We meet those who are tending the land and trending on social media
Across the country, farmers are turning to social media to offer us a window into their world. We meet those tending the land and trending now
homas Pemberton gets up at half past three most mornings. In a couple of hours, he’ll be milking the cows. But first, he has to edit a video for his Youtube channel. By day, Thomas is a dairy farmer in Lancashire. By night, he’s an influencer, filming snippets of his farming life for his 230,000 subscribers.
Tom Pemberton Farm Life is one of Youtube’s top farming channels and is part of a burgeoning trend. Exclusive figures from the social media network for reveal that views of its top 15 most subscribed channels about farming in the UK have risen by 50 per cent over the past two years. The farmers we spoke to all noticed a particular spike in followers and likes over lockdown. Farmer-broadcasters now proliferate across every social media platform – Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Tiktok, better known for its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it music videos (head to @caenhillcc – a Tiktok account with 2.8m likes – to watch geese waddle around Chris Franklin’s farm in Wiltshire).
Some farmers want to connect to others in the field for agricultural advice. Others are looking to ease the loneliness of long hours. And more just want to give people an insight into their lives. All are having an impact, changing the way we see farming and encouraging us to appreciate the origins of our food. “Back in the day, you might imagine an old man stuck in his ways,” Thomas says. “Farming isn’t like that – many of us are young, we love our jobs and social media gives us the chance to share that with the world.”
Hannah Jackson is a first-time farmer and contract shepherdess, on Brookside Farm in Croglin, Cumbria. She also guest-presented an episode of earlier this year. Hannah sells her lamb through Instagram.
“Seven years ago, I knew nothing about farming. I’d just finished a degree in animal behaviour and had gone on a family holiday to the Lake District. I saw a lamb being born and knew instantly that was what I wanted to do but didn’t know how to get into it.
“Joining Twitter helped me meet farmers and see how they did things around the country. I got work experience with a sheepdog trainer and, within a year, my parents had bought a smallholding. In 2014, we moved to Cumbria from the Wirral. My work was initially as a contract shepherdess and now I also look after 120 of my own sheep and 200 lambs. With my partner, Danny, I farm 65 acres and use social media to inspire people from all backgrounds into farming, especially women.
“It’s good to show others what farmers really do. People love seeing a sheepdog being trained or a lamb being born. And while I’m always very positive, I include the difficult bits, too. In one post, I went as far as skinning a lamb. The lamb hadn’t survived the birth, so I showed people how I was removing its skin to put on another one. Instead of focusing on the lamb that hadn’t made it, I explained that I was doing this for the bereaved ewe, who would now be happier and healthier. People had no idea this happened – they were amazed.”
Countryfile