The Smallholder Series DVDs

Tuesday, 21 August 2007 05:19 Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 September 2010 08:42

The Smallholder Series is a unique and exciting new programming venture which sets out to re-establish the connection between the British public and the managed countryside, and to introduce the farming year in a way that is both engaging and educational.

The programmes, presented by Adam Henson, feature real people who have embarked on the smallholding way of life, and details their first and continuing steps into livestock husbandry, market gardening and farm diversity projects.

The Smallholder Series is ‘hands on’, and shows exactly how to carry out livestock tasks, and includes interviews with experts on subjects that smallholders need to know about, and those who aspire to the country life are curious about. Things like haymaking, the shepherd’s calendar and how a farmer creates a flock health plan for his sheep - all these are explained in a clear and easy to understand way and filmed in the breathtaking British countryside.

The first series, Sheep on Your Smallholding, released in 2010, comprises four programmes:
Establishing Your Flock
Managing Your Flock for Peak Health
The Breeding Flock
Sheep for Enterprise, Business & Profit
These programmes will carry the recommendation of the National Sheep Association, and be accredited by members of The Sheep Veterinary Society.

SHEEP 2010 - click here to read about our DVD launch at the Three Counties Showground, Malvern

Adam Henson - presenter

Adam is probably best known to the general public as a regular presenter on BBC1’s Countryfile (although he has also appeared on Sky TV, Central News and Top Gear, among others!). He also does work for Radio Gloucestershire, has presented for Radio 4, and writes for the monthly Countryfile magazine.

However, more than any of these things, Adam is a farmer.  Like his father before him, he runs the 650-hectare Bemborough Farm, a fully commercial operation, and the Cotswold Farm Park visitor attraction, which pioneers rare breed conservation and was the first Rare Breeds Survival Trust centre in the country.

Adam’s wealth of experience in farming and his lifelong interest in native species, allied to his lively personality, made him our first choice to be the “face and voice” of the Smallholder Series.  Luckily for us, he too thought that it was a great project, and enthusiastically agreed to be a part of it.

We have since found him to be great fun to work with, and a real bonus when finding contributors –the respect that smallholders, farmers and consultants have for his wide knowledge of farming matters means that they are always keen to talk to Adam!