Farmer My Story

This story belongs to Joe

and his Grandad Stoker.

It's a tiny tale about Grandad Stoker and the things he used to do.

And still does now on the farm.

Now it's time for Grandad Stoker to share his memories

and take Joe on a journey of discovery.

Let's find out what Grandad Stoker and Joe are doing on the farm.

-Are these your sheep, Farmer Joe?

-Yeah.

-And these cows?

-Yeah.

-So where's the little lambs?

-They're there.

-All right.

What you need is a crook like mine.

-What is that, Grandad?

-This is the crook I got from my grandfather

when I was a little boy, just like you. I'd go out in the field

and catch them with this crook. What job do you think a farmer does?

-Erm, he feeds the animals.

-Aye. What else does he do?

-He puts the animals in the shed.

-Uh-huh.

Grandad, have you always lived on the farm?

Yes, I was born on this farm and I've always worked here.

Grandad Stoker lived on the farm with his three brothers.

The family farm was really big and had lots of animals.

He especially loved his horse, Kevin.

And his dog, called Pep.

-Will you work on the farm with your dad when you get older?

-Yeah.

They talked for a while about long ago,

and went for a walk to find out more.

If Joe wants to be a farmer there's lots to learn from Grandad Stoker.

Grandad, did you want to be a farmer when you were a little boy?

Actually, Joe, no, I wanted to be a schoolteacher.

But then my father was old and he wanted me to come back

and work on the farm.

So I came back and worked on the farm and I really enjoyed it.

When Grandad Stoker's dad was a farmer, things were very different.

Look at these pictures of farm life a long time ago.

In the olden days, horses would pull the plough through the fields,

rather than the tractors the farmers use today.

It was really hard work working on the farm

because everything had to be done by hand.

But it looks like fun, too.

But not everything has changed.

They still use shepherds' crooks.

And they still have the same kinds of animals.

They have sheep...

..and cows...

and sheepdogs to help the farmer.

Grandad Stoker is taking Joe to learn all about the sheep.

These sheep are mummy sheep.

They're going to be having lambs soon.

Here we are in the sheep shed.

This is the crook I showed you earlier. I got this from my grandad.

-This is what I use to catch the little lambs if they run away.

-Hmm.

-How many sheep do you think are in here?

-33, I think.

-33?

Yeah, there would be about that and they'll all have little lambs,

-won't they?

-Yeah.

-Then we'll take the ewes and lambs

and put them in a pen by themselves.

-Will we go across and have a look at the lambs?

-Yes.

Joe is very lucky. He's about to see a lamb being born.

Wow! A new baby lamb.

That's it.

BAAAA!

A new lamb born.

-Did you like that?

-Yeah.

Will we go and have a look at these lambs in this pen, Joe?

Yeah, that one.

Look how cute and cuddly the little lamb is.

-Why's it going back out?

-Here you go.

Do you want to stroke him?

He won't bite, you know. That's better.

That's what you want. What do you think we'll call this one?

-Shaun.

-Shaun the sheep! How old do you think he'll be?

-35.

-35, no, no.

-I think he will.

-All right.

Do you think he's getting frightened? We'll put him back with his mum.

There you go.

I wonder what other animals Grandad Stoker has on the farm?

Now Grandad Stoker and Joe are off to feed the cows.

When I was little and I used to help my father to feed the cows

we had all this here to fork into the troughs for the cows.

-Do you want to put some hay in the trough?

-Uh-huh.

-Do you like feeding cows, Grandad?

-Oh, yeah, I like feeding the cows.

Do you like being a farmer?

Of course, that's what I've done all my life.

You put that bit in further down, that's it.

Look, Joe is very strong.

-There you go.

-Do you have big muscles for this, Grandad?

When we were young we had big muscles cos we had to put it up there.

It was hard. You had to have big muscles then

but now we use bright, new, shiny tractors.

The cows get fed with big machines. For the rest of the bale

I just forked it and put it into the trough like that.

-All of it in?

-Yeah, put it in here.

There you go. So we let the cows in now to get their dinner, Joe.

MOOING See?

In the olden days, it took a lot of hard work to feed the cows.

They're big cows. They're getting their dinner.

-He's going in that one.

-Uh-huh.

-They'll not touch you, like.

-Uh-oh.

It's someone else's turn.

MOOING

When I started on the farm,

life was a lot different to what it is now.

It took all morning to feed the cows.

Now we feed them with big machines and it's a lot easier to feed them.

Ah, that's clever. The machine mixes up all the food inside

and then puts it into the trough for the cows to eat.

Not like when Grandad Stoker was young.

He had to use a big fork.

Really, the work took all day to feed cows

when now one man can do it in half the time.

It's so much quicker with the machine.

Grandad Stoker's got pictures of the farm when he was very young.

And he wants to tell Joe all about it.

My grandfather came to this farm a long, long time ago.

My father farmed it after him.

It's Grandad Stoker's dad.

Then I farmed it after my father.

And there's Grandad Stoker when he was younger.

With new machinery we can feed those animals far easier than we used to.

So life on the farm has gone from a very difficult life

which it used to be, to really quite an easy life now.

These machines are great.

And Joe wants to know more about tractors.

-How old is this tractor, Grandad?

-It's 40 years old, I used to use this

when I was a young man, about 20.

This is the little tractor we used to use in the summer

to load the grass up before we baled it.

And this is us loading bales up onto the trailer.

You see, it's got no cab on so you were outside in the sun.

It still works here, it works every day here.

-Do you want to have a sit on the seat?

-Uh-huh.

-Come here.

You get up on there.

There you go.

What's your favourite tractor, Grandad?

Well, this is the one I've had the longest, this is the favourite one.

Shall we go round the corner and see what it can do?

This is my daddy.

Joe's daddy, Paul, is using the old red tractor on the farm.

The old red tractor is perfect for cleaning the yard.

It's amazing to think they've been using this tractor

on the farm for so long.

Now Grandad Stoker and Joe are going to look at the new tractor.

Joe, you know when we had a look at the little, old, red tractor,

-my favourite tractor?

-Yes.

This is a brand new tractor. What's different with this one?

-It has big wheels.

-Big wheels and what colour is it?

-Blue.

-Would you like to sit in it?

-YEAH!

-Good lad.

-Please.

-Oh!

Up you go.

-Are you going to sit in the driver's seat?

-Yes.

-Oh!

-So which one do you prefer, Joe? The little one or this one?

-This one.

-This one? Why?

-Because it's just big.

-It's big, and what do you call this one?

-Big Blue.

-Big Blue?

All right. I think I like the little old one, me, best.

So we're going to go and watch your daddy in it?

The blue tractor is Daddy Paul's favourite tractor, too.

JOE CHUCKLES

The big blue tractor is working hard on the farm.

It would be very difficult to do this work without the tractor.

Grandad Stoker has shared lots of stories about the farm.

And we've learned so much.

Thank you, Grandad, for a lovely day.

-Have you enjoyed it?

-Yes.

-Joe saw a little lamb being born.

He learned how they fed cows in the olden days.

And he got to sit on the tractors.

-What was your favourite bit?

-The shepherd's crook.

So do you think when you're big Grandad should give you

-a shepherd's crook?

-Yeah.

-And will you work on the farm?

-Yeah.

-Oh, we've had a lovely time, haven't we?

-Yeah.

-Give us a cuddle. Is that all right?

-Yeah.

What a fabulous heap of fun.

That was Joe and Grandad Stoker's tiny tale about the things

Grandad Stoker used to do and the fun he had,

and why he's got a shepherd's crook.

Grandad Stoker has shared his story with Joe

and now Joe is starting his own story.

Do you know someone with a story to share?

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd