UK beef farmers are under attack; here's my response to C4's The Big British Beef Battle programme

British (and Irish) beef farmers should be celebrated in this country; the UK enjoys almost perfect growing conditions for raising grass-fed beef yet the UK media constantly blame farmers for climate change.
In this video I explain why this is and why the recent Channel 4 documentary titled The Big British Beef Battle got it so spectacularly wrong.

[johnnaughton]

Well done Harry. Here in Ireland we have livestock, poultry, dairy, grain and green grass for thousands of years. That's how we survived and we're still here. It's what we're good at.It's one of our few natural resources and we do it very well. It's the middle men and greed producing cheap processed foods .There are a lot of industries involved all making money from food. The farmers of good food are getting very little from it. It's great to have a few cows and bullocks, sheep, chickens running around the yard and a pig in the barrel. Nothing wrong with veg, a few spuds and some meat grown here on the best land and climate in the world naturally .This part of the world is suitable for these industries. We should be supported and applauded for doing so. That's my rant. Thank you. 😅🇮🇪

[brianlopez]

So sad that the basics of UK farming have to be explained to the "Stupid Brigade".

[BobTheBlue]

Great video Harry. If I were a UK farmer, I’d make an official complaint to Ofcom about moronic and inaccurate reporting from a stated owned Channel4. Asked to get them fined and to broadcast an apology for falsely reporting the facts

[tartanbessy]

Come from generations of farming in Scotland and heart sick of the intentional misleading information about how terrible UK and Irish farming supposidly is 🤦🙄
Thank you so much for making this video 🤗🤗

[edmatterson]

I farm grassfed beef in Australia and I entirely endorse your views. Furthermore, why do these misguided people go after farmers who are feeding the human race, instead of, say, the tourism industry (flights, cruise ships etc.) which is a massive fossil fuel user and does not contribute anything to the further continuation of the human race? Makes no sense!

[ianleaver]

It’s really a pity this is not put on mainstream television and media outlets, although it probably wouldn’t be liked because it doesn’t fit in with their agenda. Thanks for another very interesting and informative video Harry.

[bzaps]

I was on a 10, 000 acre beef farm today in St George, Australia. What I saw was a small family show nothing but care to their livestock and a commitment to pasture improvement and vegetation management.. These farmers are not the enemy of climate change, they are actually in fact a part of the solution.

[Flyingjaffacake]

Aw I vegan I found your environmental case for your type of sustainable farming extremely compelling. Thanks for sharing your knowledge in such a patient and thorough manner.

[stephenbolger]

Hi Harry, Great video. I am an ecologist based in Ireland. You hit the nail on the head. If the beef and dairy industry goes in Ireland, it would destroy rural communities across the country. Unfortunately the extreme environmentalists don't live in the real world and certainly the politicians at international level haven't a clue either. How can the EU expect Irish or British farmers to accept the importation of Brazilian beef where the environmental standards are so low. Its not a level playing at all. If Irish tillage, dairy and beef farmers called it quits in the morning its not going to do one thing to stop climate change.

[seangorry]

Well said Harry. Things in Ireland are getting just as bad. Lot's of false or misleading information going around. It's a tough industry to stay in. High input costs, low income, and now increasing anti-beef public sentiment. Former suckler now dry stock beef farmer from Ireland, 28.

[davidchalmers]

What a brilliant video Harry. You explained the British beef industry clearly and articulately, far better than most of our 'representatives'.
The whole industry needs to use this and develop a clear message, based on science and use it to counter the nonsense we saw on the Ch 4 programme.

[angrybearduk]

100% support for the British farmers. You are keeping us healthy by giving us an alternative to hyper-processed "food". We must protect British countryside and British farmers if we want to protect future generations!

[johnnyboyj]

Great job Harry, as an Irish Dairy/Beef farmer I'm delighted to see you highlighting the facts and showing up the rhetoric for what it is.

[dellhell]

As someone who grew up on a mixed farm in Ireland, a country even more suitable to grass growing, I completely concur. Excellent presentation as usual Harry. Thank you for doing this.

[erikraeven]

You didn't only explain how it really works in your country, Harry, but you also showed how untrue the figures can be in the media. I get really sad when I read about the farmers in Belgium, many of them are on the verge of losing their farms because of these same figures. I think we urgently need some Harry's in Belgium.

[LJinx]

Totally agree! We’ve got to save our British farms and farmers from this misinformation. Unfortunately it suits those in power for us to not gaze at their more polluting (and less valued contribution to society) ways.

[WilliamStevens]

Thanks for sharing this Harry, People need to wise up about how great UK farmers are.

[testpilotian]

This is similar to what happened in The Netherlands, they (media, government, stakeholders) just plain lied to push through extreme net zero requirements and used laws reserved for extreme circumstances to compulsory purchase farms and close them down under the guise of them creating too much C02 and nitrogen.

Luckily the farmers fought back, started their own political party and won the last election and afaik, promptly reversed the decisions made.

This program is part of the same movement, someone doesn’t just decide to make these shows, they’re suggested.

[janefielder]

Just found Harry's website and so pleased l have . Have lived and worked on dairy / beef farms in Dorset and this is an excellent representation They were pushing poultry consumption in the programme but completely overlooked the welfare issues in intensive chicken units No mention of ethically sourced birds etc Surprised they didn't serve up a medley of fried insects Bill Gaits style . Merry Christmas one and all 🎄⛄💫🥂and a Huge Huge Thank You to all our food producers/ farming workforce ♥️

[LizChild-ui]

Well done, Harry. I'm an environmentalist (BSC Human Ecology) and I'm happy with everything you have said. Ruminants are an important component for keeping our ecological carbon sequestration cycle working properly. I'm a great believer in having the availability of quality meat proteins for all. Feed-lot meat is not that. We do need to do something about the hedges in this country though. Such an important form of ecological carbon sequestration as well as for biodiversity. Only just found your channel, so maybe you have covered the hedgerow issue. But that can't be stressed enough. The current paradigm shift in British Agriculture goes both ways.