Anyone else watching clarkson farm season 2? I’m binge watching it!

[Ladybird69]

Don’t read if you are watching one episode at a time. I’m binge watching and loving it. The bloody councillors should be struck off the way they are treating him and through him the other local farmers.

I've just finished series 2 and thought it was really good.

There's a lovely hour long interview with Kaleb and Jeremy here:

Clearly Jeremy has a lot of respect there for Kaleb.

So many comments on SM about raising the plight of farmers - but he doesn’t follow that up. Is he campaigning for farmers, is he doing anything pro-active for the farming community?

and those who say well done for raising the situation, how many are changing their behaviour & buying in local farm shops rather than Aldi or Tescos?

Not many, judging by the moans on the thread about independent shops not staying open late enough.

I've bought a local veg box (not one of these big company ones) for 7 years.

We buy local eggs and milk.

We work with local farm to get the Beavers to visit

Is that good enough?

I buy all my meat and veg from the local farm shop now. And jams, honey, chilli sauces, eggs, milk products and any other yummy stuff they are selling from local producers. It is now cheaper than Tesco !

At £16.50 for a pot of honey with Jeremy's face on it - I'll pass thanks.
Mostly enjoyed this series and the local council do seem to view Jeremy as the devil. I didn't like it when JC was shouting and swearing at the poor delivery man on opening day though.

It's bec of how much of a prat JC is that watching him in series 1 was enjoyable. However, I will only be able to watch when DH is out of house: DH can't stand JC either.

I hate Jeremy clarkson normally but DH had this on and I found myself sucked in. It is an interesting insight into farming. And I felt sorry for him having to deal with all that nimbyism. Some of those people should come and spend some time where I live - just seen two drug dealers having a fight on the street outside - before they complain about parking ans barn conversions!

@species5618 that is expensive honey !!! My farm shop sells it for £3.50 a pot, and as it's local it really does stop hayfever..

how are these farmers going to survive without further diversification?

your weekly veg box will be the saviour of the farming industry- have a 🎖️

There's always one isn't there?

The farm also did a crowdsourcing so it could buy more land, equipment and diversify. The local community chipped in with that. The farm helps are all local. Supporting this particular farm is interesting because all the other farmers said it would fail as the model was completely different. The farmer is now teaching at farming college new skills and diversification.

All of which he couldn't have done without the local community. We were one of his first customers. We helped promote him locally - by doing stuff with the community groups.

But yeah...

I'd love to know what you do.

I think the shortage of tomatoes in the supermarkets is hilarious ATM. It's February. It's not tomato season.

Maybe people might learn a few things.

Well locals to the Clarkson farm cant go and buy from the farm shop can they because the council keep closing it down or causing issues which risk its existence.

They sell their land.
DHs job involves dealing with land agents (Charlie’s company included, but not Charlie directly) for farmers who have land on the edge of settlements and wish to sell up for housing. He then fights for planning permission and in most cases goes to the appeals talked about in the show.

it’s a contentious job. On the one hand you have locals who want the houses as their own children can’t buy in the villages and in most cases the council has a shortfall in housing, and on the other you have those who want to preserve the farmland, those tend to be the same people who also don’t wish for the farmer to diversify in any way.
In the middle of this is a farmer who can’t really make any profit from his land to support himself but is expected to just keep that land because it looks pretty.

There needs to be a balance really. In Clarksons case I don’t think the witness was far off the mark over the barn being a Trojan horse. If you look at where that lambing barn was built on maps it is an odd place for it. The clever person would build that then go for a change of use permission and I think that was probably Clarksons plan, but then a more forward, future thinking council really ought to see that farming is dying on its arse and unless landowners are given a little bit of help to diversify they will go down.

😂😂😂

Why would you have put in various planning applications in your AONB house? Why is it ok for you to alter/extend your house but not ok for Jeremy Clarkson to diversify his business and help support many struggling local businesses?

Beekeeper here and we also sell our honey in the local farm shop for £3.50. To be honest, our price has never really changed in 20 years (we charge a little bit more for comb) £16.50 is utterly outrageous. Ours sells out in a day (only open weekends) so we spend the week working to replenishing the stock. We make absolutely nowt from it profit wise in terms of time put in. It's more of a service to the local area - both in terms of the product and the work that the bees do.

@RainbowZebraWarrior on behalf of my poor eyes and the tragic hayfever I used to suffer, I thank you. Local honey is magic stuff.

£3.50?! Wow, local honey is now £7/jar and I live in a relatively cheap area.

I found it very enjoyable. Not quite the comedy of errors that the first one was, so he is learning. And I'm learning lots about farming, what a hard, relentless life, subject to endless vicissitudes, no rain, too much, bugs eating your just-sown seeds, tb, avian flu. It's such a precarious life. And yes, the council seem like absolute bastards.

it’s a contentious job. On the one hand you have locals who want the houses as their own children can’t buy in the villages and in most cases the council has a shortfall in housing, and on the other you have those who want to preserve the farmland, those tend to be the same people who also don’t wish for the farmer to diversify in any way.

In the middle of this is a farmer who can’t really make any profit from his land to support himself but is expected to just keep that land because it looks pretty

this in spades !! When the bed for local housing is out forward in rural areas everyone agrees for its need , but just not here !!

more diversification and or selling of parcels of land seems to be opposed by nimbyism who cannot seem to grasp the concept of working with people on various ideas and engaging properly with new schemes

Planning on farms is a minefield!

We applied to convert some redundant stables into a one bedroom property so DS who works on the farm and is going to take the business on in the next few years could have his own space. He's currently sharing a room with his 2 brothers and can't afford to buy in the local area (too close to London so prices are through the roof!)

Local council said absolutely not but they were happy to support an application to turn it into a holiday cottage???

So they would rather have tourists than allow someone who works in the area to have somewhere to live 🤷‍♀️

The occasional council will be forward thinking and work with the farmers and developers. Money towards new schools, cycle routes, electric vehicle charges, even car schemes. They know they need housing so are a bit more pragmatic. It's rare though.

The council Clarkson falls into are well known for their 'build nothing' stance. Daylesford Organic Farms is a couple of miles away from Diddly Squat, they successfully constructed a large farm shop, home shop, garden shop, wine shop, cafe, restaurant, bar, spa and children's daycare centre. The difference being they fall into Cotswold District Council, where Diddly Squat is West Oxfordshire District Council. Unification is absolutely needed. They all need to be singing from the same hymn sheet here.

I was shocked at how blatantly subjective the decisions of the local councillors were, and how the system allows them to give free reign to their own preferences rather than following clear processes. They basically indulged their own personal dislike of Clarkson or put their own desire to occasionally look at the stars over the ability of local farmers to earn a living. I live in a very similar area and there is a real problem with rich incomers who cannot accept or don't care that the countryside is a place of business for many people who are struggling massively at the moment (thanks, in no small part, to the way that those rich people in my area voted in the 2016 referendum). And that those businesses put food on all of our tables.