Our Dream Farm with Matt Baker: New Channel 4 show about Wallington farming opportunity coming soon

Our Dream Farm with Matt Baker will see him follow the process as the applicants are tasked with a variety of farm jobs, with the first in the eight-part series airing at 8pm on Saturday, April 6.

On offer is a 10-year lease for 340 acres of grassland, woods, wetland and a fully refurbished, four-bedroom traditional farmhouse at Wallington from landlords the National Trust.

Seven shortlisted applicants spend three weeks working on the farm, aiming to demonstrate that they have what it takes to be awarded this life-changing opportunity.

Matt said: “Growing up in the farming community, tenant farming is something that I’ve wanted to shine a light on for a long time.

“Because the farm is so diverse with its landscape, there’s lots of boggy areas and wetlands so there were a lot of vehicles getting stuck during filming. The applicants were always having to pull each other out.

“All of the tasks and the experiences were geared around the wants of the National Trust. Initially when the trust advertised the farm, they came up with like a list of particulars.

“Each of the tasks were geared around those, so that the National Trust could see first-hand how capable the applicants were at the very things that they were looking for in a tenant. That ranged from livestock management, to how in tune with the environmental side of things the applicants were.”

Only one can be awarded the tenancy and that is up to Wallington’s general manager, Sally Richards, and Giles Hunt, the land and estates director for the National Trust.

This means in this series, Matt has a more advisory role to the prospective tenants and provides a helping hand sometimes.

He said: “It was really emotional because you make friends with these people and you’re really engaged with their passion. This series it’s not about winning a competition, it’s about being given a life-changing opportunity and it’s almost in their grasp.

“When you hear that it's not them, it’s really difficult. But I think again, that’s reflective of the actual reality of the process hopeful tenant farmers go through across Britain. And I hope that’s what people start to realise and understand.”

In episode one, the applicants arrive on the farm at a very busy time of the farming calendar – lambing season – and get straight to work.

Sally said: “The idea of shining a light on some of the challenges farmers are facing, and the work and skills it takes to manage a farm today, felt like a great opportunity.

“For me, it was also a chance to really get to know the prospective tenants and get to the heart of their plans. And for the applicants, as well as showcasing their abilities to the nation, it was an opportunity to test different ways of managing the land and really consider if the farm was right for them.

“I also hope that the series shows some of the joys of being part of a rural community like this and gives people a much broader view of Wallington.”