Iestyn Russell

[Sama Hoole @SamaHoole]

Jeremy Clarkson made £144 farming a thousand acres in his first year.

In year six he lost five thousand.

His own words to his land agent: dispiriting enough to clear a hundred and forty-four quid at the start, and here we are six years on, down five grand. The harvest had been projected at thirty-seven thousand profit. Weather and prices took it.

Now look at what that thousand acres has behind it that yours does not.

One of the best land agents in the country. A farm manager who has worked that ground since he was a teenager. A farm shop with a queue down the lane, a pub, bestselling books, more than a quarter of a million in subsidy across three years, and a television production paying for the entire thing to be filmed.

It is the most commercially advantaged thousand acres in Britain, and the farming still loses money.

That figure should end every conversation about British agriculture, and it is the one number that never makes it onto a campaign graphic. Not the glyphosate. Not the pig housing. The margin.

Because everything people object to on a farm grows straight out of it. The field pushed to the very edge. The hedge that came out because the government paid to have it removed. The shed instead of the yard. The supermarket contract signed below cost because the alternative was no contract. Nobody intensified out of malice. They were priced into it over sixty years by a policy that decided cheap groceries mattered more than a countryside, and by a retail sector that kept the difference.

Britain now grows around sixty per cent of its own food. More than a third of British farmers are past sixty-five.

The man with the Amazon cheque cannot make a thousand acres pay.

The seventy-year-old with three hundred and no film crew is doing it anyway, and being told by people who have never sold a tonne of anything that he is the problem.

[Have I Got News For You @haveigotnews]

Government set to miss broadband rollout targets, despite massive dongle installed at No 10.

[Food and Agriculture Organization @FAO]

Health is the top priority when it comes to #COVID19 but countries also need to keep food supply chains alive and protect the most vulnerable.

Watch to find out how 👇

More info: https://t.co/IaQXmkLX3F

[Iestyn Russell @IestynRussell]

https://t.co/RieyFPYEWe

[Iestyn Russell @IestynRussell]

Food rationing must be introduced immediately to stop coronavirus shortages, experts warn https://t.co/nWWyo8fmMZ

[Agriland @AgrilandIreland]

'Faced with a global public health crisis however, it becomes clear how important our food production system is' https://t.co/85z50kTIrI

[ITV Racing @itvracing]

One of the biggest shocks in Gold Cup history 🏆

30 years ago...

Watch The Gold Cup LIVE from 3.30pm
📺 @ITV
📱 https://t.co/fJXuj4d6h6

#ITVRacing #CheltenhamFestival

[Stuart Roberts 🔸 @HertsFarmer]

This is shocking - 37% increase in NHS admissions for eating disorders in 2 years. The importance of a healthy balanced diet cannot be over emphasised. https://t.co/M5q8U8SXhG

[MRS EFF @gregwallaceface]

.@AndrewRTDavies right now

La-la-la-ee-la

Nothing to see here, folks.....move along

Tum-te-tum-te-tum

https://t.co/0nGXfbLwpV

[Danny Lydiate @dan_lydiate]

Massive thanks to every British farmer for the hard work you do throughout the year. And also to the British consumers who buy our delicious produce!#Farm24 @FarmersGuardian #nowwerefarming 🚜🐄🐏🐖🐓🌿🌱👍🏻💪🏻

[Rowena Duncum @rowie_nz]

Congrats to Richard Jones the first ever Welsh World Machine Shearing Champion. Rowly Smith 2nd and Cam Ferguson 3rd. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[Oliver Hall @ohallandersons]

Opinion: Why UK farms can have an edge over New Zealand rivals - Farmers Weekly - Interesting Read - who’s ready to go through the phases ? https://t.co/TrxMw44rXW

[Lonely Planet @lonelyplanet]

Whether you like them old and craggy, recently renovated or simply historically significant, 7 of the best castles in Wales: https://t.co/4qcMluydLX by @YayAmyPay

[Iestyn Russell @IestynRussell]

Cheltenham Festival: Gold Cup-winning trainer Colin Tizzard completes fairytale https://t.co/5LCIFBbUuT

[Iestyn Russell @IestynRussell]

Winter Paralympics: Nikko Landeros and Tyler Carron aim for Para-ice hockey final https://t.co/rgoN2G0TzS

[ScrumDingers @ScrumDingers]

Proper Brexit performance there from England, returning from the continent after a confused performance with France and Ireland the winners.

[Iestyn Russell @IestynRussell]

Culture eats strategy for breakfast

[Mark Lane @MarkLaneTV]

This is a cross section of a single blade of grass, stained for the microscope. The smiley faces are the channels that the water is drawn up through. Isn't nature incredible?

[Agriland @AgrilandIreland]

@davidkerr67 shared his dairy farming story at the recent @IrishGrassland Association dairy conference
https://t.co/WHJHXmQXhf