‘Punjabi Farm’ in Worcestershire takes to the big screen

A farming family whose roots stretch from India to Worcestershire starred on the big screen after creating a documentary mini-series.

‘It’s a Punjabi Farm Innit’ follows the journey of the Makhan Singh Padda family from the Punjab to Vicarage Nurseries, in Bretforton, in the Vale of Evesham, where they have grown strawberries and raspberries since the 1990s.

Ambition

Farmer and Worcestershire NFU member Bal Padda decided to undertake the two-part docu-series to showcase food production and the struggles of farming while also pursuing his ambition to drive diversity and inclusion in the industry.   

Mr Padda started on little more than 1ha of land with little knowledge of strawberry growing. But current operations see more than 1,200 tonnes of 1st class soft fruit produced for UK supermarkets and shoppers.

The docuseries – which touches on themes of faith, resilience, and the unwavering belief in the power of hard work – echoes the experiences of farming families the world over. It premiered at the Regal Cinema in Evesham on 11 February.

Farming story

The premiere sold out in in record time, said Mr Padda. “This is about characters on the farm but it is also about food production, about farming, the struggles of farming, the dreams of farming.

“We used one camera, so not a massive production. The crew came in, filmed it over two days and that turned into a trailer and has now turned into a two-part mini documentary.

“This is about telling that story and relating to people. Farming embraces diversity and we want to see more of it as it is so important. We need to tell our farming story across the country using all farming voices.

MPs visit dairy farm and fresh milk plant

Midlands MPs visited the UK’s biggest fresh milk plant last month to find out more about the British dairy sector.

They joined other MPs from across the country and from all political parties at Arla’s site in Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire, as part of the NFU’s Food and Farming Fellowship Scheme.

Launched last year by the NUF with a number of industry partners, the scheme aims to showcase UK agriculture and enables MPs to see first-hand how sustainable and affordable food gets from field to fork.

NFU dairy board chair Paul Tompkins thanked Arla for hosting the visit, saying it was important for MPs to visit farms and out more about the importance of agriculture and British dairying.

“We are sure this helped give them a wider understanding of the importance of our farms, the dairy sector and the wider supply chain and its contribution to food production, the economy, jobs, communities and the environment.”

The group toured a nearby dairy farm, run by one of Arla’s farmer owners, before heading to the processing site and touring the facility which uses cutting edge technology and innovation, including renewable energy.