A Rant!

[waterbuffalofarmer]

I hate to say this guys about the programme, this farming life! But I protest about the water buffalo being more aggresive than beef cattle. It is simply not true! No wonder I have had people backing out of buying them. The BBC have painted a wrong picture of them. True any animal can be aggressive, especially when newly calved and unpredictable, but it is false to say they are more aggressive. I am speaking from experience here. I have handled newly calved cows and fine one of 2 of them has warned me off, but never attacked me. Also their temperaments are very good, provided they are handled reguarly. Ik Steven mitchell and Ik that he doesn't handle his buffalo as much as we do or a few other people Ik, so their temperaments are not the best. Why do they all have to be tarred with the same brush? I am going to write a strong letter to the BBC about this, How dare they?!!!!

 

[Courier]

If they thought that they were aggressive why did two people go in the pen and turn their backs on the newly calved cow whilst they tagged the calf !

 

[bert]

I wasn't too impressed when he ditched all the silage for all carrots and parsnips either, they would need to learn how to eat it them first then just sh*t through the eye of a needle. They would have lost some more condition that week.

 

[Courier]

If he had planned a little more he could have used the 1/3 - 2/3 principle to wean their digestive systems over to the roots.

 

[michael N123]

They looked quite tame compared to some of my Limmys

 

[grimmy]

I thought it was an odd place to try and tag a calf if the mother was that aggresive. No safe way to keep the mother back other than a normal field gate.

 

[buffalo_soldier]

Its a TV show, it will have been edited to fit the slot wont it?
The nuances of a diet shift or variance in temperament may have been left on the cutting room floor, to give broader appeal.

 

[Happy]

Haven't seen the latest episodes but remember Steve Mitchell in local press and radio after the time he was gored by his water buffalo.
He was at pains to point out that it was entirely his own fault in that they were usually so tame animals he wasn't expecting one to turn on him so was probably in a situation he shouldn't have been. He would have been running them for 7/8 years without any issues at that time.
Did the programme not come across this way then?

 

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Haven't seen the latest episodes but remember Steve Mitchell in local press and radio after the time he was gored by his water buffalo.
He was at pains to point out that it was entirely his own fault in that they were usually so tame animals he wasn't expecting one to turn on him so was probably in a situation he shouldn't have been. He would have been running them for 7/8 years without any issues at that time.
Did the programme not come across this way then?

I don't think it did no. I think what happened was some of the stuff may have been phrased in a particular way and the BBC took that and added falsehoods to it, so it would seem more appealling...

 

[Happy]

I don't think it did no. I think what happened was some of the stuff may have been phrased in a particular way and the BBC took that and added falsehoods to it, so it would seem more appealling...

Probably like the diet change adding a bit more drama/appealing viewing too.
Who's to say he didn't introduce the carrots & parsnips gradually?
Haven't seen that episode yet but saw it was coming up on the Next Time trail at the end of the previous show and looked like they were going to make a drama out of it.

Like @buffalo_soldier says, all these shows are edited to a bit of added drama to capture Joe publics interest.
Don't think too many of us should be getting that worked up about minor points. If anything the dangers might just reinforce the keep out of cattle fields message to viewers in general.

 

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Problem is though in the meantime it has effected my business. I had some people back out because of what the BBC said about them being more aggressive. I should think if they are going to research something they should do it properly. Lies never got anyone anywhere. For this reason I must write to them, they made a mistake which has cost me some customers, whether they would have bought or not it doesn't matter, what remains is facts. I have worked too damn hard for someone to come along and unravel it for me.

 

[bovrill]

Its a TV show, it will have been edited to fit the slot wont it?

.... the BBC took that and added falsehoods to it, so it would seem more appealling...

these shows are edited to a bit of added drama to capture Joe publics interest.

Effectively, it's TOWIE on farms! It is the way of all television recently. I think newspapers led the way, 'clickbait' on the internet is the most extreme, and television doesn't seem to bother evening trying to be factual, it's all about building the suspense, and stopping people from changing channel.
We're told we're the most informed generation ever, I dispair at what that information is, it's certainly not the truth!

 

[waterbuffalofarmer]

and we wonder why there are so many people turning to veganism

 

[buffalo_soldier]

Any animal can become aggressive though. I've been flattened buy a mule ewe even.

If folks are basing their decisions on a TV show it may be better they don't have livestock in the first place.
For man and beast.

 

[Philip Watkins]

Probably like the diet change adding a bit more drama/appealing viewing too.
Who's to say he didn't introduce the carrots & parsnips gradually?
Haven't seen that episode yet but saw it was coming up on the Next Time trail at the end of the previous show and looked like they were going to make a drama out of it.

....

Goes from a scene of buffalo eating silage to a passage way that's been scraped clean being piled high with 'snips and carrots.


While we're sticking the knife into him I'd like to take issue with the episode last week where he had the sick one destroyed. Pm report was that it had a tooth infection preventing from eating. He said it was picking up food but not chewing it then spitting it out. Did his vet not check the beasts mouth at all?

 

[Danllan]

One of my closest friends was once interviewed, at length, by the BBC for 'Panorama' regarding a matter then in the news (it still is). He could hardly show his face for a hell of a time afterwards because they made him look and sound an utter fool. His interview was edited to, effectively, make him appear to contradict himself repeatedly. Other parts of the interview were used entirely out of context.

I had only just finished my legal training then and didn't ask to see the 'release' he signed until after the broadcast. Basically, if you agree to their terms, the BBC can do virtually anything with your content, and will; if you don't agree to their terms and you aren't essential to them, they drop you on the spot.

I am still attached to the 'idea' of the BBC, but I simply no longer have any respect for their news editorial / commissioning, and very little for their general broadcast quality either.

All that written - and I have not watched the programme because it doesn't interest me - if what has been written on here is accurate, this chap with buffaloes isn't up to much.

 

[waterbuffalofarmer]

One of my closest friends was once interviewed, at length, by the BBC for 'Panorama' regarding a matter then in the news (it still is). He could hardly show his face for a hell of a time afterwards because they made him look and sound an utter fool. His interview was edited to, effectively, make him appear to contradict himself repeatedly. Other parts of the interview were used entirely out of context.

I had only just finished my legal training then and didn't ask to see the 'release' he signed until after the broadcast. Basically, if you agree to their terms, the BBC can do virtually anything with your content, and will; if you don't agree to their terms and you aren't essential to them, they drop you on the spot.

I am still attached to the 'idea' of the BBC, but I simply no longer have any respect for their news editorial / commissioning, and very little for their general broadcast quality either.

All that written - and I have not watched the programme because it doesn't interest me - if what has been written on here is accurate, this chap with buffaloes isn't up to much.

Thats horrible that. I thought that sort of practice was illegal?

 

[Farmer Roy]

Any animal can become aggressive though. I've been flattened buy a mule ewe even.

If folks are basing their decisions on a TV show it may be better they don't have livestock in the first place.
For man and beast.

I've been chased by an aggressive koala
Seriously, I have

 

[Philip Watkins]

....

All that written - and I have not watched the programme because it doesn't interest me - if what has been written on here is accurate, this chap with buffaloes isn't up to much.

He's been farming them for about 10 years I think it is. For us looking in, the programme makes it look like he's only just started and doesn't really know what he's doing yet. He must be better than that.

 

[waterbuffalofarmer]

I've been chased by an aggressive koala
Seriously, I have

That must have been pretty horrible experience