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Documentary, This Farming Life S02E11

The working day begins as the sun rises above the horizon and it ends long after the sun has set. Across Scotland and Northern Ireland, the struggles and triumphs of farmers and their families are documented to give a unique perspective into the lives of those providing the nation with milk, meat and more. Against a backdrop of some of Britain's most remote and beautiful locations, these farmers go about their day with unprecedented dedication as they tend to their animals, harvest their crops, and care for their own families, as they endeavour to keep everything on the farm running smoothly during often testing times.
#FarmingLife #ThisFarmingLife #Scotland

#FarmingLife #ThisFarmingLife #Scotland
#Documentary
#FarmingLife

#ThisFarmingLife #FarmingLife

Category

🐳
Animals
Transcript
00:00Across some of the most beautiful and remote landscapes of the British Isles.
00:07There's not many views like that. It's absolutely stunning.
00:10Scotland's farmers work day and night, producing our milk and our meat.
00:17Trying out new ideas.
00:20Buffalo doesn't want to do something. You're going to find it very difficult.
00:24And striving to turn a profit in tough economic times.
00:28We're struggling. We're definitely struggling.
00:32Over the course of a year, six very different families let cameras onto their farms.
00:39Everything that could have gone wrong there went wrong.
00:42The idea of lying on a beach. Bliss.
00:45To share their struggles.
00:47We have to get her out or she's going to die.
00:49And their triumphs.
00:52It's not about the paycheck. It's about the lifestyle.
00:58Summer has arrived in Scotland.
01:10The sun is shining.
01:13Temperatures are rising.
01:16And the work's hotting up for farmers.
01:19I know I do. I like the summer. I really enjoy it. The summer holidays. Cows are outside.
01:26I love it. The fact that you're looking out your window and the cows are out happily grazing.
01:32I like the same meat here when the sun's shining. So you just try and get as much done as you can.
01:45Dumfries and Galloway, South West Scotland. Spring showers and an early summer heat wave have worked their magic on these fertile coastal fields.
01:56Producing young grass, rich in protein and sugars.
02:00For dairy farmers, the Rowan family, this lush pasture is perfect fodder for their 320 dairy cows.
02:10But this bumper crop of summer grass must feed the herd through winter too. For that, it needs to be turned into silage.
02:18That's the finished product. That's silage. And that's got nice texture and a lovely smell. Like if I was a cow, even if not a cow, I could nearly eat it myself so I could.
02:30There's nothing fancy about it. It's just grass which has been cut, packed in, fermented, left for four or five weeks minimum.
02:39And then it's a nice silage edible product. That silage represents our milk production for next winter.
02:47No matter how much other feeding we use, basically if the silage is good, the cows will inherently milk much better.
02:55You want to make rocket fuel, basically, that'll feed your cows well over the winter.
03:00So yeah, there's quite a lot riding on it. You want to cut it at the right time, because you want as good a crop as you can get.
03:11Rain is forecast in three days' time. With over 300 acres of grass to harvest, Team Rowan needs to run like clockwork.
03:21We're all working together, everybody's together, that's right, and everybody's a member of the team.
03:28Stephen's in the fields mowing.
03:31Keep your fingers crossed that the weather's going to hold.
03:34Stuart's maintaining the equipment.
03:37We haven't invented a machine yet that doesn't break down at some point.
03:41And Dad Derek's making the rows.
03:44It's the old man's job to do the rowing up. It's not too fast, it's not too noisy and nobody else bothers me.
03:52In the rush to bring in the harvest, a kind of madness can take hold.
03:58Silage fever. Everybody goes down with silage fever.
04:04In a well-known condition that I don't think there's a cure for.
04:09It can be pretty stressful because you just know that it really is critical that you make as good a quality crop as you can.
04:16If you get caught out with breakdowns or with bad weather, it's going to cost you money in the long run.
04:27Stephen's getting through ten acres an hour.
04:30They'll need to keep up this pace for ten hours a day.
04:33Fingers crossed, the weather and the machinery hold out.
04:50While silage fever grips the south, 135 miles northwest on the Isle of Mull,
04:59summer has cast its spell on Janet and Alistair's farm.
05:06So, last calf born last night, a wee heifer calf to Hazel.
05:14What a big stretch.
05:18New life is popping up everywhere.
05:24Not all of it planned.
05:25This hen's just turned up today with a load of chicks.
05:30It's like they get freedom and then she's gone off and being broody and just brought us back on the chicks.
05:40And there's some summer surprises from the sheep too.
05:44We've had a lodger for a couple of days.
05:47Just a wee lamby.
05:49Not that you can see it.
05:51Because the dogs just love to watch the lambs.
05:55Don't you guys?
05:57So we call it Lamb TV.
06:03The last of the late lambs now safely delivered.
06:07Janet is able to indulge in an unusual hobby.
06:10Yay! Good girl!
06:13Are you training her or is she training you?
06:16We're training each other, I think.
06:18Good girl!
06:22All the way up.
06:24Good girl!
06:26So, Champ.
06:27Champ.
06:28What do you think of it?
06:37Janice and Alistair do paid work to prop up their fragile finances.
06:42A profitable contract to manage livestock on the nearby Ardalanish estate means two trips to the mainland.
06:54So the plan today is we're going to head over to the east coast, over to Aberdeenshire, pick up the Ardalanish hogs that have been away wintering and then bring them home tomorrow.
07:05Right, come on dog.
07:07Now that the warmer weather has arrived, the hogs, or young sheep, can come home.
07:13Bud.
07:15We put them away there just the beginning of the winter when they were just lambs and they've been there all winter.
07:21Come and get them then.
07:25Picking them up will mean an overnight stay away from the farm.
07:30It's so rare that we get away, so it is nice when it happens.
07:35Back down south, the Rowans are in the grip of silage fever.
07:51BBC Radio Scotland News.
07:53Let's get the weather forecast now with Julian Smart.
07:56Scotchule is the forecast for today and tomorrow.
07:59It's our winter.
08:00It is, it is.
08:02But it will break down into thundery showers on Saturday, so make the most of the sunshine today and tomorrow is the message.
08:07For today we've still got some...
08:10They've got just two days to get their first batch of silage in before the weather breaks.
08:15Derek's job is to tidy up the grass into neat rows, ready for the harvester or chopper.
08:24This one is the rowing up machine which puts three rows from the mower into one nice big row for the chopper to pick up.
08:33I like doing the rowing up. It's the sort of job to get the corners right and get the bits tidy and then when Stuart's on the chopper it's nice when he says oh that was easy because the rows were good and you know you put the row in the right place round about a tree or something like that.
08:51So it's the sort of thing anybody can do but I like to think it's worth doing a wee bit tidier.
09:04Making hay while the sun shines has been the practice of farmers for centuries.
09:09But times are changing.
09:15More reliable for farmers and often more nutritious for animals, silage has replaced hay as the mainstay of winter feed.
09:26Most farms round about here would change from hay making to silage maybe about 40 to 50 years ago.
09:32Mainly because silage can be made in wetter weather than hay can and you can do silage in a much shorter window of time.
09:43You see? This is when I sit and do my thinking. I get locked in my own wee world.
09:50It's quite therapeutic. You can drive back up and you see that row.
09:55You think is it straight? Was it a bit of a mess? Was it not being properly cut?
10:02Then you don't fall asleep or you run into that electricity pool.
10:10The chopper scoops up Derek's neat rows, chops the grass and spits it into the trailer.
10:18When a trailer is full, it's emptied into the silage pit and another takes its place.
10:23Everyone must work together like links in a chain.
10:34But three hours in, a link breaks.
10:40Tell us three folks.
10:42It's stopped working. The grass is not going in. This roller stopped driving. It's not taking the grass in.
10:48So there's something went wrong inside this end gearbox.
10:53Their tooth or the gear chewed up or shaft broken or something, sir.
10:58Don't know until we get in there.
11:00And then it's hoping that the local dealer has the right parts.
11:03That's pretty annoying. It's just what happens. They don't break down when you're not using them, sir.
11:10You only break down when you want them to go, sir.
11:13Everything has come to a halt. Like, everything.
11:24So we're all kind of in limbo, like, waiting to see if we can get the bit fixed and get started again.
11:31But it just kind of sets you back. So it'll be a late night, which isn't great, because you've still got an early start.
11:43For now, everyone has to down tools.
11:47The grass stays in its rows. The silage pit is far from full.
11:51And the clock is ticking.
11:54In the far north, summer has reached Sutherland, and the days are long.
12:20But for Highland crofter Robin Calvert, the dry weather is not good news.
12:31Leave it, Maggie.
12:33Still very, very short of grass. It's just not growing. Nothing's growing that it should do at all.
12:38What they used to say, rain in May for hay.
12:41I've had no rain since about second week of April, something like that.
12:44Robin and wife Penny's 110-acre smallholding provides most of their food and fuel.
12:53But to bring in money, they sell their croft-reared meat and pies at local events.
13:02With the summer season about to kick off, there's much to prepare.
13:05I have animals lined up for various events. We need to get them down in the abattoir, and then we need to get them back in there.
13:14We need plenty of time for them to hang and things, you know, so they make it in tip-top condition.
13:20The taste of Grampian show is approaching.
13:23It's the couple's best chance of making money this year.
13:29In the summertime, we do the great big shows, and we're selling maybe 500 pies, and that's where the real profit lies.
13:40But it's a lot of hard work.
13:43Penny's on her way to pick up pie cases in a roadside rendezvous on the A9.
13:49We cook our pies in pre-formed pie cases, and we buy those from a company in Elgin.
13:58And they deliver on the A9 if you go and collect at strategic points.
14:04And my daughter's always saying it's a clandestine arrangement with the white van on the A9.
14:10They always giggle about it.
14:11And here we are at the mountains, which is the most beautiful place.
14:26I saw four ospies in one go last year. Just amazing.
14:31It's a nice place to have to wait. But as I tell you, in the winter, it's brilliant cold.
14:45Good morning, Penny. How are you doing?
14:46I'm doing fine, thank you.
14:48Good.
14:50Two of each.
14:51Yes.
14:53For Penny, this show will mean two full days' work, filling and baking pies.
15:00Right then, isn't that?
15:01That's great. Thanks very much.
15:02No bother on that. Yeah.
15:03See you later.
15:04See you then.
15:05That's two boxes of pie cases.
15:07Get them into a freezer so that they're still fresh.
15:09Back at the croft, everyone's enjoying the summer weather.
15:23But for some, their days in the sun are numbered.
15:30Penny's pie cases need filling.
15:33And for that, she needs croft-reared mutton and Highland cattle beef.
15:36It's been brought through winter and it's been well fed and brought on and kept happy and in good condition.
15:44And now it's ready to go off and fulfil its role on the meat counter, you know.
15:50Which is, oh, a sad end for the cattle.
15:53But I say the way you can equate that is by giving them a good life on the way past,
15:58which I think they get here.
15:59None of them have ever complained, anyhow.
16:01Let's go and get one.
16:06Close this one, Penn.
16:08Robin needs to split one cow off from the others and coax her into the pan to load her onto the trailer.
16:17When moving animals, you've got to think the way they do.
16:20Because you only get one chance.
16:22Go on.
16:23After that, you're fighting with them.
16:26This one we want.
16:27I know.
16:28This one at the front here.
16:30He manages to draw her down to the pen.
16:34Follow it on, Penn. Push it on.
16:36But with an extra cow and three chickens and tow, he's got more than he bargained for.
16:42Come on. Get that gate. Hold on.
16:46And another chancer slips in.
16:49Sorry, I've got a few more.
16:50Oh, God.
16:51Could have done without those two.
16:55Right, you operate that gate. I'm going to push it through.
16:58Come on, little girl.
17:01That's it. Thanks.
17:03Robin splits off the cow he needs.
17:06Go on, old lady. Let's have you.
17:08It's your big day.
17:12Come on. In you go.
17:14That way.
17:16On you go. Come on.
17:17He's through.
17:18Through you.
17:19Go on, you can do it.
17:20That's it. Come on.
17:26That's one.
17:29Up, up, up!
17:31Now for the sheep.
17:34Right, let me in there, Penn.
17:35Let me in.
17:36Let me in.
17:37We're going to lose them on the gate.
17:41Luckily, Meg nips round to cover the gate.
17:47Ah, he's done this before.
17:49Well done, Rob.
17:56Right, I'm getting off.
17:58So I don't want this sitting in a hot trailer any longer than I have to.
18:03These seven animals will come back as carcasses,
18:07which Robin and Penny can turn into much-needed cash for the croft.
18:12Put the croft back back and then we're done.
18:28Further down the east coast in Fife,
18:32another cattle farmer is ramping up for the event season.
18:36But on a much bigger scale.
18:38Come on, you big love.
18:39How are you?
18:41Stevie Mitchell's water buffalo spend summer in the fields.
18:49This is the time of year when the buffalo thrive probably the best.
18:53They do much better out at grass than they do over the winter.
18:56But today, 48 of his young bulls are in the shed.
19:00Stevie and Stockman Eddie must make some difficult decisions.
19:06I think this one is no bad size, see?
19:09He's looking good.
19:11They're choosing the next four animals to go for slaughter.
19:14Probably the least favourite job of what we do, but we've got to pick out four bulls that are a combination of things.
19:28The oldest four as well as obviously the ones that are the biggest four.
19:32It's a kind of compromise between the two.
19:36The one that won't come in the woods, you see?
19:39We just work hard to make sure they've got the best possible life when they're on this farm.
19:43This one?
19:44I think so, 704.
19:46But we couldn't keep any animals if we didn't have an income.
19:49That 704 is probably quite close to as good as you'll get in a buffalo in my opinion.
19:59He's got a bit of shape to him, plenty shoulder, quite a thick back.
20:04So he would be one I'm particularly proud of.
20:09I'm going to look for one more big one.
20:12Sending these animals off, that pays the bills to allow us to make next year's winter feed, etc, etc.
20:18So it's a conveyor belt, but unfortunately time does come that we do have to send them away.
20:25In the summer months, Stevie doubles his weekly delivery of bulls to the abattoir to meet extra demand.
20:33Gently Eddie, gently, gently.
20:37At this time of year, obviously this is when we're at our busiest with our events and you know, our customers are at their busiest too.
20:46And it's barbecue season, so we tend to see a increase in sales for that.
20:51Come on, move you, bruv.
20:53Good boy.
20:54Like Robin, Stevie has his own on-site butchery.
21:03But Stevie's high-tech operation is fast.
21:06It costs £200,000 to set up and is staffed by nine full-time butchers.
21:18I'm not normally as quiet as this, I must be shy of the camera.
21:24This is John, he's nutcase, so we're all in charge of what's going on.
21:30He's just about to retire, unfortunately.
21:31But I've got Ian, they do the majority of the boning out.
21:38When the animals come in as whole carcasses, they break that carcass down into each section.
21:43Just one buffalo carcass will produce 450 burgers of prime meat.
21:51We reckon we make somewhere between 300,000 and 400,000 burgers a year now.
21:57That's 33 tonnes of buffalo burgers a year, approximately.
22:05Which is quite a lot when you think about it like that.
22:10They won't go uneaten.
22:13This year, Stevie's catering at 50 events.
22:17And this weekend, he's at Perth races.
22:20Right, so we won't take all this today, just put 10-minute steak in.
22:28My personality is probably I usually take too much,
22:32so I'm now learning just to be more conservative,
22:35because obviously the key thing is not to have waste.
22:41Right, so burgers are in.
22:44He's taking 400 burgers and 12 kilos of minute steaks
22:48and a brand-new 1,500-pound gadget.
22:54I was at a trade show on Sunday
22:56and I've ended up buying the demonstration grill.
23:01Don't drop it, Eddie.
23:03Right.
23:05The salesman's promised Stevie high-speed burgers.
23:09He's set us up a programme to cook them inside two minutes,
23:13which would be quite amazing, really,
23:14because when we do them on the barbecues,
23:17you're talking sort of seven minutes to cook a burger.
23:20So it's a lot, a lot quicker.
23:22Now all he needs is a hungry crowd.
23:25I'll take the instructions as well, just in case you need them.
23:29OK.
23:31Poisoner toys.
23:33Most farmers love tractors and stuff.
23:34I'll take the barbecues.
23:50Two ferries, 200 miles and seven hours after leaving Mull,
23:55Janet and Alistair have arrived in Aberdeenshire.
24:01Much to the excitement of the dogs,
24:04the Ardalanish ewes are ready to go home.
24:08There's only one problem.
24:11We have sheep on that side of the road.
24:15I want to put them all together into this field,
24:18because this is where we'll load them from.
24:20It makes me nervous this bit.
24:23Yeah.
24:25Once they're across here, I feel like I can relax,
24:27even though we've still got to pen them and load them.
24:29I don't mind that, but it's the danger of people, dogs, sheep,
24:33getting hit by a car.
24:34I'll do, bud. Bud. I'll do. Here. Come on. Here.
24:50These girls, a mixture of Hebrideans and Scottish blackfaces,
24:55have spent the cold winter months here.
25:00A lot of people will winter their hogs away
25:03from the West Coast,
25:04and they'll move them over onto East Coast places
25:07and even down to the borders and things.
25:08You're just a good grass.
25:10Put their sheep on it, and it helps them grow for a wee bit.
25:17Janet's in charge of just keeping them there
25:19while I get the gates open, the pick-up moved,
25:21everything organised for coming across.
25:24Janet's sister Hazel lives near Aberdeen
25:28and has come down to lend a hand.
25:30While she helps Alistair control traffic,
25:34it's down to Janet to control the dogs.
25:40They've managed to get the sheep to the gate.
25:44Stop all cars.
25:46But something is spooking them.
25:48There's a bank immediately outside of the gate,
25:50so the first thing they see is just this solid wall,
25:52and they have to jump up it and then come across the road.
25:54The sheep don't fancy it this time.
25:56Right, right, right, right, right.
25:57Give me a try at it then.
25:58Bud!
25:59Here!
26:00Bud!
26:01Here!
26:02Bud!
26:03Here!
26:04I've got this side, you just watch the back.
26:05Sit!
26:06Alistair gets them to the gate again.
26:09You just have to wait until one of them looks at it.
26:12And then finally one of them will notice it and try it,
26:14and that's it.
26:15And that's it.
26:16And then they come across the road.
26:17The sheep don't fancy it this time.
26:18Give me a try at it then.
26:20Bud!
26:21Here!
26:22Bud!
26:23Here!
26:24I've got this side, you just watch the back.
26:25Sit!
26:26Alistair gets them to the gate again.
26:28You just have to wait until one of them looks at it.
26:32And then finally one of them will notice it and try it,
26:34and that's it, done.
26:38When it happens, it happens fast.
26:40Stay!
26:41Stay!
26:42Stay!
26:43Stay!
26:44Stay!
26:46Stay!
26:47Heal!
26:48Heal!
26:49Heal!
26:50Heal!
26:51Heal!
26:52Heal!
26:53Heal!
26:54Heal!
26:55Heal!
26:56Heal!
26:57OK, they can go now.
27:01Now they need to be loaded onto the trailer.
27:06I'll let you bring them down then.
27:08You've got the keen dogs.
27:10Come here, lie down there.
27:13Bud!
27:14Daldi!
27:15Bud!
27:16Daldi!
27:18Left here.
27:20Left here.
27:21But as Janet and Alistair gather them in,
27:24they spot something unusual.
27:27Lie down.
27:28In a field full of girls, there's a surprise lamb.
27:33Good.
27:34This is a very...
27:35It's not a very good accident.
27:38Little tiny boy.
27:40His mum is last year's lamb, and it shouldn't have seen a boy at all since October.
27:47It's a miracle!
27:48It's a miracle!
27:49Of the wrong kind!
27:51He's tiny.
27:52He's really empty.
27:53He's really lean.
27:55Being...
27:56Being too young to lamb, really.
27:58She's not got any milk on her.
28:00I mean, there's...
28:01Well, probably a little bit, but it's not...
28:02It's just keeping him alive and no more.
28:04It...
28:05He's staying alive and that's it.
28:06But we'll get some...
28:07Baby formula.
28:08Baby formula and a bottle in the supermarket on the way home.
28:12That'll be the way to do it.
28:13And that'll give it a bit of milk.
28:14It's actually been a really good mum.
28:16She didn't want to leave it at all.
28:17Yeah.
28:18Stubborn.
28:19Yeah.
28:20She kept looking down at her feet.
28:21What's she looking at?
28:22Surely...
28:23Surely to God, no.
28:25I still can't fathom how it's happened.
28:27Nope.
28:30Mum and baby get to ride in comfort in the pick-up.
28:34Lie down.
28:36And as they gather in the rest of the sheep, the mystery of the miracle lamb is solved.
28:46Yep.
28:47Has he got his...
28:48Bits and everything.
28:49Janet's found a rogue ram.
28:51Has he marked for a girl?
28:53Yep.
28:54Well, I'm marked with boy bits.
28:58So it must have made a mistake and we took the notch out of his ear.
29:03At birth, female sheep are given an ear notch.
29:07This male or tup got mistaken for a girl.
29:10And he probably had little girly horns because he's quite a little boy.
29:13We moved him up here.
29:14We never checked underneath because the lug marks should be right.
29:19Go on, eh?
29:21Hopefully, there'll be no more pregnancies.
29:24A batch of underweight summer lambs wouldn't be welcome.
29:29In the back.
29:30Good girl.
29:31Oh, sorry, I got caught in your lead.
29:32With the ferry to catch, it's back on the road.
29:37Thank you, Hazel.
29:39Thank you very much.
29:41But first, they need to make a pit stop.
29:48Someone is hungry.
29:52First time for Janet and I buying baby supplies.
29:55Hopefully the last time.
29:57It's fair to find something that would work for a lamb, not a baby.
30:01It's just so tiny.
30:03This is replacement breast milk.
30:05It'll have enough goodness to keep the lamb happier, hopefully.
30:09As long as it'll take it.
30:10Don't know how it'll be.
30:12That feels warm.
30:13Ready?
30:14What'd I do with it?
30:15I don't know.
30:16You're a woman.
30:17You should know.
30:18No.
30:19It's not your maternal instinct kicking in.
30:23No.
30:25See what you think of.
30:26Oh, it is quite big in your mouth.
30:28What do you think of that?
30:29Oh, yeah.
30:30It looks like it likes that.
30:31Yeah.
30:33That's picked you up, hasn't it?
30:36It's a bit of a relief that it's starting to feed there,
30:38because it was looking quite weak when we saw it,
30:40and she's not got much milk.
30:41She loves it to bits, but it wasn't looking terribly great.
30:45Look how cute he is.
30:47But we won't have a chance to stop till we get to the ferry again,
30:50otherwise we might miss the ferry.
30:51So, it'll have to hang on till then, if Janet can stop cuddling it.
30:55I'll pick you back in your mummy.
30:59She's still lying down.
31:00Good girl.
31:02With baby on board, it's time to make a move.
31:09Oh no, we didn't get any diapers.
31:10180 miles south, there's silence in the silage fields.
31:26The harvest ground to a halt nearly six hours ago.
31:35But finally, there's some good news for the Rhoans.
31:39Stewart has sourced the replacement part for the chopper.
31:42This roller's not driving, because the teeth in this gear here have chewed up.
31:50That's the new one that's supposed to have teeth like that,
31:52which grip into the gearbox.
31:53This one's gone all smooth, so there's no drive on this roller,
31:56so I'm trying to unbolt this coupler.
31:59But the bolts won't come out, so we're having to weld nuts onto the end of them
32:03to then use that heat to make the bolt come out.
32:11Yeah, we're getting there.
32:12Yeah, we're far away now.
32:15Half an hour or so should be finished.
32:18Finally, they get it working.
32:30But they've lost half a day.
32:36It's 7pm.
32:38There's 150 acres of silage still to be lifted,
32:42so the chopper will have to be pushed to its limits.
32:45Yeah, I'm pleased to get going again.
32:50Obviously, when this stops, everything stops,
32:52then you've got a queue of people wondering what's happening when you're going,
32:57and it's a bit stressful.
33:00So, just keep watching the forecast,
33:03see what Carol and Judith have got to say about the weather.
33:07I'm always interested in what either of them have got in the forecast.
33:10But after just 20 minutes of chopping,
33:16disaster strikes again.
33:19There's no smoke rising there somewhere.
33:22Well, wait, you can see it.
33:23Aye.
33:25Oh, it's underneath here.
33:27That's right, look.
33:29There's smoke there.
33:31Aye, there's brake callipers sticking.
33:34The brakes have jammed and overheated.
33:40The brake disc is molten hot.
33:43There's a bucket of water here.
33:44I need to watch this as they go on fire.
33:51There's nothing to be done but wait for them to cool.
33:55Ah, jeez-o.
33:58It's a bit frustrating.
34:00We've got one problem fixed and then it's another problem now.
34:03Aye, have you got a screwdriver there or a spanner or anything?
34:06We must have lost six or seven hours anyway,
34:10so hopefully they'll get it going again.
34:13It's frustrating, but these things happen
34:16and we'll just have to do what we can.
34:18An hour later, the chopper's running.
34:36The silage pit is filling
34:38and the family is making the most of the long daylight hours.
34:43I'll be quite keen to get as much in as we can
34:45before it gets dark just because we lost a lot of time earlier on today.
34:50But it's nice and dry, nice and warm
34:53and it should certainly be good stuff that we're making.
34:59It's nine in the evening.
35:03Are you not tired?
35:04I am.
35:06I'm being tired next year.
35:08Come on, bed.
35:10Mummy, I'm being tired next year.
35:12Mummy.
35:14Oi, come on, we need to go in at school tomorrow.
35:17What's the point of school?
35:19What do you mean, what's the point of school?
35:23Because of the setback, it's making it a very long night
35:27and just when you've got other things to deal with,
35:30it just makes it a very long day.
35:32When you've got the milk business as well to run,
35:36it just adds extra pressure on.
35:38Everybody will be crabbit tomorrow.
35:41I'll be crabbit, they'll be crabbit,
35:43Stephen will be crabbit.
35:45But that's just, that's just farming life.
35:48That's just what it's like.
35:50I'm looking at the top.
35:52Right, come on.
35:54You either shut up and put up or you get out.
35:56On farms across the UK, it's not just the machinery that can overheat.
36:17In hot, sunny weather, farmers must keep a watchful eye on their livestock.
36:28Come on.
36:30For a dairy cow, anything over 20 degrees can affect their milk yield,
36:36as the more they eat, the hotter they become.
36:39In summer, sheep are shorn, but their thick coats help protect them,
36:51not just from the cold, but also the summer sun,
36:55so they need plenty of shade.
36:56On Mull, the Ardalanish estate sheep have arrived home.
37:21Juki, leave the sheepies alone.
37:25And for farmers like Janet and Anister,
37:29summer plus sheep equals only one thing.
37:33Shearing.
37:35I'm getting ready to shear the hogs we brought back from Aberdeen the other day,
37:40so I've got to set up my shearing race.
37:45It works.
37:47Come on, turn around, we need.
37:49Alistair will be head stylist, while Janet is on crowd control.
37:55Wooly jumpers.
37:58But there's trouble in Penn.
38:04Curious.
38:06She's called Chirpy because she was a hand-raised chick.
38:11She'd been laying in the sheep hay heck,
38:14and she's very upset now that there's sheep trying to eat out of it.
38:18Woof!
38:22Vicious.
38:24Chicken versus sheep.
38:25The reason we shear them is because their wool grows, and if you don't shear them, they'll just keep compiling fleece after fleece, or fleece on top of them.
38:33And it's perfect for maggots and things like that to live in, which then the maggot will start eating their flesh and kill them.
38:38Most farmers shear their sheep in early summer, before the fly population takes hold.
38:43It's mainly about welfare.
38:44There is a market for wool, but not a very lucrative one.
38:48These ones, the white ones, the black faces, they'll mostly end up as carpets, because their wool's not very high quality.
38:52In with the fleece, these really, a little bit thicker white ones, they'll mostly end up as carpets, because their wool's not very high quality.
39:01In with the fleece, these really, a little bit thicker white hairs, they're a bad thing, so they won't take a dye, and they're really coarse.
39:13These are the things that make your jumper itchy, whereas this stuff, this is the nice stuff that's soft.
39:30These ones are the Hebridean sheep, and their wool is quite soft, it's long, and it's hard-wearing.
39:49They're used to make the tweed.
39:52A Hebridean fleece itself is worth very little, just 39 pence per kilo.
39:59But the Ardalanish estate weaves its own wool into bespoke products, maximizing their return.
40:07Weaver Katrina Crosby knows what makes a good fleece.
40:12They're absolutely gorgeous.
40:15Very little modding, and you just look at it and it comes apart.
40:20They're really clean.
40:22A little bit of straw and grass, but they're sheep, that's what they do.
40:26She will weave the yarn from these fleeces here on the island.
40:32Sorting them into colour.
40:34In our mill, we use natural-coloured sheep fleeces of the British native breeds.
40:39So Hebridean, Menxlochten, which is kind of a cinnamon colour, and then Shetland, which is an interesting sheep.
40:49I think sheep are very interesting.
40:52Like Labrador dog comes in three colours.
40:55Shetland sheep come in about 40 different variations.
40:59We make everything from tweed, right down to scarves and blankets and pashmina-style wraps and things like that.
41:13While Alistair finishes the last sheep, Katrina meets a future supplier.
41:22Their surprise lamb.
41:28Once the ladies are shorn, they're released back into the field to enjoy the rest of the summer.
41:36With hopefully, no more surprise births.
41:46Whether it's weaving wool into tweed, or turning buffalo into burgers, farmers are increasingly selling their produce direct to the public.
41:56And with each sale, they're boosting their profits.
42:03In Sutherland, it's a big day for Penny and Robin.
42:07We're going to Thanestone Market in Varuri, near Aberdeen, where they have the most enormous food fair.
42:16And people come from all over Scotland.
42:19Those chives are gorgeous, aren't they?
42:21The couple's been working hard to get their meat and pies ready in time.
42:27But it's not just the biggest food festival of their year.
42:31It means a night away from the croft.
42:34No falling out. No howling. Be good.
42:38We've packed the pies, packed the meats.
42:41It's major.
42:43Just such a lot of things to think about.
42:46Your phone's in the car?
42:47No, it's in my... I've moved it.
42:49You've moved it?
42:50I'll just double check, I've got it.
42:52You've got your pills?
42:53Yes, and yours.
42:54I'll get you a large bucket for the pills if you want.
42:59Oh, shut up Maggie, be good.
43:03Penny has Parkinson's disease, so scheduling downtime is key to the weekend's success.
43:09We're just going to make sure tomorrow that you get set up and then you go and have a really good rest until it gets busy.
43:18Yeah.
43:19And then do what you can.
43:20And if you can't keep going then, or if you feel you're getting tired or wobbly or something, then you're just going to have to knock off and find somewhere to go for a snooze.
43:33So don't fight it, you know.
43:35No, I've learnt not to fight it.
43:36It just makes it worse.
43:37It can be useful, it's really appreciated, but if you find it hard going, just disappear.
43:44And every time you disappear, come back with a cup of tea.
44:05Around 500 small-scale farmers across Scotland now sell direct to customers at food markets.
44:13And where have you been since I last saw you then?
44:15Oh God.
44:16Pie chiller, meat chiller.
44:18Meat chiller, pay for everything here.
44:22The taste of grampion is expected to pull in 14,000 people.
44:27That's very kind of you.
44:29That's all right, no worries.
44:30Come on, get a pie for your lunch tomorrow.
44:32Yeah, will do.
44:34Robin and Penny will be competing with 156 other stalls.
44:39We can get in there, can't we?
44:41Yeah.
44:42So space is a little tight.
44:47You're going to get the buttons all caught up on it.
44:53And making a profit is not guaranteed.
44:58Your fees are 400-odd.
45:00You pay for the petrol to get here overnight stay.
45:04So you've got to sell 800-900 pounds worth of goods before you're making a profit.
45:11And they're only small.
45:13It's definitely getting broader, is that gap?
45:15It's showtime for Penny and Robin.
45:16Five is a £4 a piece, three for a tenner, same price we've been for five years.
45:28Fellow crofter Maddy has been drafted in to help.
45:31Maddy's main job is working on that board with gloves, keeping samples going on that plate there.
45:39I've got the A team today.
45:41It's Crofters Unonymous, or Crofters Anonymous, or help with Crofters.
45:47Before the crowds get too big...
45:54I pull and you let go.
45:58The well-hung lamb company needs a well-hung banner.
46:03This is more difficult than it looks.
46:05Hang out the sign, he said.
46:06It'll be easy, he said.
46:09It's me. It's you. It's me. It's me. It's me.
46:14It's supposed to be well-hung.
46:19Fingers crossed their selling techniques are better than their hanging.
46:25Just needs Robin to come out and say, no, I want it over there.
46:27Someone's over there!
46:41Further down the East Coast, 90 miles away,
46:44Stevie's placing his bets on a burger stall for Ladies' Day at Perth Racecourse.
46:51It's like blessed this racecourse with weather somehow.
46:53It always seems to bring good weather whenever we come up to Perth. It's great.
46:57Hop out the road.
46:59Events like this one account for 30% of Stevie's buffalo meat income.
47:07It's always.
47:09He's brought along two glamorous assistants.
47:12Del does the majority of our events with us.
47:15He's also our baker, so he makes all the steak pies and the butchery during the week.
47:18And then Connor, who's actually our apprentice butcher.
47:23Today, they're test driving Stevie's Impulse Buy.
47:27A high-tech, high-speed grill.
47:30And Stevie's got high expectations.
47:33Go for it. Three burgers on.
47:34If it does what it says it will, it will pay for itself incredibly quickly.
47:40I mean, despite being very expensive.
47:43Two minutes.
47:45A machine that cooks burgers in two minutes, not seven,
47:50means 360 burgers an hour.
47:53A fast-food upgrade for Stevie's operation.
47:56Ten seconds to go.
47:58Can't wait to see this.
48:02You look good.
48:03Yeah, you look good.
48:05That was amazing, didn't I?
48:07Two minutes.
48:10Their lives just changed.
48:19I actually think it's better.
48:21It's kept it really juicy inside.
48:22Genuinely, I'm not saying this, it's possibly the nicest buffalo burger I've ever had.
48:27When I've seen it, I thought...
48:29Here he goes again.
48:30I didn't think it would work.
48:32Occasionally I have a good idea.
48:34I'm actually really excited to see what the public making the burgers now.
48:37I'm actually really excited to see what the public making the burgers now.
48:49Four pound of black, please.
48:51In Inbaruri, the crowds are building.
48:54Robin's on a roll, and he's aiming for a sellout.
48:57That's a crofters pie.
48:59Have you had a crofters pie before?
49:01They're made from real crofters.
49:03There you go.
49:05It's never too late, you know.
49:07It's Highland cattle beef and mutton mixed together.
49:10There's a lot of browsing people at the moment, but they'll stop buying this afternoon.
49:13I'm not worried about that.
49:1515.50 for cash, please.
49:17While trading is quiet...
49:19There we go. Thank you very much indeed.
49:20I hope you enjoy that now.
49:22Penny takes time out in the Land Rover.
49:26I think Penny's having a nap.
49:27I think she was flagging a little bit, so she won't...
49:30I don't think she'll be too much longer.
49:32The pipe band started up just as she went off, so...
49:35I don't know how much sleep she'll have actually got.
49:46I've had a wonderful hour of being asleep.
49:56It's a question of working out how long I can function before I need a rest.
50:01And we've just got to realise that having Parkinson's, your body condition is different every two hours.
50:08And it can swing enormously.
50:11We make them so they're good cold like that.
50:14They're even better warmed up.
50:15Or they freeze perfectly.
50:17They're on offer today at £4 a piece of three for a tenner.
50:19We've still got a few left.
50:21After a quiet morning...
50:23That's ten you give me. Thank you now.
50:25..the crowds have descended.
50:29Having great fun. I mean, they are good fun, these friends, you know.
50:32Caught up on a lot of people today.
50:33Seen a lot of folk we haven't seen for a long time.
50:35Oh, having great fun now, yes.
50:36The second half of the day.
50:39And we've only got a couple of hours to go.
50:41You've come off the wobbles haven't you?
50:42Can I come off the wobbles?
50:43Thank you very much indeed now.
50:45If you want to reheat them, the instructions are on the back.
50:47Real meat.
50:49Real meat.
50:51They're on offer today at £4 a piece of three for a tenner.
50:54The crafters' pies are a hit.
50:57Seven boxes of pies sold today so far.
50:59That's 13 a box.
51:01Do enjoy that.
51:02That's it.
51:04Thank you now.
51:06Finally, after a late flurry of customers.
51:09I hope you enjoy that now. Thanks now.
51:11It's time to take stock.
51:14I don't trust myself to add up straight today because I've been up too long.
51:18I think it's been a good steady day.
51:21Not brilliant.
51:22But I don't think we would have done as well as we did last year.
51:28We haven't sold out.
51:29I mean, that's when you're really happy.
51:33They've managed to make a small profit.
51:36But it's been a slog.
51:38This is the culmination of a lot of effort that's gone on over the last couple of years.
51:42To get everything to this stage so it could come here.
51:45That's made from mutton mixed with hand and half a piece.
51:49Selling at events means Robin and Penny can ask a fair price.
51:53But after ten years, it's not getting any easier.
51:56Well, there was a time a few years back we used to do anything up to about 50 days like this a year.
52:03We've cut these down an awful lot now.
52:05We're just doing about half a dozen of these a year now.
52:06We've also got an attitude in this house of being there and done that.
52:13When you've taken the best out of a project, you don't want to drag it out until it gets boring.
52:20You want to leave it in its prime so that people have got a good memory of it.
52:24I think that's very important.
52:36While Robin and Penny begin to slow down, in Perth, Stevie is definitely gearing up.
52:49The gates are open and over 5,000 well-heeled visitors descend on the grounds.
52:55Yeah, I think this is going to be our fourth Ladies' Day.
53:07It's a very entertaining day.
53:10It's one of the most vibrant days at Fair Phrase course.
53:16Quite entertaining.
53:20And you're 50.
53:22Thanks very much, girls.
53:24The sun's shining and Stevie's steaks are sizzling.
53:28I'm just a...
53:30I can't count, you see.
53:32Like Robin and Penny, he needs to sell enough to cover costs
53:36and hopefully turn a profit by the end of the day.
53:40We're about to kind of sell, hopefully, about three, four hundred burgers.
53:45And I'd be quite happy if you sold sort of the same again in Chiabatta.
53:49Yeah, it's basically about 800.
53:50We'd like to serve 800 customers today with a bit of luck.
53:54That would be really good.
54:00With the races in full swing, business is booming at the bookies.
54:08But Stevie's burgers are still under starter's orders.
54:11Maybe not quite as good as I was hoping for, but I'm always a little bit...
54:16I need to learn to be less optimistic, maybe.
54:21What his business needs is a bit of lubrication.
54:26I'm sensing a bit of a change. The alcohol is sunk in and this will be the time we expect to get busy.
54:42A bit of luck.
54:43A bit of luck.
54:48Stevie's super-fast grill helps him make the most of the last-minute rush.
54:55Thank you very much.
54:56He may not have sold the lot, but he's still pocketed a profit of £2,000.
55:03Today's been good, really. A lot of happy people.
55:06And we've sold quite a lot of stuff, really, so we're quite happy.
55:10Amazing!
55:11Best Network! Yay!
55:28Back down in Dumfries and Galloway, the silage harvest is finally over.
55:35So how are you feeling? How's to do with Stephen?
55:38Yeah.
55:39That's all the... Is it on, eh?
55:44Yeah.
55:46That's all the silage finished on this farm. That's the first cut finished this year.
55:51You can see we've got...
55:54This pit's nice and full.
55:56There's about 140 acres in that pit.
56:00And it should be nice and dry stuff.
56:03And then there's a bit in this pit as well.
56:06So all in all, very pleased.
56:08The Rowans have harvested 2,200 tons.
56:13Six months' worth of food for the farm's dairy herd.
56:17What time is it? Half past nine, ten o'clock?
56:20Quarter to ten.
56:21Quarter to ten.
56:22On a Saturday night.
56:23Saturday night, yeah.
56:24Quarter to ten o'clock, yeah.
56:25Yeah.
56:26Yeah.
56:27Yeah.
56:28Yeah.
56:29Yeah.
56:30Yeah.
56:31Yeah.
56:32Yeah.
56:33Yeah.
56:34Yeah.
56:35Yeah.
56:36Yeah.
56:37Yeah.
56:38Yeah.
56:39Yeah.
56:40Yeah.
56:41Yeah.
56:42Yeah.
56:43Yeah.
56:44Yeah.
56:45Yeah.
56:47Yeah.
56:48Yeah.
56:49Yeah.
56:50Yeah.
56:51That was a good one!
56:55Because you work and live and breathe it every day,
56:58you're not getting a chance to actually appreciate it.
57:01Just how nice it is living here.
57:03I mean, I always have to remind myself and the kids.
57:06Like, we are really privileged.
57:08Like, look at this.
57:10Like, who can put a thylist shit in their back garden?
57:13Like, some people can't even hang their washing out.
57:16We are so, so lucky.
57:18That's it! That's it!
57:23So, yeah, I would've got to change it.
57:26As long as they are happy, that's the main thing, isn't it?
57:29It's all about them. They are the future.
57:37Those things in the field and that thing there,
57:39that's what it's all about.
57:41Cows and kids and, yeah.
57:43Not a good combination sometimes, but that's what it's about.
57:47Oh, watch you don't slip!
57:50Oh!
57:55What's mummy going to wash her dishes with now?
57:59Next time...
58:00Oh, you hell of a brute!
58:03David struggles to hook a stray lamb.
58:06Shepherd's crew is not just for helping me walk up that hill.
58:08It's handy for catching a lamb.
58:10It's piglet pandemonium for Eilert and Stuart.
58:14It's like taking your children for their injections.
58:19And Stevie takes fiancee Sarah on holiday
58:23to an Italian buffalo farm.
58:25It's like being in a holiday resort with buffalo.
58:28It's incredible!
58:29Yeah!
58:30Yeah!
58:31It's incredible!
58:32Yeah!
58:33Wow!
58:34It's incredible!
58:35Wow!
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