Robbie, Ed and Nick, three young farmer friends from Herefordshire, are about to take on the biggest summer of their lives. Robbie is trying to make a successful business from his mum's struggling pig farm, Ed returns to the family farm after quitting his city job, and fourth-generation farmer Nick is trying to escape the family business.
Seventeen-year-old Flossy from Somerset runs her family farm even though she's still at school. Flossy is still a novice when it comes to farming solo but she has full responsibility for going to market to buy cattle, medicating the animals and rearing the sheep. Every day involves juggling farm work with school work, and with her exams approaching the pressure is on. George from Cheltenham works all hours juggling looking after his flock of sheep, running his own firewood and fencing business and making time for his important social life. He's keen to prove to his mum that he can handle lambing season on his own and do it well. And 18-year-old Lewis, the son of an organic dairy farmer, is in his third year studying agriculture.
At 25, Ally from Herefordshire has taken over the sole running of his own farm - an opportunity that most farmers' sons don't get until middle age, if at all. He's now responsible for 500 acres of arable land, which his family have rented from The Duchy for 45 years. He has swapped houses with his parents, who have retired, and is now living on his own in the six-bedroom, 400-year-old farmhouse that he grew up in, where he sleeps in his parents' old master bedroom. The question of inheritance is less straightforward for James Hole from Somerset: a ninth generation dairy farmer who is preparing for his wedding to the local vet. The family farm is owned by James' grandfather, his uncle and his dad Steve, but James and his two brothers all have designs on it. And Alex from Cheshire faces his biggest challenge yet when his father goes on holiday, leaving him to run the family farm and carry out a £30,000 cattle deal at the market, unsupervised for the first time.
This episode meets young people who don't come from farming backgrounds but are determined to get into the business. Bunny is petite, young and feminine; she may not look like a farmer but she knows how to drive a tractor, cart corn, deliver lambs and judge stock. Bunny was voted 'most likely to be a farmer's wife' at school but her dream is to become a farmer in her own right and own her own farm one day. Henry from the Cotswolds is a full-time shepherd who oversees a flock of 500 ewes with the help of his two sheepdogs and his very own shepherd's crook. The programme follows him as he guides his lambs from the birthing shed to the supermarket. And 21-year-old Will from Dorset works on a dairy farm in Somerset. He got into farming because he's a committed tractor-head - his first word was tractor - but when his boss injures himself he must learn how to take care of the cows during the busy calving season.
Twenty-five-year-old Henry has returned to work on the family arable farm with his dad after studying at college. Henry is in line to be the fifth generation of his family to take over the farm. He and his dad are a close team, but whereas the farm always comes first for Henry's dad, Henry puts raves and parties higher on his priority list than his dad would like. Eighteen-year-old pedigree pig farmer Hayley from Dorset has won numerous awards for her champion pigs. She's been looking after pigs since she was a toddler; she has pig breeding in her blood, and even competes against her dad for the coveted Pig of the Year championship. And 24-year-old Rob from Wiltshire is a self-employed shepherd. He's determined to make a career out of sheep farming although he comes from a non-farming family. His goal is to make enough money from one season's sheep shearing to buy his own flock.
Twenty-three-year-old dairy farmer and student Kate from Herefordshire is a blonde bombshell. She doesn't look like a stereotypical farmer but she loves cows. In between student life, partying and mixing with boys, she's up early for milking duties on the farm, helping to deliver calves and even rearing some of them in her back garden for a uni project. Returning from the first series is 23-year-old Robbie, who's now selling rare-breed pork from his mum's farm. To increase business he heads to the local county fair but gives a disastrous first cooking demonstration and goes up against his friend, 26-year-old dairy farmer James. They're both running meat stalls, but one needs his bacon saving more than the other!
London's calling as Robbie and his country mates Tom and Will head for the bright lights and ringside seats at a boxing match to cheer on their fellow young farmer 'Count Smackula'. The capital's buzz is bewildering for Tom and Will. Meanwhile, Tom's mate Ed, who was working in the capital, has returned to the countryside. He's desperate to take over the family farm with his girlfriend Tash, and he's out to impress his dad at harvest time. With no room for romance on the dairy farm, Kate leaves her beloved calves at home and heads for some social time at college. But her mum, Lesley, discovers that the calves are ill. Kate rushes home to care for them but can she nurse them all back to health? And, back at work on the farm, with a beast of a hangover, Robbie has bad news from the accountant for his mum Sue.
Farmer's daughter Rhi, 21, faces a challenge when she's left in charge of her father's valuable cattle and they take a turn for the worse. As James enjoys success with his fruit-juice business he must make a tough choice - will he follow his lifelong love of dairy farming or join his brother Rich in their quest to build a big-time company? Meanwhile, Will has already shifted his focus to an estate agency, and finds himself struggling to keep his promised list of jobs in order when he has to run things at home.
Rhi has to tell her father that four of his cows suffered from magnesium deficiency while he was away and could not be saved. After chatting with his girlfriend Tash, Ed feels like he needs to face up to his dad about taking over the family farm and finding his own place, so he attempts to impress everyone by buying a flock of ducks to fatten up and sell. Meanwhile, Tom attends a toga party with Robbie and other young farmers, but can he take on responsibility for the harvest following a big night out?
Bovine TB hits the young farmers' herds, and first to feel the full force of the disease is 23-year-old Charlie. The virus is wrecking his investment in cattle and with all his animals quarantined, his livelihood is under threat. Elsewhere, Robbie turns to selling piglets to keep the cash flowing, but will it be enough? Charlie's friend, 22-year-old dairy farmer Ollie, has branched out into agricultural construction to make ends meet. While helping his dad with daily tasks, he cleans out the cowshed and plays host to the annual National Federation of Young Farmers party.
In this edition Charlie battles bovine TB, only to be delivered another devastating blow when his potato crop shows signs of blight and needs to be bagged up and sent to market immediately. Ally is a young arable farmer trying to keep his head above water - almost literally. Lakes of rainwater where his crops should be look ominously like the disaster that struck him and his dad the previous year - will they be able to keep the farm afloat? Will and Calum from Gloucestershire are on a mission to get Britain eating wild food with a new business idea. They do a deal with a local gastro pub to get grouse from Yorkshire on the first day of the shooting season, but, like the challenges facing Charlie and Ally, it turns into a race against time...
Now in charge of the farm's finances, Robbie auctions off his mother's troublesome cattle, while Charlie has no intention of giving in to bovine TB as the vet provides an update on his herd. Budding estate agent Will returns to the fields to help Tom bring in the harvest, and his grandfather's ancient tractor proves it's up to the job alongside his friend's hi-tech combine. Ollie puts his construction business on hold to meet up with Kate and discuss their future in the farming business. Spurred on by the news his dad has offered him an orchard to manage, Ed finally moves into a new house with delighted girlfriend Tash, but finds the time to go clay-pigeon shooting with Robbie, Will and Tom to celebrate their first year of farming.
