Jimmy Doherty (born 24 May 1975) is an English television presenter and farmer. A childhood friend of Jamie Oliver, Doherty is known for the show '' Jimmy's Farm'', detailing the operation of the Essex Pig Company that he and his wife Michaela Furney own in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

Early life

Born in Ilford, Doherty moved to Clavering in Essex at the age of three. A childhood friend of Jamie Oliver, he attended Clavering Primary School and then studied at Newport Free Grammar School. Whilst at Newport Grammar School Doherty ran a magazine called ‘The Natural Choice’ sparking his love of nature and animals. From the age of 13 he worked in the tropical butterfly house at Mole Hall Wildlife Park in Saffron Walden, assisting with the menagerie of different animals ranging from otters to chimpanzees. Doherty left Mole Hall, aged 24, to focus on his academic commitments. He has a degree in animal biology from the

University of East London , mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows , established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...

and studied for a PhD in

entomology Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

Coventry University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , underg ...

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

department.

Career

Doherty served for five years in the

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield commun ...

. In 2002, he appeared as a friend and guest on '' Oliver's Twist'' in the episodes "Painting Party in 2002 "Flash in the Pan" in 2003. He then trained as a pig farmer, where, in 2002, he met runner Furney, when

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's filming for '' Jamie's Kitchen'' took it to the

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

n farm where he was working. After returning to

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

to run his own farm, Doherty and Furney set up The Essex Pig Company using free range meat production practices. Doherty gained the funds to set up the farm using the proceeds from his first book ''On The Farm'' which formed a diary of his farming ventures. The Essex Pig Company, based in Ipswich, Suffolk, raised various rare breeds, most notably the endangered

, and now the

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

Gloucestershire Old Spots The Gloucestershire Old Spots (also "Gloucester, Gloucester Old Spot, Gloucestershire Old Spot" or simply "Old Spots") is an English breed of pig which is predominantly white with black spots. It is named after the county of Gloucestershire. T ...

, middle Whites, and Norfolk Horn sheep among many others. People were eager to visit the farm to see the native domestic animals and buy fresh produce so, Doherty and Furney opened the doors to the farm in 2002. To enter the farm a sign read ‘Jimmy’s Farm’ and when

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

followed their efforts with a series of fly-on-the-wall documentaries the name stuck. In 2008, Doherty presented a series for BBC2 called ''Jimmy Doherty's Farming Heroes'' which aired from July 2008 to August 2008, followed by various other series and single documentaries for the BBC. Notably, ''Jimmy's Food Factory'', in which he demonstrated the industrial techniques used in the production of processed foods, ran for two series on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

. When the Controller of

at the time, Jay Hunt, left to become chief creative officer at

at the end of 2010, she signed up Doherty to present exclusively for Channel 4. Doherty's last series for the BBC, ''A Farmer's Life for Me'', was broadcast in February and March 2011. Since 18 June 2011, ''Jimmy's Food Factory'' airs as ''ProSieben BBC Spezial – Jimmy's Food Factory'' every Saturday on German TV channel ProSieben. In 2011, Jimmy's Farm ‘Cambridge Sausage’ was name in the top 10 sausages in the UK by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

''. The sausage contains 93% pork from the farm and the recipe dates back to 1917. In December 2012, Jimmy and Jamie Oliver presented the Channel 4 series ''Jamie & Jimmy's Food Fight Club''. Since 2014, Doherty has co-presented the prime-time

series '' Jamie & Jimmy's Friday Night Feast'' alongside Jamie Oliver. Doherty and the team ensured conservation was at the forefront of their decisions and created areas at the farm for nature to blossom. As well as a flair for farming Doherty holds a passion for non-native species and, with a great team behind him, the farm applied for zoo status to help endangered species further afield. On 5 October 2016 Jimmy's Farm was awarded its zoo license from the local authority and Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park was born. The first three exotic species they welcomed were

Reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subsp ...

, Tapirs and Meerkats. In 2016 Jimmy became the youngest ever President of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust a charity closely linked to his work and passions. In 2019 he became a patron of the British Beekeepers Association. He is also the patron of the British Hen Welfare Trust. In May 2019 Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park became accredited by the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) who represent the best zoos and aquariums in Britain and Ireland that pride themselves on their excellent animal welfare, education, and conservation work. In July 2021 Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park became the first recipient of the

Rare Breed Survival Trust The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation charity whose purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the native farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR) of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1973 by Joe Henson to preser ...

’s new Rare Breeds Approved Associate accreditation. This has been awarded in recognition of the farm’s excellence in education about the importance of Britain’s endangered native livestock and equine breeds and its work to conserve their unique genetic characteristics

Personal life

Jimmy and Michaela Furney were married on 22 August 2009. The reception was held at their farm, Pannington Hall in Wherstead, Suffolk.Celebrity farmer Jimmy gets hitched
24 August 2009 They have four daughters, born between 2010 and 2018. In August 2014, Doherty was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue. Doherty has close links to Ipswich Town Football Club and follows their campaigns. In 2013 Jimmy’s Farm created an Ipswich ‘Super Blue’ sausage named in honour of The Blues. The sausage, like all their sausages, was made with pork from the farm and this one included stilton and garlic.

Academic awards

* Certificate of Fellowship from

Harper Adams University College Harper Adams University, founded in 1901 as Harper Adams College, is a public university located close to the village of Edgmond, near Newport, Shropshire, Newport, in Shropshire, England. Established in 1901, the college is a specialist provi ...

(September-2010) * Honorary Degree of Doctor of the university from

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

and

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...

(November-2010) * Certificate of Associateship from the Council for Awards of Royal Agricultural Societies in recognition of distinguished achievement in the agricultural industry (August-2011) * Honorary Doctor of Business Administration (Hon DBA) from

in recognition of contribution to food production and science by promoting responsible, sustainable farming (2014) * Chancellor of Writtle University College in Essex (from 2022)

Awards

* Outstanding Communicator from Royal Agricultural Society of England (July-2009) * Duly Elected as Member of the Institute of Meat (October-2013) * Elsie M J Evans Award from RSPCA for his work to raise the profile of farm animal welfare (March-2014)

Charities supported worldwide

* The Gherka Welfare Trust * Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) * Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative * Animal Advocacy and Protection (AAP)

Books

* On the Farm (2004) * A Taste of the Country (2007) * A Farmer's Life for me (2011)

Television series

* Builds on Wheels (discovery+ 2021) * ''Jimmy's Farm'' (Channel 4, 2020–present) * ''Escape to the Wild'' (Channel 4, 2017) * '' Jamie & Jimmy's Friday Night Feast'' (Channel 4, 2014–present) * '' Food Unwrapped'' (Channel 4, 2012–present) * ''Jamie & Jimmy's Food Fight Club'' (Channel 4, December 2012) * ''Jimmy and the

Whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

Whisperer'' (Channel 4 2012) * ''Jimmy and the Giant Supermarket'' (Channel 4 2012) * ''A Farmer's Life for Me'' (BBC 2011)Daily Telegraph
/ref> * ''Museum of Life'' (BBC 2010) * ''Jimmy's Global Harvest'' (BBC 2010) * ''The Private Life of... (BBC 2010) * '' Jimmy's Food Factory'' (BBC 2009) * ''Jimmy Doherty in Darwin's Garden'' (OU & BBC 2009) * '' Jimmy's GM Food Fight'' ( BBC Horizon 2008) * ''Jimmy and the Wild Honey Hunters'' (BBC 2008) * ''Jimmy's Farming Heroes'' (BBC 2008) * ''Crisis on Jimmy's Farm'' (BBC 2007) * ''Jimmy's Farm Diaries'' (BBC 2007) * '' Jimmy's Farm'' (BBC 2004–2006) * '' Richard & Judy'' (Channel 4 2004 & 2006) * ''Back on Jimmy's Farm'' (BBC 2004)

Bibliography

Farm Life

References

External links

*
Jimmy's Farm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, Jimmy 1975 births Living people People from Ilford People from Clavering, Essex People from Babergh District British people of Irish descent People educated at Newport Free Grammar School Alumni of Coventry University Alumni of the University of East London English farmers English television presenters English television personalities