24 hours as an English Farmer

A day in the life of Neil Hazeltine, a multi-generational English farmer managing cattle and sheep at Hill Top Farm in Malham.

Key Takeaways

Farming is a demanding, year-round commitment that requires resilience and dedication.
Belted Galloway cattle are well-suited to the local environment and natural farming practices.
Sustainable farming in tune with nature is essential for the future of agriculture.
Family legacy and connection to the land are important motivators for farmers.
Despite hardships, farming offers a fulfilling and meaningful lifestyle.

What the video covers

Neil Hazeltine lives and works at Hill Top Farm in Malham, a farm his family has owned for over 100 years.
Farming is continuous and demanding, requiring daily attention regardless of weather conditions like rain or snow.
Neil manages Belted Galloway cattle, which are hardy and can live outside year-round in harsh conditions.
He monitors the health and natural behavior of cows and calves, ensuring their wellbeing.
Sheep farming is labor-intensive and significantly impacts family life due to the time and effort required.
Despite the challenges, Neil finds farming rewarding and would encourage his daughter to pursue it if she wishes.
He values the connection to his ancestors and believes in farming methods that work in harmony with nature.
Neil emphasizes sustainable farming that minimizes negative environmental impact.
Holidays are difficult to take because qualified caretakers for the stock are hard to find.
The video provides insight into the realities and philosophies of traditional English farming.

Chapters

What type of cattle does Neil Hazeltine raise on his farm?

Neil raises Belted Galloway cattle, which are hardy and able to live outside year-round in the local conditions.

Why is farming described as incessant work in the video?

Farming requires daily attention regardless of weather, with no days off, as animals need constant care and monitoring.

What is Neil's perspective on the future of farming?

Neil believes the future lies in returning to traditional farming methods that work in harmony with nature and minimize environmental impact.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

I’m Neil Hazeltine. I live and work at Hill Top Farm in Malham. I was born and bred at Malham. I’ve always lived on the farm.

Speaker A

The family has been here for over a hundred years. Every day there's something to do. There's never a day when there's nothing to do, so it’s very incessant work.

Speaker A

You can’t not go out because it’s raining or snowing. In fact, on those days it’s most important that you’re out there to make sure that the sheep have something to eat and are where they should be, and they’re not in any danger

Speaker A

from snow or wind or a combination of the two. We do try to get holidays, but it’s much more difficult because you have to get people to look after the stock, and the people you find to qualify ought to have

Speaker A

a little bit of knowledge as well. In here, there are Belted Galloways. These are the brown ones, which are called Dun, and there are the black and white ones, and obviously they both have the characteristic sort of belt around them, hence the name.

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This cattle is able to live outside. They’re able to thrive in these kinds of conditions, which most cattle wouldn’t be able to do.

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They live outside all year round. They live up right in front of the skyline most of the year.

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There are three calves, so I come to check on those. But there’s one cow with a calf that is just sticking out a little bit, so I’ve come to check if that’s alright.

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We try to allow the cows to exhibit as much of their natural behavior as possible.

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You can just see the calf laid in the thistles, and I’ve seen it trying to get milk from his mother, so we’ll just go and leave her to deal with it.

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There’s a lot of work involved with a sheep enterprise. There’s always something to do with the sheep.

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And the time taken up with the sheep is the time that impacts the most upon family life because we’re working extremely hard. We spend a lot of time with the sheep. It can test the patience somewhat.

Speaker A

I would never discourage my daughter from going farming despite it being hard work, and there are days when you maybe don’t want to do it.

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There’s a lot of positive in it as well, and it’s a great life. It is quite a nice feeling for me knowing that my forefathers and grandfather farmed this land.

Speaker A

And I’m thinking that the way forward at the moment is to go back to how things were farmed a long time ago, which seems odd in some respects.

Speaker A

But I think we’ve got to farm in tune with nature, and we’ve got to farm in a way which doesn’t impact negatively upon the natural environment around us.

Speaker A

So there’s a nice feeling about that, but that doesn’t mean I would put any pressure on my daughter to take it over.

Speaker A

But if she wanted to, that would be great.

Topics:English farmingHill Top FarmMalhamBelted Galloway cattlesheep farmingsustainable agriculturefamily farmtraditional farmingfarm lifeanimal welfare

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