Countryfile's Adam Henson shares 'rollercoaster of emotions' and 'devastating mistake'
Countryfile presenter Adam Henson has told how, even today, those who work in the farming industry are on a knife-edge at this time of year.
Farming is in Adam Henson’s blood – he was born on the Gloucestershire farm where he still works to this day - and his father founded the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, as well as appearing as a presenter on BBC shows such as Animal Magic.
“There's something almost primeval about the planting, growing and gathering of crops, even in the third decade of the 21st century,” he writes in Countryfile magazine of this year's harvest.
But even with all of today’s modern farming methods, it’s still a risky time. “If we miss a window of fine weather to get the combines out in the fields, it can be a devastating and costly mistake,” Adam explains.
He shares that the end of the Summer, when it’s time to gather in the crops that farmers have been carefully tending for months, is “the most important, exhilarating, unpredictable, stressful and satisfying period of the entire farming year.”
Adam adds that “the combination of hope, jeopardy and sheer hard graft can make the summer months a rollercoaster of emotions.”
It can only take one unforeseen snag – a period of severe weather or an outbreak of disease – to bring a farmer’s world crashing down around him.
In 2001 Adam and his wife Charlie feared they had lost everything in the wake of a devastating Foot and Mouth epidemic.
Again, when Covid-19 came along, it seemed like the end of Adam’s world.
He recalled: "On the Monday the government closed the country down and I thought that was it!"
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He said: "I found myself doing a video on social media saying: 'I promised my Dad on his deathbed, I’d look after his legacy and we’re going to lose the lot', that was my genuine emotion at the time."
Adam said he checks the weather every single day – watching out for the best moment to bring in his wheat and barley: “I find myself checking and double checking the local forecast,” he says.
“It's the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I do before I collapse into my bed, exhausted, late at night.”
