The Countryfile presenter and Cotswold Farm Park owner has said he has to ‘dumb down’ farming content for general audiences, which can leave farmers feeling disenfranchised

Adam Henson has addressed viewers’ ‘frustrations’ with Countryfile(Image: BBC)

Countryfile presenter Adam Henson has spoken out about audience “frustrations” amid concerns that viewers may be turning away from the programme. The 60-year-old has been a fixture on the beloved BBC One show for nearly a quarter of a century.

He balances his presenting duties with managing Bemborough Farm near Guiting Power. The property also serves as the widely visited Cotswolds Park Farm, attracting approximately 180,000 guests annually.

The venue was established by Adam’s father Joe in 1971. However, Adam assumed control of the operation in 1999 alongside his business partner Duncan Andrews.

Despite being well-versed in the realities of countryside living, Adam acknowledges that he frequently has to “dumb down” his discussions about agriculture when hosting Countryfile. Though he concedes this approach can leave some viewers feeling “fed up”.

During an appearance on the FarmED podcast in December, he explained: “I am quite Marmite I think. Mainly because I work for Countryfile, and have done for 24 years, we are a magazine show that has a whole array of topics and we’re a countryside show, not a farming show.”

Adam has presented Countryfile since 2001(Image: BBC)

“It used to be the farming programme and farmers watching it get frustrated that we’re not robust enough in some of our communication about farming, the technology, the finances, the struggles. And we’re not championing British farming enough.

“There are others who congratulate me for everything I do on the programme and talking about what I talk about, so there’s a bit of both. What I say to those who are critical or don’t quite understand what we’re trying to deliver is that the BBC aren’t making a programme to champion British farming, they’re making a programme to get viewing figures, and whatever drives that viewing figures they’ll make more of.”

Adam pointed to the format of The Great British Bake Off, which has subsequently inspired spin-offs such as The Great British Sewing Bee and The Great Pottery Throwdown. He notes that Countryfile remains the “most watched factual programme” on television.He went on: “When I’m doing my little farming piece if I say, ‘Right, I’m going to move bunch of steers up the paddock, we’re going to put them into the handling pens, then down the race into the crush and we’re going to TB test them’, my producer will say to me, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, what do you mean?’” Adam acknowledges that he must provide thorough explanations to ensure his audience grasps the content, though he recognises this can sometimes alienate farmers. He explained: “I have to say, ‘Right, I’m going to move this bunch of cattle, they’re steers, castrated males. We’re going to put them into a handling system so we can handle them safely, we’re going to put them down a race, which is a narrow corridor so they’re going to go in single file into what we call a crush, which is a machine that holds them nice and still so that we can TV test them, which is about Bovine TB’, and then I’ll explain all about it.

Adam says he ‘dumbs down’ his farming vocabulary on Countryfile(Image: BBC)

“The farmer who understands the first way I said it listens to me saying it in a much more simplified dumbed down way and turns over, that’s the frustration. That farmer has forgotten there’s a kid in a flat in Birmingham who has never seen a sheep before, and those are the people I’m trying to reach.”

Adam has previously disclosed he “gets a bit of stick” from farmers but must maintain impartiality when fronting Countryfile. Speaking on The Tweedl Pod in 2024, he commented: “It is difficult and what you have to remember as a presenter is to not be biased about anything, within the BBC you have to be balanced with your view point, you can’t campaign for anything particularly.

“But also, we’re talking to an audience of three-and-a-half million people, some of which are farmers, countryside people, gamekeepers, others are living in a flat in Hackney or Coventry, wherever it is.”

Adam will be hosting Countryfile at 6pm on BBC One this evening (January 18). Alongside Charlotte Smith, he’ll be engaging with communities striving to safeguard Devon’s Exe Estuary and also paying a visit to a newly established nature reserve.