Clarkson's Farm season 3 episode 4 is called "Harrowing", and for good reason, because Jeremy and Lisa were dealt a devastating blow when it came to their group of pigs.
Meanwhile, Jeremy gets a present for Kaleb which he hopes will help to improve crop output and save money, but he has to teach him how to use it first! And if that wasn't enough, the ongoing dispute with the local council continues, putting more pressure on the farm.
Here's what went down in Clarkson's Farm episode 4...
Heartbreak at Diddly Squat
Episode 3 picks up in early March, where we see some of the pregnant female pigs. Meanwhile, Kaleb is busy with the spring crops. Jeremy reveals he's bought a hovercraft, stunning both Lisa and Kaleb, and he reveals that it's a present for Kaleb to help with farming. How, you might wonder? Well, he goes on to explain with a helpful video!
In the archive footage, the black and white documentary shows hovercrafts being used in farming, which shows it moving with ease even over the muddiest of surfaces. Jeremy believes it would be easier to spray fertiliser using the hovercraft, and it would also create space to grow even more crops, where tramlines would usually go, so he hopes this will be beneficial.
However, hovercrafts are very different from tractors so Jeremy attempts to give Kaleb a bit of a driver's lesson to brief him on what to expect. He explains that there's effectively no brakes or steering and a lot of it comes down to weight distribution. But it's very difficult and Jeremy is a little frustrated he isn't going in a straight line, which is what ould be required when spraying crops!
Eventually, Kaleb gets the hang of it and gets to work spraying the fertiliser. It seems to work wonders but they soon realise the tanks are way too small and Kaleb would need to refill them over 20 times to do the whole field, so Jeremy concedes he needs bigger ones. But his plans were halted due to heavy snowfall the next day.
After keeping an eye on the cameras in the "pigloos", they realised one of the female pigs was about to give birth. She gave birth to one piglet, which Lisa managed to encourage to latch onto one of the teats, but an hour passed by and no more piglets appeared, so their joy soon turned into concern.
Jeremy phones the vet and explains that a significant amount of time has passed, so they are advised to glove up and see if they can feel anything inside the pig. Jeremy also notes the pig seems distressed. When Lisa can't feel anything, they're further advised to try and get the pig moving around, so they coax her outside the pigloo with some food.
After a while, it seems to be working, and two more piglets arrive. A voiceover confirms that over the next couple of hours, seven more were born. But tragedy soon strikes when two of the piglets are found dead, and they think the mother had crushed them.
When they go back to check in later, two more had died. Another time skip reveals they've lost seven, and Jeremy expresses frustration worrying that they've done something wrong. So they bring in pig farmers Vanessa and Andy to speak about what they could do to ensure that more piglets aren't accidentally crushed by their mother.
They explain to Jeremy that sometimes, in a group setting with other sows, they will make a fuss about it if they realise a piglet has died, which essentially knocks some sense into the mother. So they go and discuss this with Kaleb, who also explains that it's been very cold which has caused the piglets to all huddle together, which could have also caused problems.
Later, another piglet dies and they begin to grow concerned about the wellbeing of another pregnant sow who was showing no signs of giving birth, who was also not eating very much. They call out a vet who explains she's got a rasp in her breathing, and that she doesn't look very happy. She is worried that there's an infection and decides to give her some medication.
Meanwhile, down at the council, a government inspector had arrived to adjudicate on the appeal, so everyone down at the farm was making sure everything was as it should be, after being advised not to attend. Lisa talks us through all the products in the shop, able to verify where they came from, and that everything was locally sourced and made.
They were also hopeful that the burger van could remain open, as it was the only place they could sell meat since the restaurant had closed. Annie, who runs the van, had been to the council meeting and she meets with Jeremy and Lisa to explain she made a case and hopes its in their favour. However, Charlie reckoned it would be weeks before a final decision was made, so they'd have to be patient.
While they were waiting on the result, they experienced some heavy rainfall that lasted for days, meaning Kaleb was unable to plant his most profitable crop. Meanwhile, the pregnant sow they had named Baroness still hadn't given birth and after a week of antibiotics, wasn't getting any better.
A vet arrives and they decide to induce Baroness, as she told Jeremy and Lisa that if the piglets had died, she may not be able to give birth without assistance. So they get to work trying to figure out what's going on. Baroness gives birth to a piglet who was alive, but problems continued and they realised she has no milk, and the piglet is very small. He is advised to bottle feed the piglet.
Eventually, she has five piglets, but three of them died because they were too weak to survive. So the remaining two were moved to a heated pen, but it didn't seem to be doing much and one died, so they moved the one remaining piglet into their home where they hand-reared her. Jeremy also keeps an eye on her while he's in his office, but she eventually dies too, and they're devastated that they've lost so many.
Then, they go to check on Baroness, who is still not well. She's unsteady and the vet worries that it may be cancerous. Because she's in so much distress, Jeremy decides to have her put down. So they say goodbye to her and she is taken away.
