Interview with Colin Ramsay

Can our relationship with the media and storytelling shift from doom and gloom to a more positive outlook when it comes to informing people about the current state of the world’s soil? 

We wanted to know for ourselves so we sat down with filmmaker Colin Ramsay – creator of the massively successful documentary “Six Inches of Soil” – to hear his thoughts on what role the media plays in the fight for reclaiming our soils health and also the journey he went through before, during and after the making of the film.

Hi Colin, thank you for speaking with us today! First of all, what made you want to make a film focused on soil and regenerative practices – were there any particular moments in your life that inspired you to focus on this topic?

Going back to the beginning, it was around the start of COVID. In 2020, I had the chance to do some volunteering outside on a community farm in Cambridge called Co Farm. I was doing a bit of weeding and picking, learning about growing food.  with a warm community and a great group of people. 

Around the same time, I got a commission to make a short film with a charity in Cambridge and some local farmers. That film, From The Ground Up, followed five farmers on their regenerative journey. I didn’t know what regenerative agriculture was at that pointI’d heard of organic, but not regenerative—and it fascinated me. Through making that short film, we got the inspiration for Six Inches of Soil.

What really stuck with me was seeing what was possible on each farm. The “penny drop” moment came at Hawk MillFarm, run by David White, an arable farmer near Cambridge. He used to farm conventionally but had transitioned to regenerative. I remember walking through his field—the soil was spongy, earthy, alive with roots and worms. Even in November, with cover crops flowering and buzzing with bees, it was teeming with life.

Then we dug in his neighbour’s field, same soil type, but farmed conventionally—and the soil came out like a house brick: no life, no roots, no worms. Still growing a crop, but the contrast was night and day. That moment really hit me.

I realized no one had made a UK , feature-length film on the subject. We were so inspired by those farmers and the reception to the first film that I turned to the producer, Claire Mackenzie and said, “Let’s make a bigger film.” That was late 2020, and from 2021 to 2023 we made Six Inches of Soil. It’s been a transformative journey, for all of us.

I noticed as well during the filming of the movie (2022), that it was the hottest year on record in the last 100 years, right? What was it like filming during that time? Was it affecting the soil massively as well or how exactly did that impact it?

During that drought, you’d turn on the TV and see Hyde Park turned yellow and rivers up and down the country drying up. We wove the drought into the story with the three characters, each coping in their own way.

Adrienne, one of the farmers we followed in the documentary, was struggling with deep cracks in the soil, feeling down about it. But because she was feeding the soil and caring for the land, it recovered—and we showed that recovery over time. Ben, another of the main characters, planted deep-rooting herbal lays, so even in drought, those roots kept the pasture alive, and because he wasn’t overgrazing, his fields didn’t turn into a dust bowl.

It’s also a stark reminder that climate change is very real. Every year seems to break new climate records, with droughts and flooding. That wasn’t the case in my childhood. Farmers all say the same thing, and the data confirms it,  increasing temperature and weather extremes across the seasons, from the 1850s to the present day. 

So the theme of climate resilience runs strongly through these conversations about regenerative, organic, and agroecological farming. Diversity in cropping, soil care, resilience in the supply chain, it’s all connected. So yes, from a creative perspective, weaving the drought into the film really drove the message home.

Just jumping off that as well, I remember you mentioned in the film that the UK is considered one of the world's most nature-depleted countries.

Yes, that’s right. It’s been reported by various bodies that the UK’s biodiversity is lower than the world average and falls into the bottom 10% globally. Years of intensive farming, heavy ploughing, monocultures, reliance on chemicals and urban sprawl have pushed nature back. We’re losing biodiversity and soil at a rate far faster than it can be replenished.

When you talk to farmers, many of them say the same thing: yields are harder to maintain, fertilizers cost more, and the soil just isn’t what it used to be. That’s why regenerative practices are so important. They rebuild fertility, structure, and resilience.

The danger is, if we don’t change course, we’ll end up with soils that can’t grow enough food. But the flip side is inspiring, because regenerative techniques work, and they work quickly. Within a few years, you can see soils come back to life, holding water, supporting biodiversity, and producing healthier crops. That’s the story we wanted to capture in Six Inches of Soil.

In regards to the media, how important a role do they play in getting this information out to people? And you as a filmmaker, where do you see your place in that?

We made the film independently, raising funds through crowdfunding. This helped build an audience and gave us freedom from editorial control - We could ask the tough questions and make the mission driven film we wanted to make.

Farming news is still quite niche. There’s Farming Today on Radio Four, BBC Countryfile, and a few other shows, but it’s not mainstream. Clarkson helped make farming mainstream and interestingly, it took until season three of Clarkson’s Farm for regenerative agriculture to come up. We like to think our film also made a difference to public awareness and managed to get the film into the UK parliament earlier this year.

The missing link in public awareness is the connection between farms and the food supply chain. Consumers often don’t realize that what makes supermarket food cheap is tied directly to how farmers are squeezed through the unfairness of the supply chain. Which in turn drives farming practices which are not nature friendly or kind to the soil. That said, health and nutrition are becoming more topical, which helps, because people are questioning why so much cheap food is unhealthy. But farming and food provenance still needs a much bigger push in the media and from the government. Farmers who are doing the right thing, farming with nature and stewarding the land for future generations need more profile raising.

Successive governments haven’t helped either. There have been numerous reports and white papers recommending transitioning to agroecological systems, but they get ignored. Farming doesn’t have the same weight in policy discussions as finance or tech, because it’s not seen as profitable or important enough to the economy —yet we all rely on farmers to eat, so it’s pretty bonkers to ignore it! 

And have you noticed a rising trend in farmers taking on other jobs to supplement their income?

Yes, very common. What you saw in the film isn’t unusual. Anna, for example, has nearly 1,000 acres of land in production, but it can’t support more than about 2.5 people, her parents and herself part time. It’s crazy when you think about it: all that land and food production, but so few livelihoods financially supported.

The average farming salary is around £30k, stagnant since the 1970s in real terms. That’s not easy to live on, so farmers often need second jobs. In the film, Adrienne works in a café, and Ben manages another farm.

From speaking to farmers, the key solution seems to be diversification. Many farmers now host multiple businesses on their land—holiday rentals, farm shops, farm tours, etc. . They also diversify their food production and sometimes process products on-farm which builds resilience, both financially and environmentally.

Most farmers don’t go into farming for the money. It’s a calling, a legacy, or a passion for nature. But the new, younger generation coming in brings fresh ideas and a desire to challenge the status quo which is encouraging.

The movie in my opinion is of a very high standard; that’s something I noticed right away. So obviously you have a lot of experience in filmmaking then. So would that be your first passion, or does it go hand in hand with your environmental campaigning and your aim is to weave them both together?

Yes, by the time we started filming, I’d had several  years of professional film experience under my belt. I’d made many short documentaries across the UK, often in science and technology, being based in Cambridge. But Six Inches of Soil was my first feature length film so it was a big deal and quite a steep learning curve. So when this opportunity came, I was motivated to grab it.

It’s been a four-year project, and when you’re not commissioned by a broadcaster, you’re fundraising yourself. Which means you need to believe deeply in the subject, in the story and the team who are supporting you, who were all incredible.

Now after the success of the film, with the things I’ve learnt about food, farming and soil I’m hooked! It’s changed the way I shop and think about food, farming and nature. It’s made me pivot my business towards films about people and organisations who are making a positive difference to society and the planet. It's been a really transformative journey.