BBC Two celebrates British farming with return of Harvest series

Following the fortunes of Britain’s top producers as they battle to bring in this year’s harvest, Gregg, Philippa and James will roam the country visiting farms that produce world-class crops, and meeting the innovative, pioneering farmers who make Britain great.

Witnessing the harvest as it happens up and down the country, each episode will focus on three different locations in the UK. The team will follow this critical time of year as the nation’s farmers find out whether their efforts have resulted in a successful yield, showing the impact that harvest can have on the food industry and everyday consumers.

Twenty-eight year-old dairy farmer and new BBC presenter James Manning is from North Herefordshire and grew up on his family farm. James joins the presenting team with a wealth of knowledge and experience of contemporary issues surrounding farming and agriculture.

James says: “For me, harvest is the time of year when all your hard work as a farmer pays off. All the ups and downs, the long nights and early mornings have all been working up to this moment. The best bit about filming for me has been meeting other farms, seeing the pride and pleasure they get at this time of year. It’s been fantastic to see British farmers trying new things and innovating the way they work to farm smarter, bigger and better than the year before.”

Returning to present the new Harvest series, Gregg Wallace says: “Being a city boy and a former green grocer, getting out in the countryside watching vegetables being grown and harvested is an absolute joy. Some little boys never grow up - I’m one of them. Driving the harvesters has been a pure delight. What the country eats is a huge subject at harvest time, not just for farmers, but the whole food industry and us at home feeding our families. What amazes me is how tight the margins are and how one mistake could put generations of farming families out of business. You have to be big or go bust!”

Also returning for the second series, Philippa Forrester says: “As a mother of three I am always interested to see where the food I put on our plates comes from, which is what has inspired me to grow my own. I secretly always wanted to live on a farm when I was little, so spending time on a farm and watching the process of growing our nation’s food is a dream come true. It never ceases to amaze me, the ingenuity and innovation that goes into farming across Britain.”

In the West, the team reports from Somerset, where three generations of the Thatchers family are harvesting their cider apple orchards. The rolling countryside in the West gets more rainfall than the East and that explains why these undulating hills and sweeping valleys are so lush - perfect for growing world-famous cider apples.

In the East, they visit Sussex and Hampshire, where pioneering farmer Peter Barfoot has spent decades turning exotic veg into regular British fridge fillers, growing vegetables that many thought couldn’t be grown in Britain.

In the North, the Hay family in Perthshire, Scotland, are anxiously awaiting a dry spell to bring in their harvest of Scottish oats. Having recently pulled their last ever potato harvest, the Hays have now switched to cereals - in particular porridge oats, a rising superfood in Britain.

Tim Martin, Executive Producer, says: “What makes the British Harvest so fascinating is how different it is every year. In this series, we focus on the crops Britain grows best, exploring the areas of British farming where we punch above our weight to deliver world-class produce. Right across the UK, we meet innovative farmers whose pioneering spirit is changing the farming industry and guaranteeing there's always food on our plates.”

Harvest 2015 is a 3x60 series commissioned for BBC Two by Tom McDonald, Head of Commissioning Natural History and Specialist Factual Formats, and Lucinda Axelsson, Commissioning Executive Specialist Factual Formats. The series producer is Lucy Bowden. The BBC Executive Producer is Tim Martin.

EK

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