Yorkshire farmers urged to move online over busy Easter period

This time of year welcomes peak lambing season and the more settled weather means farmers are faced with a busier workload.

Georgina Fort, the chairwoman of the Yorkshire Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs, told The Yorkshire Post it was vital to move the organisation's local branch online since the weekly meetings and diary of competitions were postponed.

“It’s so important to try and keep our members engaged so we’re looking at things like online meetings and video calling," she said.

"A lot of them live in very isolated, rural areas and the weekly young farmers’ meetings are very much a lifeline; such a vital social link."

Ms Fort, a dairy farmer from Silsden in West Yorkshire, also reported the organisation had raised £1,800 online during one of its annual fundraiser last week.

The decision was made to showcase a local DJ, for a two hour set, while live streaming on Facebook, after having to cancel the original fundraiser at Club Amadeus, Northallerton where more than 2000 people were expected to attend.

All the proceeds will be donated to the new NHS Nightingale Hospital in Harrogate.

"It's about thinking smart with regard to technology," said Ms Fort.

“It’s amazing how young people stay in touch with each other via their mobile phones,” she said.

Meanwhile farmers across Yorkshire have reported an increase in online coverage as more people turn to the internet to bring seasonal cheer to households caught up in the coronavirus lockdown.

Cannon Hall Farm, in Cawthorne near Barnsley, which has been open to the public for 32 years, has reported a massive surge in internet views in the run-up to this weekend.

Robert Nicholson, 52, who runs the farm with his two brothers David and Richard alongside their 76-year-old father Roger, told The Yorkshire Post the farm has seen a huge increase in the numbers of viewers watching live streaming on Facebook of the annual lambing festival.

Online views for lambs being born are up by more than 400 per cent on last year, with the peak recorded at 260,000 in one day.

Mr Nicholson said: "We've got 450 ewes so we should have 900 lambs.

"Thanks to social media you'll get to see a live birth and now more than every it's so important to share this special time of year with people.

"It's amazing the kind of numbers we are seeing online. More people have been tuning in just to pass the time.

"I guess it's something that can brighten their day which is a lovely thing we can do."

The 125-acre farm rears more than 750 lambs, 400 ewes and 800 piglets every year.

Due to the farming family embracing social media, they will also be appearing on a TV show about ‘lambing during lockdown’ as part of the third series of Springtime on the Farm.

The Nicholson family have ended up filming the lambing themselves on their iPhones after plans were cancelled to live broadcast with Helen Skelton and Adam Henson presenting on location.

Producer Richard Mortimer said: “Robert and David Nicholson, our resident farmers for the last three years, are more than familiar with what we need.

“They are also used to filming for their own social media channels – and we’re confident they’ll be able to catch all of the last minute, live action.

"Being full time farmers with over 1,000 animals to care for, they’ll already be on site and they’ll send us their footage via Wi-Fi to our isolated edits based at the home of the editors.”

The four-part series is coming to Channel 5 on Easter Monday at 8pm.

Elsewhere the Yorkshire Agricultural Society have launched a new online campaign to celebrate and highlight the crucial role farmers are playing to keep the nation fed amid the worst public health crisis for a generation.

Farm To Fork is a new social media-led initiative to champion the region’s important agricultural sector during the coronavirus outbreak.

It champions individual farmers and farm retail business across the county at a time when the nation is relying on a seamless supply chain to continually restock shop shelves.

Nigel Pulling, chief executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, said: “During these testing times, we want to do everything we can as a charity to continue to champion and support the farming community, and inform the public about what our farmers do.

He added: “They are key workers whose continuous endeavours day after day are meeting the demands of retailers and shoppers, who need a safe, high-quality and reliable supply of nutritious food.”

Among the farmers whose work is being celebrated by the Farm To Fork campaign are Christine and David Thompson near Helmsley.

The couple are preparing to start lambing and to sow barley for beer production. They also have wheat crops in the ground that will be used to make loaves of bread.

Mrs Thompson said: “At the moment, we are lucky that our day to day work on the farm is largely unaffected by the current disruption that is affecting wider society.

"It means we can get on with our job and continue to contribute to a big industry-wide effort across the country to produce the food we all need to stay healthy.”

The Yorkshire Agricultural Society hopes there will be a lasting impact from promoting farmers and farm retailers as part of Farm To Fork.

Members of the farming community across Yorkshire are invited to support the campaign by submitting a simple photograph or video of themselves in action, whether on the farm or in their farm shop.

To contribute to the Farm To Fork campaign, email your submissions to [email protected].