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Harvest

Helen Skelton visits a farm in York to hear how carrots are in crisis. The extremes of weather have lead to the lowest yields for decades and the highest levels of imports.

Harvest is one of the busiest times of the farming year, but this year many farmers are bearing the brunt of the winter storms and summer drought. Helen Skelton visits a farm in York to hear how carrots are in crisis. The extremes of weather have lead to the lowest yields for decades and the highest levels of imports.

Steve Brown is in Cornwall looking at a much smaller harvest. He meets Seth Pascoe, a man who wants to bring the nutritional benefits of sea berries to the wider public. But it is a delicate fruit with many sharp thorns to bypass.

Adam Henson meets the Welsh and English contenders for this year's One Man and His Dog. Have they got what it takes to be crowned champion?

Charlotte Smith investigates whether farmers can really trust their banks when it comes to their future financing.

Matt Baker has all the information on how to take part in this year's Countryfile Ramble for 主播大秀 Children in Need.

55 minutes

Last on

Tue 25 Sep 2018 01:45
主播大秀 Two

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:07

    Barry Gray

    Thunderbirds

  • 00:35

    Paloma Faith

    Beauty Of The End

  • 00:39

    The Cinematic Orchestra

    To Build A 主播大秀

Carrot Harvest

Carrot Harvest

Helen travels to Crockey Hill, near York, where she visits the UK's largest grower of carrots for processing.聽

Helen meets Rodger Hobson, whose family have been farming in the area since 1847.聽

They now grow 38,000 tonnes of carrots a year which go into anything from carrot cake to coleslaw and into producing carrot batons.聽

Helen learns what it takes to harvest on such a large scale by being put to the test by Rodger and his team in the field and in the processing plant. 聽

Bankruptcies

Bankruptcies
Charlotte meets the farmers hoping to win compensation after they lost everything because of they way, they say, they were treated by their banks.聽And she looks at concerns that cash-poor farmers, who are still rich in assets such as land, buildings and machinery, could be targeted by lenders more interested in their own profit than helping farms thrive.Could tougher regulation of commercial lending help protect farmers from losing their land, livestock and livelihoods聽in the future?

Sea Berries

Sea Berries

Steve is near Bodmin in Cornwall where he lends a hand in harvesting a berry which is notoriously hard to pick, 'sea berries' from the Sea Buckthorn tree.聽

Steve meets Sea Buckthorn enthusiast and grower Seth Pascoe, whose love of this fruit has earned him a Nuffield Scholarship.聽

It's a passion that has also taken him all over the world in a quest to learn more about this little-known superfood!聽

Now back in Cornwall, Seth is growing his own berries in a bid to spread the word about this amazing fruit and its health benefits.

One Man and His Dog

One Man and His Dog
Adam meets the next of the contenders hoping to be crowned this year鈥檚 鈥極ne Man and His Dog' champions.
In Wales - the current titleholders - he meets brace competitor Brian McConnell, with his dogs Roy and Sky,聽and young handler hopeful 12-year-old Elgan Jarman, and his dog Peg.
The English competitors are to found in the Lake District, where 13-year-old Henry Harrison is in training for the Young Handler section, together with his dog Gunnerwell Skye, and in Lancashire, home to brace entrant Richard Hutchinson and his dogs Jock and Moya.

Countryfile Ramble for 主播大秀 Children in Need

Countryfile Ramble for 主播大秀 Children in Need
Matt shares the moving story of another family that have benefited from the money raised by the annual Countryfile Ramble for 主播大秀 Children in Need.This year, the ramble's fourth, will tale place on Saturday, 6th October, and Sunday, 7th October.

Crunch Time

Crunch Time
This year's extreme weather may have put the harvest under pressure but it's time to see how the carrots have been affected.Yield may be down by 30% but that's still a lot of carrots that need sorting - lucky Helen's keen to lend a hand!Joining the production line, she helps sort out the misshapen or rotten carrots or those with any tops still on.But don't worry those wonky carrots are still put to good use...

Credits

Presenter Helen Skelton
Presenter Steve Brown
Presenter Adam Henson
Presenter Charlotte Smith
Presenter Matt Baker
Executive Producer William Lyons
Series Producer Joanna Brame

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