Diversification Awards The Farmers' Country Showdown


Diversification Awards

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Across the country,

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thousands of farming families work tirelessly around the clock.

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Stop arguing, girls. Give over.

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SHRILL WHISTLE

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But there's one day each year

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where they get to leave the daily routine behind.

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Right, here we come, Dorset.

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These are show days...

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..when they come together as a community

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to showcase the fruits of their labour...

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I just love showing my girls off.

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..and try to win prizes for their breed champions...

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Smashed it.

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..and award-winning produce.

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That's really nice cheese, that.

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It was very good, darling.

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There will be highs...

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That's what we want to see - red. Red is the best.

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-..and lows...

-She's not happy enough to go.

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..for the dedicated farmers who give everything to walk away a champion.

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Fingers crossed.

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In the agricultural social calendar,

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there is one night of the year that celebrates farmers' ingenuity -

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the Farmers Weekly Awards.

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This year's category for Diversification Farmer of the Year

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has three outstanding shortlisted finalists,

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who have all given their farms a new lease of life.

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They've been hand-picked by the judges for successfully finding

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alternative ways to bring money into their farm

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outside of traditional methods.

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The Mays are from North Devon,

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the Richards are from Cornwall,

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and the Nicholson family are from South Yorkshire.

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This award is to acknowledge their hard work, adaptability,

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planning, and determination.

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And in a few days' time,

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one of them will be taking it home from a glittering black-tie event

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in the heart of London.

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In the lush, green valleys of South Yorkshire,

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the 180 acres that is Cannon Hall Farm

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are home to our first finalists

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for this year's diversification award - the Nicholson family.

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Father Roger's farming story began when he was a teenager.

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When I got to 15 years old,

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the land we had was taken away by compulsory purchase, so we had to

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move to another farm and my father bought this at an auction.

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My father only lived a year after buying the farm,

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so I had to leave school, although I was quite glad to do so,

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and take over the running of the farm.

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Happily, his early farming years brought rewards as well, in the

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shape of his wife, Cynthia, who was also from a farming background.

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I was in the Halifax Young Farmers Club,

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and that's how I met Rog.

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He came to a party on the 2nd of January 1962.

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For the next three decades,

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the couple would try their hand at farming everything and anything to

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turn a profit, including pigs, sheep, cattle, and even vegetables.

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The one thing I can remember doing that I don't think I'll ever

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do again was chopping turnips

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on a very wet November day and I thought, "No way,

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"I'm not doing that any more."

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After years of struggling to make ends meet and with three young boys

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to support, the Nicholsons decided to sell some of the buildings

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on the land to raise some much-needed capital.

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The farm buildings and the farmhouse were listed,

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so we sold three houses and developed three more for ourselves.

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This hard-won cash meant that they could start to have some big dreams

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for the future.

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The first one I had was a golf course, really, because I'm quite

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a sporty person, but it would have taken quite a lot of land.

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Instead of a golf course,

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the couple decided to open their first small catering venture.

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We had actually opened a tearoom.

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-1981.

-1981.

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The tearoom turned a tidy profit, and even the couple's young sons

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managed to make a penny or two.

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We used to get some chickens and just walk up to strangers

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-and say, "Do you want..."

-He used to tell me to walk up to strangers.

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"Do you want to stroke a chicken for 1p?"

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And that was our first foray into farm tourism.

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He set me up and sent me to... And then he kept the money! So...

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From the Nicholsons' early endeavours,

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the idea of farm tourism for families began to take shape.

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In 1989, eight years after the tearoom started,

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Cannon Hall Farm officially opened to the public.

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We had a few goats and a few of this and a few of that,

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nothing very special, but people seemed to like it.

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From 24 customers in the tearoom,

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Cannon Hall Farm now sees over half a million visitors every year,

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enjoying a range of animal attractions from reindeer

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and alpacas to meerkats and sheep racing.

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-COMMENTATOR:

-..as Sherbaa takes the win.

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But it's been a long road to get here.

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I remember thinking one bank holiday when Roger and I were cleaning the

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toilets, we thought "Oh, we've really arrived now, you know,

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"we've got the best job in the place!"

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With the farm on the up and up and plenty of paid work to do,

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Cynthia and Roger employed their own sons to do it.

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I will say, though, I only wanted the three jobs,

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not the other 197 that we've got now.

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But that's only me!

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But Cannon Hall is still very much a working farm,

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and youngest son David is in charge of its day-to-day running.

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Just do a lot of hours, really.

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A lot of stock work with the animals, a lot of tractor work,

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JCB work.

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You know, get up very early and go in very late,

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I think I'm taking after me dad with that.

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Me dad, he was quite shrewd, he put me on a YTS scheme for himself,

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so as a 16-year-old I came to work for the farm,

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and the government paid half my wage, if you like,

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and then he paid the other half, begrudgingly.

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Came home to very little money.

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I'd rather be working for me family than working for anybody else.

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We've got over 400 ewes now.

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We've got over 100 cattle.

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And everything we produce goes through the farm shop.

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The responsibility for all this lies with eldest son Robert.

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I've always had a lifelong interest in butchery, even before we had

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the farm shop, you know.

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So it just seemed like a natural progression, really,

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and something I felt was needed.

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Whilst third brother Richard's skills are more artistic

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than those of his brothers.

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Well, when everybody else was going to agricultural college,

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I decided to take a different route and go to art college,

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so I did a graphic design degree,

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specialising in photography, really.

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I'm just trying to tell the story of what we do and how we do it, really,

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through social media.

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LAMBS BLEAT

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Videos, more and more, seem to be

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the thing that people want to see, actually.

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And you certainly get more views of a video,

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so we get the farm hands out in the farmyard to...

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If they see something interesting, if, say,

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the animals have been turned out in the fields and they go for a mad

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run-around like our Shetlands did this time this spring,

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that video got seen by half a million people.

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Even though his sons have taken much of the day-to-day graft away,

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Roger can't help but carry on.

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This is the male alpaca.

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And we've got three ladies.

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Come here, little girl.

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Full of beans and full of life, lovely coat.

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That's the other mum. She actually started her life in Peru, that one.

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She's quite an elderly alpaca.

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Right, well, Darryl's just going to clean her feet out now.

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She has it done every day.

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Come on, girl, lift.

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ROGER CHUCKLES

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Good girl.

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Good girl. That's better.

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This stops a big build-up of soil and muck inside the horse's hoof.

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Keeps it nice and healthy.

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Whoa, you.

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-That'll do.

-Good girl.

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Where should we start? Have you got...? You're on H, right.

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Let's move down to J.

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Mum, Cynthia, also keeps her hand in doing payroll

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alongside her daughter-in-law, Julie.

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I got married to Robert, we got married on the Saturday,

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and we opened the farm on the next Friday.

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We've got some new starters as well this week.

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But it's not all number crunching for these two farm hands.

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Julie and I even built some rabbit hutches at one time.

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We're not your normal women with, you know,

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painted nails and things like that, we just get stuck in, don't we?

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Yeah, we'll hide our nails.

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Although the farm has grown so much alongside the family,

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their passion shows no signs of fading.

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We don't have an exit strategy, you know,

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we've got a continuation strategy, so that's where we are.

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For the couple who started with nothing,

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what they've built is a validation of what you can do with a dream.

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The money side of it's never been top of the list at all.

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It's doing the job properly,

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making sure that everybody that comes enjoys themselves.

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But to have a Maserati or whatever in the back,

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that's not the aim at all, no.

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Branching out into farm tourism has secured their farm

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and made them one of this year's nominees for

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the Diversification Farmer of the Year Award.

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Just over 250 miles away, resting in the hills of North Devon,

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Springfield Farm is home to our next nominees, Richard and Anna May.

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They farm sheep and cows on their 180-acre plot,

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but it hasn't been an easy road for this hard-working couple.

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Myself and Anna got married in '93, and we moved in here.

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-'92, actually.

-'92, sorry!

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We're farming a mixture of sheep and cereal crops, and we had a few beef

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down here as well, so it's a mixed farm.

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By 2001, Richard and Anna were living on their farm

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with their three young children and high hopes for the future.

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We were all working really hard,

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and wanting to expand our farming enterprise. We had lots of ideas,

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but it was cut very short when foot-and-mouth came along.

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Just eight weeks after the family moved in,

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the epidemic struck, and thousands of their animals were culled.

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Yeah, the whole valley was wiped out with foot-and-mouth.

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It was very demoralising driving out, seeing all the sheep in mud.

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In the end, they made a pyre, and they were burnt on the farm.

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Nearly 3,000 animals on the farm at the time.

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-We were lambing, weren't we?

-We had just finished lambing.

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With their animals destroyed and their livelihood in tatters,

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they had to start from scratch.

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But just to introduce new sheep would not be enough this time.

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And we just realised then that it was time to

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maybe think about this differently.

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So Anna had an ingenious idea for how they could save the farm -

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they decided to start a children's nursery.

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Can you see any eggs?

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They believed that exposing young minds to farming life

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could be a winner.

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How many is that?

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To start with, we just thought it would work that the children could

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see the sheep. We've got chickens, goats,

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and so it was very small scale.

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What noise does he make, Josh?

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Over 14 years, the nursery has grown from 24 children

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to more than 90 a day.

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Quite a big jump from those small beginnings, really.

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The children love watching the tractors.

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-I like yours.

-Yeah, what colour's yours?

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I love yours.

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-I suppose there's not room in your house for a big one, is there?

-No.

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Farmer Richard, a celebrity here,

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brings down his tractor and just parks it in the front entrance.

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Now, do you want to see the engine?

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Look, that's the engine in there.

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-Wow!

-There it is, Harry.

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Yes, I love it.

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It's made his day.

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HORN BEEPS

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-Thank you very much.

-All right, and you can wave bye to the tractor.

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This is our everyday life,

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and this is what we'd like the children to watch.

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It's so important nowadays for the children, I think,

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to be educated where food does come from,

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because so many think it just comes off the supermarket shelf.

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In reality, it's not.

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Even them growing their own vegetables and fruit

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in the polytunnel and then collecting it and then bringing it

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back for snack time is just an education in itself.

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We thought, yeah, outside's really important and that we should be

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outside no matter what the weather and sort of built on that, really.

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As well as the rebirth of their business,

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what's given the family a real sense of pride

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is the return of the livestock to Springfield Farm.

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We have about 1,200 breeding ewes here at the moment,

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and we've started rearing cows this year as well,

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so we've got about 100 cattle on the farm at the moment as well.

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Eldest daughter Amy devotes all her time to the cattle.

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Amy has come home on the farm full-time now.

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She's brought Jim, her partner, down with her,

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so we've got a couple of extra hands on the farm nowadays.

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Being young growing up on a farm

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is probably the best childhood you could ask for.

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There was never a day where I couldn't go outside

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and do something that I loved.

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The cows were my idea,

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so they are my responsibility at the moment.

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So, feeding them on a daily basis is currently mine and Jim's role.

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We have nearly 100 cows now.

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The nursery's definitely grown, that's changed a lot over the years.

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I remember it as the single room when it first started.

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It's nice to see so many children experiencing the countryside.

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Over the years, the nursery's growth has allowed the farm to flourish

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and has kept their livelihood secure.

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That was a good lamb, Jim. That one's doing well.

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When foot-and-mouth hit us, and it affected us hugely,

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you could easily wallow in doom and gloom,

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but we were lucky that we've got a very supportive family, and that

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from the ashes rose, you know, an amazing nursery.

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I'm very proud of them. They've done a very good job.

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Well done. Can you have a look on this plant and see if you can find

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any caterpillars on there?

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We're very proud.

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I have never thought we could be where we are today,

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but it's a lot of hard work, a lot of stress,

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but it's well worth it.

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We love it every day, and we've got such a lovely setting here.

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You've just got to look at our view, you know why we're doing it here.

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Thinking outside the box and building a new kind of

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farming business has pushed them onto this year's shortlist for

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Diversification Farmer of the Year at the Farmers Weekly Awards.

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Head south across the rolling hills, and the next county you come to is

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Cornwall, home to our final nominees, the Richards family.

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John and his wife, Felicity, run one side of the family farm.

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This is the top end of our land.

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We actually run from here right down as far as you can see to the A30,

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which is down the bottom end of the valley.

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Come on, Star, come on.

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Ten years old. He's in good nick, isn't he?

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We've been married nearly 30 years,

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and the farm's changed a huge amount in that time.

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It was originally an arable, grass farm, really.

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My father had sheep,

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so we had sheep and beef here originally to start with,

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then we converted it to a dairy herd.

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With 700 acres spread over two sites, the workload has always

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been shared equally, with brother, Paul, and his wife, Carol.

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Born and raised on the farm,

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I've always been interested in farming, I love farming.

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Went through the normal marriage procedure

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at the Young Farmers clubs, found a wife from Leicestershire,

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married her, and brought her back to Cornwall.

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I was born into it, and Carol's married into it.

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At first, this harmonious set-up was fine for all,

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and the brothers even expanded to two herds.

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But the farm ran into serious money problems when national milk prices

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were affected by mad cow disease in the late 1990s.

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There was a lot of uncertainty at the time,

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when we had two young families.

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We knew then that farming wasn't as strong as it should be, or could be.

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We actually put the two dairy herds back into one unit, so then

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we actually had the farm buildings and the silage bits empty.

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We were looking to really, to process something in that yard.

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At the time, local councils were sending green waste to landfill,

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which gave this close-knit family an idea -

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they would recycle that waste as a business.

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That's when the green waste came in.

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We thought about composting, looking into green waste composting.

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Green waste includes flower cuttings, grass,

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hedge trimmings, and food waste.

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But starting off any new venture is fraught with teething troubles,

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especially if you have no previous experience.

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As we were coming from farming, we weren't into the recycling or

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waste industry, so no-one really took us very seriously.

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It was just two of us for a long time as well because we were running

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the farm, the arable side of the business, but we were also running

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the recycling, which was another real stretch for us.

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But their farming background stood them in good stead.

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Some of their existing machinery could be used for farming

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and recycling, and their appetite for hard work was insatiable.

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People were coming to us and saying "We want this service,"

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so I was going to the meetings and saying "Yes, we can do it,"

0:22:250:22:29

and then John had to actually deliver.

0:22:290:22:31

It's an eight-week process to turn raw green waste

0:22:340:22:37

into high-quality compost.

0:22:370:22:39

Well, we're actually picking out the probe to take the temperature down

0:22:390:22:42

in the middle of the compost. If it gets too hot,

0:22:420:22:44

it'll kill the bugs, and if it gets too cold,

0:22:440:22:46

it won't compost quick enough,

0:22:460:22:47

so we're looking to keep the temperature around 65 all the time.

0:22:470:22:50

While John and Felicity built up the recycling business,

0:22:530:22:57

his brother, Paul, took on the mantle

0:22:570:22:59

of keeping the family farming legacy going.

0:22:590:23:01

They drink about 80 litres of milk.

0:23:140:23:16

They're on about five litres a day at the moment.

0:23:160:23:18

As you can see, they're all shiny coats, bright, you know,

0:23:180:23:22

we don't get any pneumonia at all, we never get pneumonia.

0:23:220:23:25

If we ever get one that's ill, something a bit off-colour,

0:23:250:23:28

we've got a jacket we put on them.

0:23:280:23:30

Actually, we've had it for two years, haven't used it yet.

0:23:300:23:34

I'm happy, and they're very happy, as you can see.

0:23:340:23:38

And that's their lot. The rest of the milk will go to the next group.

0:23:380:23:42

And the farm makes good use of the family compost.

0:23:540:23:57

The costs are kept down on the dairy herd

0:24:000:24:02

because of using compost instead of fertiliser.

0:24:020:24:06

It's using natural products again, really.

0:24:060:24:09

It also goes on the cattle ground to a certain extent,

0:24:090:24:13

and under the leys to produce better grass.

0:24:130:24:15

Over 17 years, both the recycling and farming arms of the business

0:24:170:24:21

have gone from strength to strength.

0:24:210:24:24

They now sell their compost across the region.

0:24:240:24:27

Compost, because of its bulk density, doesn't travel a long way,

0:24:310:24:35

but the National Trust have been interested

0:24:350:24:37

because they have a lot of very prestigious gardens in Cornwall

0:24:370:24:41

that are open to the public.

0:24:410:24:43

The Eden Project is another customer.

0:24:430:24:46

When they began, they were treating 25 tonnes of green waste a week.

0:24:460:24:50

They now process over 600 tonnes.

0:24:550:24:58

They've saved over 400,000 tonnes of waste going to landfill.

0:24:580:25:02

We've dealt with this business with integrity and sustainability.

0:25:090:25:14

We get it in and we make it into a product and we send it out,

0:25:140:25:19

and if you fall down on any of those hurdles, you're gone tomorrow.

0:25:190:25:24

It's given us a more secure future, it's given us a bigger business.

0:25:240:25:27

We've actually got two businesses, if you like, so we split our risk.

0:25:270:25:31

And they both work together.

0:25:310:25:33

Family unity is at the heart of everything

0:25:360:25:39

John and his brother, Paul, do.

0:25:390:25:40

Here, Daddy!

0:25:430:25:45

And their mother, Jean, has a clue as to why it's all worked.

0:25:480:25:52

I think that's stemmed from the fact

0:25:530:25:55

that we've always been a family socially.

0:25:550:25:58

As well as business-wise, and it's just grown and grown.

0:26:010:26:04

To work together, you've got to give and take.

0:26:040:26:07

We do get our moments, I won't be a liar,

0:26:070:26:09

but every business does and every family does, so we're only normal.

0:26:090:26:12

There's two things going on here -

0:26:120:26:14

there's a family, and there's a business.

0:26:140:26:16

And we're having to run them together, and that's where

0:26:160:26:18

communication is really important between us all.

0:26:180:26:21

Many hands make light work, and alongside Paul and Carol

0:26:210:26:26

their son, Charles, now runs the arable side of the business,

0:26:260:26:29

While John and Felicity are helped with the recycling arm

0:26:290:26:33

by their children, Caroline and James.

0:26:330:26:35

The next generation of Richards

0:26:420:26:43

have big plans to build on their parents' legacy.

0:26:430:26:47

We get together and sort of look at different avenues and

0:26:470:26:50

potential ideas, so all the time we're kind of looking at

0:26:500:26:53

what we might be able to do next.

0:26:530:26:55

From my point of view, agriculture is what I...

0:26:550:26:58

I'm committed long-term.

0:26:580:27:00

I think if you're going to do something, whatever you do,

0:27:000:27:03

you've got to be 100% dedicated, committed.

0:27:030:27:05

It's like Charles said - you want to focus on one thing,

0:27:050:27:08

and make sure you get that right, that is the day job,

0:27:080:27:10

you make sure that's nailed before starting the next thing.

0:27:100:27:13

Everybody's involved and we can all work together

0:27:150:27:18

and it's a fantastic feeling.

0:27:180:27:21

This family's resourcefulness and inspiration has made them

0:27:210:27:25

one of this year's finalists

0:27:250:27:27

for the Diversification Farmer of the Year award.

0:27:270:27:31

How to explain it other than say I'm so proud and happy

0:27:310:27:35

that it's successful.

0:27:350:27:36

All you want for your children, whether they're 2, or 20, or 40,

0:27:370:27:42

is success, isn't it?

0:27:420:27:44

And they worked hard and they've been rewarded.

0:27:440:27:47

These three families have shown

0:27:540:27:56

their ability to think beyond their field.

0:27:560:27:59

Their ingenuity has enabled them to survive in the face of adversity.

0:27:590:28:03

And tomorrow night, at the Farmers Weekly Awards,

0:28:050:28:08

one of them will take away this year's trophy

0:28:080:28:10

for Diversification Farmer of the Year.

0:28:100:28:13

Everyone says the Farmers Weekly Awards are amazing evenings,

0:28:160:28:19

so we're really looking forward to it, yeah.

0:28:190:28:21

We do know how to party already!

0:28:210:28:23

And a good excuse to dress up smartly,

0:28:240:28:27

rather than in our work clothes.

0:28:270:28:30

Diversity is the thing that started it all off,

0:28:300:28:33

so if we could win that award, it would be great, really,

0:28:330:28:37

and a reward for what we did.

0:28:370:28:40

It's a huge privilege to be a finalist

0:28:400:28:43

when you look at the other finalists

0:28:430:28:45

and the calibre of people that are in that group.

0:28:450:28:48

Tonight, it's the annual Farmers Weekly Awards,

0:29:080:29:11

which are being held in the heart of London's Mayfair.

0:29:110:29:13

This esteemed event is in its 12th year,

0:29:160:29:19

and will host over 1,200 farmers, all here to celebrate

0:29:190:29:23

the outstanding achievements in their industry.

0:29:230:29:27

Final preparations for the glittering event are underway.

0:29:270:29:30

The scene is being set for a night of celebration.

0:29:320:29:35

This really is the big night for the farming industry.

0:29:380:29:40

If you're shortlisted for an award, then you're pretty nervous coming

0:29:440:29:47

into the room tonight,

0:29:470:29:49

and no-one really knows the winner,

0:29:490:29:51

we keep it really tightly close to our chest.

0:29:510:29:54

It was a very, very tough category, so whoever wins,

0:29:540:29:57

they should be really proud of themselves,

0:29:570:29:59

they've had tough competition.

0:29:590:30:00

I thought I'd be helping you and you're helping me -

0:30:030:30:05

that's the trouble.

0:30:050:30:07

It's an hour before the event kicks off.

0:30:070:30:09

Time for the Nicholson men to change their boots for bow ties.

0:30:090:30:13

It's a night to forget the toil of their family attraction farm

0:30:150:30:19

and embrace the glamour.

0:30:190:30:21

Was it not fastened before?

0:30:210:30:24

No, I never had it on.

0:30:240:30:25

-I think it's...

-Well, I were about 13.

0:30:270:30:29

13 years since...

0:30:290:30:31

The four of us went to Whitby, or Scarborough, I think it was.

0:30:310:30:35

-No, it's about 35 years since.

-Yeah.

0:30:350:30:39

I were 13 at the time.

0:30:390:30:41

-That long.

-We went sea fishing.

0:30:410:30:43

Win or lose, we'll...

0:30:430:30:45

Have a booze!

0:30:450:30:47

They do look very lovely today!

0:30:590:31:01

Farm nursery owners, Richard and Anna May,

0:31:010:31:04

are kicking off the night with a party in their hotel room.

0:31:040:31:08

-There's another one.

-Doing well!

0:31:080:31:10

We've come up today with our family.

0:31:120:31:15

Two of our daughters are up here with us.

0:31:160:31:18

We've left the others at home.

0:31:180:31:20

So we're quite lucky that we're well supported

0:31:200:31:23

with friends and family tonight.

0:31:230:31:26

To actually come away,

0:31:260:31:27

miss all the preparation beforehand, and then when you get here,

0:31:270:31:30

it's like phew!

0:31:300:31:33

So we got here!

0:31:330:31:34

Cheers!

0:31:340:31:36

Recycling innovators John and Felicity Richards are having

0:31:380:31:42

a more relaxed start to the big night...

0:31:420:31:44

-Very nice.

-Thank you.

0:31:440:31:46

As are brother, Paul, and wife, Carol.

0:31:460:31:50

-It's OK.

-If we win or not, it will still be a fantastic evening,

0:31:500:31:53

so, yeah, we're really looking forward to having a really good

0:31:530:31:56

party with family and friends. Yeah.

0:31:560:31:58

It's fantastic. Because of this award, we've come up as a family,

0:32:020:32:06

and to me, that is the best thing, that there's 20 of us here tonight

0:32:060:32:09

and we're going to have a great night.

0:32:090:32:11

And when you work together and you go through

0:32:110:32:14

the problems and the strains of the business together,

0:32:140:32:17

to have a night like tonight is very special.

0:32:170:32:19

We're thrilled to be in the top three, and winning it would be

0:32:240:32:27

the icing on the cake, so fingers crossed.

0:32:270:32:30

See how we get on tonight.

0:32:300:32:31

These awards are judged by 45 professionals

0:32:310:32:34

from across the farming industry.

0:32:340:32:36

Over 30 farms entered the diversification category,

0:32:380:32:41

and the judges had to come down to the best three.

0:32:410:32:45

The Nicholsons - undoubtedly that business

0:32:480:32:51

would have failed

0:32:510:32:54

if they hadn't gone down a diversification route.

0:32:540:32:57

But, yeah, a big punt 25 years ago

0:32:580:33:01

when open farms were almost unheard of.

0:33:010:33:06

Richard and Anna at Springfield Nursery,

0:33:060:33:09

that was a fascinating business.

0:33:090:33:11

They have a real passion for children,

0:33:110:33:13

they have a large family themselves.

0:33:130:33:15

What really impressed us, or certainly me,

0:33:150:33:18

was how they were able to build

0:33:180:33:21

their nursery business.

0:33:210:33:24

And I think, at that stage, they probably recognised

0:33:240:33:26

that the risk to the business of just being sheep farmers

0:33:260:33:30

was too great.

0:33:300:33:32

The Richards family in Cornwall,

0:33:320:33:35

you haven't got many opportunities when you're surrounded by sea,

0:33:350:33:39

if you don't get involved in the public,

0:33:390:33:42

and what really impressed us about that

0:33:420:33:45

is they had seen the opportunity to put in and develop

0:33:450:33:50

a very comprehensive green waste recycling enterprise.

0:33:500:33:54

Clearly a really well thought-out strategy for that business.

0:33:550:34:00

Dinner is served,

0:34:080:34:10

and our farmers get their chance to be waited on hand and foot.

0:34:100:34:15

It's a rare occasion for them to indulge in a bit of posh cooking...

0:34:150:34:19

..share some fine wine...

0:34:220:34:23

..and, of course, enjoy the company.

0:34:260:34:27

It's not often so many passionately driven farmers

0:34:290:34:32

get together like this.

0:34:320:34:33

Good evening,

0:34:420:34:44

and welcome, all of you, to the 2016 Farmers Weekly Awards.

0:34:440:34:49

Now, please welcome one of the BBC's most high profile presenters,

0:34:550:34:59

anchor of the BBC News At Ten, ladies and gentlemen,

0:34:590:35:01

it's Fiona Bruce.

0:35:010:35:03

Welcome to all of you this evening. It's my huge pleasure to be here.

0:35:110:35:15

18 awards will be given out tonight, ranging from Farmer of the Year,

0:35:150:35:20

to Farm Worker of the Year.

0:35:200:35:22

..ladies and gentlemen, on the farming community in Mull,

0:35:230:35:25

and she's working on ambitious expansion plans

0:35:250:35:28

for the sheep business she runs with her partner.

0:35:280:35:31

Did you notice the firework go off on the table?

0:35:340:35:36

That was quite something, wasn't it?

0:35:360:35:38

That's going to be happening every time at a winner's table.

0:35:380:35:40

Next up, we have Contractor of the Year.

0:35:400:35:44

And the winner is, Scott Lawrie.

0:35:450:35:47

As huge celebrations take place on the tables next door,

0:35:510:35:54

our farmers are nervously waiting for their category.

0:35:540:35:57

Finally, their moment arrives.

0:35:590:36:02

The next award goes to the Diversification Farmer of the Year.

0:36:050:36:10

Four Extra Hands is the sponsor here.

0:36:110:36:13

We welcome co-owner, Nigel Merion.

0:36:130:36:15

Let's take a look, shall we, at the diversification shortlist.

0:36:230:36:27

And from Springfield Nursery, North Devon, Anna and Richard May.

0:36:270:36:31

This couple have fought back from complete devastation

0:36:340:36:37

to rejuvenate their farm and run a thriving children's nursery.

0:36:370:36:40

When foot-and-mouth hit us, and it affected us hugely,

0:36:440:36:49

you could easily wallow in doom and gloom,

0:36:490:36:51

but we were lucky that we've got a very supportive family

0:36:510:36:54

and that, from the ashes, rose an amazing nursery.

0:36:540:36:58

I never thought we could be where we are today,

0:36:580:37:01

but it's a lot of hard work, a lot of stress, but it's well worth it.

0:37:010:37:07

We love it every day, and we've got such a lovely setting here.

0:37:070:37:11

You've just got to look at our view, you know why we're doing it here.

0:37:110:37:17

APPLAUSE

0:37:170:37:19

From Cannon Hall Farm, South Yorkshire, the Nicholson family.

0:37:210:37:25

From humble beginnings,

0:37:250:37:26

the family has worked over 30 years to build a farm tourism attraction,

0:37:260:37:31

and a flourishing farm.

0:37:310:37:33

We don't have an exit strategy.

0:37:360:37:37

You know, we've got a continuation strategy, so that's where we are.

0:37:370:37:43

The money side of it's never been top of the list at all.

0:37:430:37:48

It's doing the job properly,

0:37:500:37:52

making sure that everybody that comes enjoys themselves.

0:37:520:37:57

But to have a Maserati, or whatever in the back,

0:37:580:38:03

that's not the aim at all. No.

0:38:030:38:06

APPLAUSE

0:38:090:38:13

And for The Green Waste Company, Cornwall, the Richards family.

0:38:130:38:16

This close-knit family have

0:38:180:38:20

successfully married recycling with farming.

0:38:200:38:23

On a planet drowning in waste,

0:38:230:38:25

they are leading the way against the struggle.

0:38:250:38:28

Everybody's involved and we can all work together,

0:38:300:38:34

and it's a fantastic feeling.

0:38:340:38:36

It's given us a bigger business.

0:38:400:38:41

We've actually got two businesses, if you like.

0:38:410:38:43

So we split our risk, and they both work together.

0:38:430:38:47

All you want for your children, whether they're 2, or 20, or 40,

0:38:470:38:52

is success, isn't it?

0:38:520:38:53

And they worked hard and they've been rewarded.

0:38:540:38:57

The sheer hard work that it's taken to get here is testimony to

0:39:000:39:04

the determination of all our farmers,

0:39:040:39:07

but now it's the moment of truth.

0:39:070:39:10

Which of those is Diversification Farmer of the Year? Fiona?

0:39:100:39:14

Could you tell us who has won this year's trophy?

0:39:140:39:16

The winners are...

0:39:200:39:22

..the Richards family.

0:39:280:39:29

We've had a really good night, both of us, haven't we?

0:39:550:39:58

It's been a fantastic experience.

0:39:580:40:00

We are so lucky to be here and to even be nominated was fantastic,

0:40:000:40:04

so we feel like we're winners in our eyes and that's all that matters,

0:40:040:40:08

and we wish the winners the best of luck.

0:40:080:40:10

Being in the final three is recognition for

0:40:140:40:17

what we've achieved so far, coming forward

0:40:170:40:19

from foot-and-mouth, to now where we are today,

0:40:190:40:21

so I think just to see us on the big screen was great.

0:40:210:40:26

I'm incredibly proud of my parents tonight. They've done a great job.

0:40:290:40:32

I've enjoyed watching them develop the nursery

0:40:320:40:35

and carry on with the farming, and they've done a very good job.

0:40:350:40:39

-A little bit disappointed.

-A little flat.

0:40:460:40:48

I think we're feeling disappointed, but to be here is a thrill,

0:40:500:40:54

we congratulate the winners and the story runs on,

0:40:540:40:58

and we go again next year. And that's, really, all we can do.

0:40:580:41:02

-The eve is not finished.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-The night is young.

0:41:040:41:07

Not like they're feeling...

0:41:100:41:12

Ladies and gentlemen, our winners!

0:41:180:41:21

I think, when you just think the night can't get any better,

0:41:270:41:30

it just does, and it just did for us, and we're thrilled about it,

0:41:300:41:34

so, amazing night.

0:41:340:41:35

I thought the icing on the cake would be it,

0:41:350:41:38

but, to be honest, it's more than that,

0:41:380:41:40

and it's more than the icing on the cake,

0:41:400:41:42

it's like the candle on top as well.

0:41:420:41:44

-Not just us that won it.

-Yeah.

0:41:450:41:47

It's our staff, the consultants we use as well.

0:41:470:41:50

Yeah, we've got a whole team of people that work for us

0:41:500:41:52

that are really valued.

0:41:520:41:54

-We're just part of the team.

-Fantastic. Yeah.

0:41:540:41:57

We couldn't do it without them.

0:41:570:41:58

-My wife is my...my stalwart.

-Aw!

0:42:020:42:05

We've been married for 36 years.

0:42:080:42:10

-Have we?

-36, yes.

-Oh, 36. I thought he said 46.

0:42:100:42:13

A long time, yeah!

0:42:130:42:14

And I can't believe how many people have messaged us, saying

0:42:210:42:24

"Good luck tonight". And now... this result is just fabulous.

0:42:240:42:29

-Yeah.

-Ah!

0:42:290:42:30

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