Having taken social media by storm and appearing on hit ITV series Love Island, Will Young, the 24-year-old farmer better known as Farmer Will, is certainly not doing it all for show.
With 1.9 million followers on TikTok, he has caught the nation's eye with his enthusiasm and humorous videos, all of which are focused on farming.
Earlier in 2023, on one of TV's most-watched reality shows, Will once again captured the audience's heart by, quite simply, being himself.
Watch the full video here:
The Will you see on social media is the Will you get in real life, and that, in a nutshell, is someone who has heaps of energy and is using it to get people interested in farming.
It is working, too. Combined, he has a following of more than 2.5m - many who may never have entertained agriculture in any sort of way.
Farming runs in his blood though - Will is the sixth generation to farm at the family farm in Aylesbury, with its roots reaching back to the 1850s.
He says: "It is all down to Gilbert - my great-great-great granddad, who bought the farmhouse.
"It was mainly dairy with a little beef and sheep, but I am talking small-scale.
"All the farms in the village were dairy, but around the year 2000, when the milk price crashed, my dad got put in a position where it was either sell or diversify.
"We sold a yard for property to be able to get up and running again and now have sheep.
"But there needs to be more support - there used to be 12 farms around here when my dad was my age and now there are two.
"And it is all down to not having the right support and the economic pressures."
Will came back properly to the farm when he was 17, but it is where his heart is.
For his dad, Andrew, he says it was different, as he was almost expected to farm. But for Will and his brother, they were given the freedom to spend time away and both have naturally returned.
Love of farming
Will says: "My dad took a different approach with me and my brother. We were encouraged to go out, get an education and see what we wanted to do.
"I have always loved the farm - before school, after school, holidays. I was always out on the farm.
"The thing I love is being outside with nature and that connection with your animals. That is the biggest thing for me. I take so much pride and joy coming out and seeing the animals.
"And secondly, I love working with my family. We are all working towards the same goal; we all want the same thing.
"I have my granddad next door; I have my family in the farmhouse and I am so close to them. It is all because of this family farm.
"If you asked me what I would be doing if I were not farming, I could not tell you. I have no idea."
The social media stardom was, however, by complete chance, and Will admits he was apprehensive to post content at the start, especially about farming.
His friends encouraged him and, after a conversation with his dad, he posted a lambing video which instantly blew up.
Will says: "People loved it. There were a few negative comments, but you are always going to get that. There were more comments saying ‘this is great, we love seeing this' and loads of good questions. I just thought, there is a niche here.
"It is a lovely way to connect non-farmers to our industry because I think people mostly go to a supermarket, buy food and that is the only connection they have.
"I film the farm, the treatments we give the animals, the lambing process and I try to make these videos as simple as possible.
"I had to think of a way to show someone how to trim a foot without using difficult wording."
Will has managed to encourage conversation by using terminology he is now known for - he refers to the sheep as ‘boys and girls' and treats them to time in his ‘salon' when it is trimming time.
No matter who you are, young or old, Will wants to invite you to learn about what he is doing, and more so, why.
Breaking down farming stereotypes is also key.
He says: "I always say, when people think of [agriculture] they think ‘dirty old farmer' - an old man, in his wellies, covered in mud. But it is so much more than that.
"And that is what is good about social media - a lot of the younger generation are on it showcasing farming.
"Agriculture is not just farming. There are so many different routes."
In the run up to #COP28, Will ventured out to farms in Scotland - the dairy unit part of SRUC - and headed off to Kenya to learn more about carbon emissions and what is being done on-farm and on the ground to help tackle this.
Learning
Knowledge exchange is something he is keen on, whether that is learning from farmers across the globe or by ‘working on neighbouring farms'.
He is, he laughs, always looking at what others are doing and implementing new things at home.
Will says: "All my knowledge I have learned from dad and he learned from his dad, so actually my knowledge is limited. To be able to go to these different places is amazing.
"Every farm can do a little bit more, because at the end of the day we are the future, but farmers should take a bit more credit. Give yourself a pat on the back for how far you have come.
"Take a step back and think about what you have done."
Will and his family have taken part in a scheme which preserves hedgerows, and there are sections that have been left to ‘wild' to encourage natural habitats. Go out into the fields, he says, and you will clearly see them.
And what all this snowballs into is education - climate change, the environment and food production. This is an ‘exciting' industry that youngsters should know more about.
"We need to get [farming] taught in schools. The more I think about it the crazier it is," he says.
"Agriculture is such a huge part of the day to day. It should be taught up until year nine and then when you do decide on subjects, if it is not for you, fine, but at least you have had that offer.
"For me, if I had not come from a family farm, I probably would not have known it was an option. If you have never been on-farm, go and have that experience and see."
Another huge achievement is his book, For the Love of Farming, which documents life on the farm throughout the year - the highs, the lows and the seasons.
Will says: "I was never good at English, so it is still a ‘pinch me' moment. It is for everyone, but my main focus is for those outside the industry to get them to understand the farm a bit more.
"It also talks about important matters such as mental health and economic pressures."
For some in the industry, social media is a scary place, and understandably so, says Will.
He says, though, you have to believe you are doing something good. It also a great place to get an insight to what other farmers are doing.
He says: "Everything I have done I am proud of. I have a sheep farm, but someone else on social media will have pretty much the same farm and do it differently.
"I see things on social media and try new things."
Will is obviously doing something right and has managed to connect to consumers. He still gets questions directed at him through social media and he is more than willing to take the time to answer. Scroll through his comments and you can see that he directly responds.
So, what is the one thing he wants to tell consumers?
He says: "I do feel that agriculture is on its own and then there is the rest of society; there is that divide and what we want is it to be a whole. Go and ask questions and be curious."
#FarmingCAN is a consumer facing campaign that aims to showcase the role farming plays across society. Head to www.farmersguardian.com/FarmingCAN to find out how you can help us spread farming's message far and wide.
