Show makes people aware of what farmers 'go through'

Farmer Andy Barr says his first year of farming pigs was 'heart breaking'

A Somerset farmer said a TV programme about farming has made people more aware of the stress they go through.

Clarkson's Farm is a show about Jeremy Clarkson and his farm in the Cotswolds.

Andy Barr is a pig farmer on Exmoor at Little Oak Farm and he said the show has "made people more aware of what farmers go through".

"A lot of it I think is true. It shows a lot of the stress, especially the weather," he told BBC Radio Somerset.

In the third series of Clarkson's Farm, Jeremy Clarkson has to deal with losing several of his piglets

"My wife and I have been pig farming for over 11 years and the first thing the show did is it brought back heart-breaking memories of when we first started," Mr Barr added.

He said specifically a scene about piglets dying made him emotional.

"I think he summed it up perfectly - we asked ourselves are we doing something wrong, what are we doing wrong?" Mr Barr said.

"Sows lie on their babies, it's what happens. I wouldn't say they're bad mothers. It's nature, it happens.

"There's probably mixed reactions to this. A lot of it I think is true.

"Some of the show is quite entertaining. And then you sit there and go: 'Why on earth would you do that?'

"But whether it's right or wrong, it's made people more aware of what farmers go through."

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