
30:15That's the last time we'll see them that colour.
30:19Just how long will they be in an area like this?
30:21We'll probably keep them in here till the early spring.
30:23And then we'll be looking to move them on, will we?
30:25Well, we're not going to move them on too quickly.
30:27We want to breed with them in the spring.
30:29I want to take them round the shore circuit as well.
30:31Yeah, well, it'll be good for us.
30:33But it'll also be good for the wildlife as well, won't it?
30:35Exactly.
30:36Wow, those pigs are most definitely
30:39living their best lives.
30:41Now then, after the break, we go nuts for, well, nuts.
30:44And Rob and Dave's Netherlands road trip
30:46takes a detour to look at some traditional Dutch footwear.
30:49We'll see you in a bit.
30:50Welcome back to Winter on the Farm.
30:59Welcome back to Winter on the Farm.
31:16It is time now for our final instalment of the week,
31:19following Rob and Dave's epic Dutch adventure.
31:21What's on your feet?
31:22Do you know what I often think about you?
31:24It's in a pair of clogs.
31:25Do you think?
31:26Well, in the Netherlands, the centuries-old art of clog making
31:29is dying out.
31:30But Martin Dykeman is trying to keep it alive
31:32one block of wood at a time.
31:35It's chilly here in the eastern part of the Netherlands.
31:39But we're heading to a workshop in the town of Luttenburg
31:42to warm our cockles.
31:44Cheers, Dan.
31:45It's where Martin Dykeman, one of the last traditional clog makers,
31:49plies his trade.
31:52So, Martin, that looks like a lump of wood.
31:55I'm presuming it's going to end up being a clog?
31:57Yeah, maybe you can see it already.
31:58Oh, yeah.
32:00My grandfather came on holiday to the Netherlands
32:03probably 90 years ago, and he came home with a pair of clogs.
32:07Mm-hm.
32:08And Dad said he can see him now walking down Market Hill in Barnsley
32:10with his clogs on.
32:11Yeah.
32:12And he had an affinity with the Netherlands ever since.
32:14He really loved the place.
32:15Yeah.
32:16But do you know how all the clogs are in Europe, England?
32:20No, you tell me.
32:21We're here to learn.
32:22At least 800 years old.
32:23Right.
32:25Clogs were the shoes of choice for farmers
32:27and anybody who worked on the land.
32:31They were sturdy, waterproof and protected the foot.
32:35Martin makes his using the same tools his grandfather used.
32:40Including the long knife that creates the characteristic shape.
32:45Look at that.
32:46That's like a knife through butter.
32:48Traditionally, clogs are made from willow or poplar.
32:52Softer types of wood that are easier to work
32:55and were historically abundant in the Netherlands.
32:59It's good, isn't it?
33:00Yeah.
33:01Yeah, you can try.
33:02Could I have a go?
33:03Yeah, of course.
33:05Be careful about your fingers.
33:07Yeah.
33:08Put my fingers right around the back.
33:11Rob wants to be too quick.
33:12Slow down.
33:13Yeah, you have to slow down.
33:15Yeah, that's better.
33:16That's it.
33:17This long knife definitely does the job of shaving the wood.
33:20But getting the shape and the exact size,
33:22that's due to generations of skill and are down to Martin.
33:27Craftspeople have been making clogs this way since the 13th century.
33:32Warm in the winter and cool in the summer,
33:34they're still worn by many that live and work in the Dutch countryside.
33:38I've got to get this right.
33:39Yeah.
33:40Oh gosh, it's powerful, isn't it now?
33:41I just love the sound of the wood as it chips off the clog.
33:42And the smell of the freshly worked poplar is lovely.
33:43Martin, Rob seems to have taken a big chunk off the left-hand side.
33:45Is it still okay?
33:46Yeah, it's still okay.
33:47Are you teacher's power?
33:48Are you snitching on me?
33:50And now that piece of wood looks more like a clog.
33:53It's time to hollow out the footbed with another special tool.
34:09So we have a spoon drill.
34:12We have different sizes.
34:13We start with the small one and then the bigger one and then you scoop every time,
34:18like ice cream.
34:20But before Dave can start scooping, Martin needs to create a couple of holes.
34:26I do this one, and then you can do the second one.
34:30It does look quite physical.
34:32It does. Right, OK.
34:35It's harder than it looks.
34:37You're shaking your hips.
34:40Dave, you're not on Japanese Whispers dance floor in 1986.
34:44And like that? Yeah.
34:46Or like that? Yeah.
34:48You use a lot of strength, eh? Yeah.
34:50But actually it's more technique.
34:53Go on then, show me. Yeah.
35:01Oh, you make it look easy.
35:08Before you know it, both those holes will meet and you'll have a shoe.
35:13And I think a shoe is about to be born.
35:17Martin makes around three pairs a day, all different sizes.
35:21The key to a good fit is to allow just enough room for the foot to wiggle round and wear them with a good sock.
35:29There's a tool for every job, isn't there?
35:31Yeah.
35:33And a job for every tool.
35:37I feel as though I've watched something really special evolve before my eyes.
35:41Thank you, Martin. It's been an absolute education.
35:45Really enjoyed it.
35:48And now we can keep up the family tradition by taking our wooden clogs back to Yorkshire.
35:57What a trip they had. One day we'll get to go with them on one of these epic adventures.
36:01They have some fun, don't they? And here come our intrepid explorers.
36:05All right, boys.
36:06Look at this.
36:07Say we never buy you anything.
36:08Oh, look at that.
36:09Oh, thank you.
36:11Hang on. Yours look bigger than mine.
36:13Look at them then.
36:15Oh, look.
36:16It's got your name on.
36:18You Wally.
36:20And you've got little straps, look. Look at that.
36:23Oh, wow.
36:24Are you jealous?
36:25That is great.
36:26I mean...
36:27What a giggle, though. You must have had a great time.
36:28It was a trip to remember Jules. We had a brilliant time and what a wonderful country.
36:32I'm so glad I've been.
36:33And the people were so warm and welcoming.
36:35I mean, they look great, but I've got to be honest, they're the most uncomfortable things I've ever had.
36:39Give them a road test.
36:43Look at this. Great.
36:44It's like a Friday night in 1995.
36:48How many have you had?
36:49Let's have a go.
36:50I'll tell you what, lads.
36:51It's the socks that make it.
36:52Definitely.
36:53What a look.
36:54What a look.
36:55Why can he pull that off?
36:57They actually suit him.
36:58Yeah.
36:59I could cut this around Herefordshire.
37:00I mean, this could be the new thing.
37:01Because he's very, very posh, Helen.
37:05Fabulous, guys, but thank you for thinking of us.
37:07We always appreciate it.
37:09Now then, to Glastonbury in Somerset, where farmer Andrew Kent
37:13has been working his land for over 40 years, very much in the traditional way.
37:17Growing crops and looking after animals.
37:19But now he is branching out into something completely different.
37:22He is nuts about nuts.
37:24With the UK importing nearly 3,000 tonnes of hazelnuts, farmer Andrew saw a gap in the
37:34market.
37:35He now manages over 9,000 hazelnut, chestnut and walnut trees with the help of his family,
37:41son Laurie and daughter Elsa.
37:43The thing that's really cool about the hazelnuts and nuts generally is that we're growing perennial
37:50protein here.
37:51So that's nuts growing on trees that grow back year on year on year.
37:55And so you don't have to be planting each year and disturbing the soil in that way.
38:01It's a race between us and the squirrels.
38:04Come harvest time, the squirrels are a very, very tenacious species.
38:12With the land being over farmed through the years, Andrew is using the sustainable practice
38:16of growing trees and crops in the same field.
38:21We're growing crops in between the trees.
38:24Oats, we've grown wheat, we've grown potatoes and we've grown beetroot.
38:29The two crops do seem to benefit each other.
38:31Keeping the soil really healthy at the same time as producing some kind of return from
38:37the ground before the nuts start yielding.
38:41That's actually deep enough, yeah.
38:46They have a busy winter ahead.
38:48Transplanting 3,000 trees to a new piece of land so the crop can be harvested mechanically.
38:55Before they can be moved, the shoots of the trees need pruning.
39:00This tree's got four suckers coming off here, below where we want it to be.
39:07It's a lovely little hazel tree, other than the four suckers.
39:10And it's about 800 millimetres above the ground, so that's perfect.
39:15This tree will be really easy to grab with our mechanical harvester there and then shake
39:21to get the nuts to drop onto the tarpaulin so we don't have to physically pick every nut off by hand.
39:27So it's perfect for us now.
39:30To help out with their enormous task of transportation, they have a new piece of kit.
39:35Today it's out for the first time on a test run.
39:39The size of this hole is important that we get it big enough so that when we transplant our new trees into it,
39:45the root ball is not disturbed too badly.
39:48That's lovely. Look at that.
39:49Yeah, that looks good.
39:50These trees have been in the ground for four years and it'll probably be another two years before they produce a viable crop.
39:58We should get up to about four kilos per tree, which if you scale that up to the trees that we hope to have,
40:05then that will be a pretty decent yield for us.
40:08Hopefully we'll be able to grow the business just to kind of push the potential, I think, of UK grown nuts.
40:14Once harvested, the secret is preserving the nuts' all-important nutrition and flavour.
40:21This is our batch dryer for walnuts.
40:23We're just checking the nuts to make sure they're dry and that they taste nice,
40:27which they obviously do because they're British homegrown walnuts.
40:31My hope for the future is that more British farmers take up growing nuts
40:35and with Christmas around the corner, what could be better than being able to buy really tasty British nuts?
40:44A little flicker of recognition across your face there, wasn't it?
40:47Well, I have to say, watching that VT back, I knew Andrew Kent many years ago when he was a farmer in Suffolk
40:52and, yeah, we had a few good nights out. So, Andrew, if you're watching, great to see you again.
40:57What are we making, Tim?
40:58Chocolate profiteroles with a hazelnut praline.
41:01These are filled with chocolate mousse.
41:03Okay.
41:04So I've pre-made this chocolate mousse.
41:05When you say you've done profiteroles, how have you done this?
41:08So, basically, you melt some butter.
41:09Yeah.
41:10Fire in your flour.
41:11Okay.
41:12Hang on.
41:13Melt some butter, fire in your flour.
41:15Yeah.
41:16Beat that so it's almost like a roux and then you'll drop in your eggs.
41:19And then you'll pipe these onto a baking sheet and then they'll puff up nicely.
41:23Right.
41:24And then the chocolate mousse gets squirted into the middle.
41:27Into there.
41:28And then you can dip.
41:29That looks gorgeous.
41:30I mean, they overshoot, don't they?
41:31I love that one.
41:32Boys, how are you getting on with your profiterole filling?
41:35I'm not that good at this.
41:37What are you doing here?
41:38How have you done this?
41:39So, melted some caster sugar.
41:41Okay.
41:42Nice and gently, so you don't want it to burn.
41:45Dropped in some hazelnuts and then poured it onto some greaseproof paper.
41:49Can you smash that for me?
41:50Oh, absolutely.
41:51I've brought a serious rolling pin.
41:58Have you finished?
41:59Was there something on your mind, Helen?
42:01That was wildly satisfying.
42:02Do you feel that now?
42:05Right.
42:06A bit more chocolate on there.
42:08Oh, look how gooey.
42:10That hides a thousand sins.
42:11Well, that's just what I was thinking, Robert.
42:14And that's it.
42:15So that's my roast hazelnut chocolate profiterole.
42:19Amazing.
42:20I like that, isn't it, David?
42:21Why don't you just put it in your mouth and squeeze it?
42:23I've got to be honest, that is a real treat.
42:26Wow.
42:27That was lovely.
42:28Tim, thank you so much for your expertise and your patience.
42:30I'm sure that was really annoying for people who can actually cook,
42:33but we had a lovely time, didn't we?
42:35And, boys, thank you for having us round at your place as ever
42:38and to all of our friends and experts who've joined us over the last few days.
42:41But, sadly, that is it for this season of Winter on the Farm,
42:44but not the last you're going to see of Cannonhall Farm this year.
42:48No, we have got a Christmas extravaganza for you.
42:51We will be joined by J.B. Gill in the flesh,
42:53the dog father himself, Graham Hall, will be with us,
42:55as will Nicholas Ralph from All Creatures Great and Small.
42:58We'll have a band spreading festive joy.
43:00We'll have drinks, we'll have presents, we'll have laughter, we'll have merriment.
43:03No family arguments, it'll be fabulous.
43:05But until then, from all of us here in Barsley, goodnight!
43:08Goodnight!
43:14We've watched him grow from a wee one to a grown man with a digger.
43:18Stream Rubenow and Life in the Dales now on 5.
43:21Next, Santa with his reindeers is in for a luxurious street
43:25as they turn up Inside the Four Seasons at Christmas, brand new after the break.
43:30It's a very tasty way.
43:33See you next time in the Dales now,
43:36I'm going to miss the unknown.
43:38I don't know.
43:39I'll see you next time in the Dales.
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