COUNTRYFILE viewers were left horrified at last night’s episode as they raged over the slaughter of ewes at Adam Henson’s Cotswold Farm.
During Sunday night’s episode of the agriculture programme, presenter Adam, 58, took viewers along with him as he performed a health check on his flock of 150 ewes.
Adam explained that several months after lambing season, once all the lambs are weaned, it’s time to check out the health of all the ewes to see if they can breed again next year.
Walking along his farm, Adam explained that the weaned lambs were kept in a separate field from the ewes.
“In this field, we’ve got some lambs that were born back in February from our early lambing flock, and they’re now living independently from their mums. They no longer need her milk anymore. So they’ve been what’s called weaned and they’re living on grass and they’re perfectly happy in there,” he explained.
Adam continued: “And then over here are their mums, so these are the weaned ewes that will now go back to the ram this autumn to give birth in spring 2025.
“And what we’ve got to do is get this flock in and check them over and make sure they’re all fit and healthy, ready to go back to the ram.”
But, it’s not as simple as it sounds. Every year, farmers expect to have some ewes that won’t be able to breed again.
Adam explained: “Each year, all sheep farmers expect to have to replace some of their older or unproductive ewes.
“So today we’re sorting through half of our breeding flock…. around 150 sheep. I’d expect 25 percent of these to be unsuitable to breed again. Today. I’m hoping it’s less.”
Along with his livestock manager, Harry, Adam worked tirelessly to check the teeth and udders of the ewes, as these are essential for breeding.
“With these ewes, obviously, we don’t want to find any problems. When I say 25 percent cull rate, we’d like it to be less than that. So we really want them to be fit and healthy to go round and breed again.
“But obviously, the older ewes, when they start to lose their teeth, they can’t graze the grass, they get poor… when they’re rearing twins, they put a lot of energy and effort into that and they can get sick.”
However, after checking his flock, Adam realised he had to let 15 of them go.
“10 percent is better than the 25 I expected,” he said, showing fifteen sheep sprayed with red dots who are ready to go to market into the meat trade.
Agricultural programme Countryfile launched on the BBC in 1988. In its long history, the show's seen several presenters come and go. Let's take a look at the current line-up.
However, these scenes didn’t sit well with some BBC viewers, with one calling it a “low point for Countryfile” on X, formerly Twitter.
“Jesus. Brutal, Countryfile,” fumed another.
While a third appalled viewer said: “And that’s why I’m now a veggie.”
“If we want to help farmers, we’d be better off spending our taxes focusing on cattle-based measures rather than slaughtering tens of thousands of iconic wildlife species every year now, to no great avail,” commented another BBC viewer. (sic)
“I don’t think the future is bright for the ewes that don’t make the grade,” complained a fifth.
Unfortunately, this is one of the many difficult decisions Adam has to make on his farm.
The farmer-turned-TV presenter previously admitted that he has struggled to make ends meet on his family farm.
Speaking on his mental health podcast, Keeping on Track, last year, Adam explained: “With political change, particularly with leaving Europe, our subsidy scheme is being reduced quite significantly and the commodities that we produce, whether that’s lamb, beef, pork, wheat, you name it, are trading on a global market or a national market and unless you can find niches, or a second job, or some other form of diversification, straight agriculture is very difficult.”
Adam then went on to talk about his personal struggles. “We’ve run 1600-acre farm here, we’re on a tenancy so we have a large rent, but our arable unit and livestock are quite big, well-run units, but we’ve struggled to make ends meet and thankfully we have lots of other income streams,” he shared.
Countryfile is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
