Episode 3 The Hill Farm

For thousands of years, farming has shaped the landscape of Wales.

Hey, come on!

HE WHISTLES

Generations of farmers have worked the land and in Snowdonia,

one family has been farming

the slopes of the Carneddau Mountains for centuries.

Meet the Joneses.

For 350 years my family can say that we have farmed this valley.

Gareth Wyn Jones is the latest in a long line of hill farmers

to rear sheep on the mountains near Llanfairfechan on north Wales coast.

But the way we buy our food has changed.

Lots of people have lost contact with the land,

with agriculture, with farmers.

Gareth's wife Rhian takes care of the family,

their home and the garden.

Picking peas.

Ah, there is nothing better than

eating peas fresh from the pod.

Their sons - Rolant and his elder brother Sior -

are following in their father's footsteps.

Steady, steady. Hey, stand!

These sheep get on my nerves.

And their daughter Mari isn't far behind.

Sit! Elin, sit!

Elin, paid!

Their grandparents also live on the farm -

Gareth's mother Eryl and his father Roland Senior.

We will follow Gareth and his family through

the course of a year as they take their animals from the mountainside

to the marketplace.

That's it. That's the end product.

After all that hard work, this is what we sell.

But with bad weather and rising costs,

what does the future hold for the traditional Welsh hill farm?

Physically, mentally, emotionally it's tough,

but the truth is, if you are born and bred into it,

you know nothing better.

That's the way it is. That's the way the mountain is.

It's the height of summer,

and one of the hottest and driest in nearly a decade.

Here, here, here. Come, come.

With the sheep free to graze on the lush pastures

of the Carneddau, it is a quieter time on the farm.

The days are long, the sun is out

and the kids are home for the holidays.

It is a time for the family to take stock and spend time together.

But for Sior, the family's eldest,

this summer will be a test of both his farming and academic skills.

Today though, Gareth and the kids are taking a break

from the day-to-day chores and going shopping.

We've just come up to Jo's place now

and we're going to catch a few piglets, hopefully.

They're going to have one each.

So we're going to fatten them up for Christmas.

These pigs are a cross breed -

half Welsh, known for their good meat qualities,

and half New Zealand kunekune,

a small, placid breed sometimes kept as pets.

PIG SQUEALS

He's fat and he's chubby and he is...cool.

Eugh! He pooed on me!

And he pooed on my shoes now!

THEY LAUGH

Having each chosen a piglet, it's time for money to change hands.

-Fantastic.

-Great.

Deal or no deal?

-Deal!

-PIG SQUEALS

It's luck money.

With the piglets safely stowed, it's back to the farm.

Getting them in the car was one thing,

getting them into the shed is another.

Oh, come on!

PIG SQUEALS

The piglets will be fattened up over the coming months

until they are ready for the family freezer.

It's a big day at Tyn Llwyfan.

Every summer the farm hosts a sheepdog trial

that attracts competitors from across Wales.

And this year Sior is planning to compete.

Steady on, steady on. Stand!

Hey, hey.

He and his dog Bill have been training together since the spring.

But they have only trialled together once before and it didn't go well.

They are hoping that a home advantage

might bring them good luck.

Don't get excited. Doesn't matter who is there.

Does it bother you when you see a lot of people watching you?

Yeah. Does the dog get a bit...

So, it's in the dog a bit, is it? Yeah.

So you will be having a bit of a problem there then.

-But you'll have a go, though.

-Will I?

-HE LAUGHS

-You'll have a go.

He was excited last night.

I haven't seen him that excited for ages.

He is still hasn't quite got the gist yet,

but I think he will, he will. He is keen, you know.

I think that little Bill is going to be a good dog in the years to come.

So, hopefully, I'd really like to see him do a good run.

As the crowds begin to arrive, the competitors take to the field.

The first command they give is either a "come-by" to send

the dog left, or "away" to send the dog to the right.

Each shepherd must use their dog to guide the sheep

through the gates, around their post and finally through the lane.

They will be competing against the clock

and marked closely on their skills.

Some struggle to complete the course, others make it look easy.

Now it's time for Sior and Bill to show what they are made of.

Skill with a dog is vital for a successful hill famer.

Now, the months of training with his grandfather will be put to the test.

I think he is a bit nervous. Yes, a little bit.

He has gone very quiet, look.

I'm not sure which way I'm going to give him...

You know, which way, the come-by or away. I'm not sure.

He has asked me to explain exactly...

He is asking the judges what to do now.

-HE LAUGHS

-Oh, God.

Away. Away.

Away!

They get off to a bad start.

Bill has failed to spot the sheep at the far end of the field.

Away!

He still hasn't seen them.

He's going to have a problem with them now.

Stand, away!

He's all right now, hopefully. He's all right now.

Finally, Bill picks up the sheep

and it looks like Sior has him under control, for now at least.

Oh, I hope he does it, I hope he does it.

Away! Stand!

Come by!

Come by, come by. He's a bit late there again.

It's not going well.

They fail to negotiate the first gate.

Sior must now guide them towards his post.

Bloody hell... I've got to watch what I'm saying on the camera.

He's not controlling like I would like him to.

I'll have to give him more lessons.

-Stand.

-Come by, come by, steady.

-Stand.

-Away.

-Away.

Away. Come by!

Eventually, Sior makes it around the post.

That's nice, that is. He's going up very well now.

But then he loses control of Bill on the other gates.

-Away.

-Come by! Oh, bloody hell.

Stand! Stand!

Come by. Stand.

He's done very well, actually, yeah.

Got a big...aah!

Speaking too soon again. Way back.

And before he can steer the sheep through the lane to the finish,

his time is up.

He is unlikely to have impressed the judges,

but his mentors think he has done well for a beginner.

-I was quite pleased, don't know about you.

-Very frustrated.

Well, yeah, tell you one thing you will have to teach him,

that he is too cool. He's got to move himself.

I think he's been listening to you too much.

No, he hasn't! He's not listening, that's the trouble.

He's been listening to him too much.

He could never handle a dog either! THEY LAUGH

I've won more times than you!

-You haven't!

-I have!

Sior, though, is disappointed.

Terrible. Absolutely terrible.

Rubbish. Rubbish.

Good job, but it's frustrating, isn't it?

It's more frustrating for me to watch

than to be running, I tell you.

The dog sometimes just is not picking his sheep up, is he?

And you're not quite stopping him where you should be,

but that will come.

That will come in time. You learn by your mistakes.

High above the farm, on the slopes of the Carneddau,

the flock has been grazing for several months.

They have been fattening up since the spring

and soon they will be ready to be sold.

So, the time has come to bring them down off the mountain.

The ewe lambs will be kept for breeding

and the ram lambs will be sent for slaughter.

First they need to be separated

and turned out onto richer pastures to put on more weight.

Taking the ram lambs out now, ready to be fattened,

sent off to Anglesey.

Dad, there is one going backwards!

Soon the kids will be going back to school, but

while they are still around, Gareth can always find them work to do.

This is a chance for them to learn what I was taught, exactly the same.

You know, they're home every day,

they don't sit in front of the television playing Xboxes.

They're out here with us,

giving us a hand every minute they can.

Sometimes they can get under your feet.

Mari can be bit of a pain,

because she wants to do the things the boys can do, but she can't.

She thinks she can.

But she's quite good, really, to be honest. Good girl.

Mari is very busy.

I don't search for anything for them to do, to be honest.

Come on, move.

As well as their land around Llanfairfechan,

the family also leases land on nearby Anglesey.

The lower elevation and milder climate

provide the perfect grazing to fatten the lambs

and in a few months they will be ready for the abattoir.

That's the second batch that we have sent over to Anglesey.

Next time we put our hands on them, hopefully,

they will be fat and ready for market.

And that's where the money comes into it.

Two, three weeks, maybe four, and we should start picking them.

They are like peas, when they are ready and the price is right,

they've got to go.

The lambs are not the only crop nearly ready to be harvested.

For months, Rhian has been hard at work in the family's

vegetable plot and now the fruits of her labour are ready to be reaped.

This summer has been idyllic. It's been ideal.

The weather has been very warm.

June and July, we just couldn't complain at all.

And, you know, having had some sun on your back,

you are ready for winter, you know.

You are ready for those closed in nights, you know.

July in Welsh is Gorffennaf - "gorffen haf" - "end of summer".

So this is the end of harvest, really.

With the peas we've had the best of them.

The weather is changing. This month is different to last month.

Fantastic, Mari. Watch the plants you're standing on, cariad.

I do see a difference now in this month. I always do.

And I'm always a bit sad that it's almost the end of summer.

The days are getting shorter now as well, you know.

You get to sort of...

You instinctively know that this is maybe our last month of summer.

The beginning of autumn is just almost upon us.

It has been a busy year for the Joneses

and an important one for Sior.

He has been helping out on the farm more than ever,

but he's also been busy at school and today is the big day.

A few months ago Sior sat his first set of GCSE exams

and as the summer holidays draw to an end

it is time to collect his results.

I've had the three As that I hoped for and then I had two Es.

That's not very good. That was the English literature.

I knew I didn't do well on that.

And then I did geography, had an E in that as well.

So, that's not good either.

I think I have to talk to my mum. It's not going to be good.

Doesn't matter, Sior.

-You were saying about your English, weren't you?

-I did, I knew.

In daearyddiaeth, I was hoping for a C.

But I don't know.

Sior will have to resit the exams he failed next year.

But what will his father make of his results?

-A, A, A.

-Da, Sior.

-E.

-Eh?

Good lad! HE LAUGHS

It's a lot better than I expected.

I thought they would be similar to my results

when I brought them home, but no.

I'm very proud, to be honest with you. Very nice surprise.

The truth was, education was not that important as a farmer,

but today it's more important than the farming side of it.

The harder he works at school,

the better he will be able to run his business at whatever he does.

Yeah, that's why I'm pretty proud. Fair play.

Come on! Come on.

The summer holidays are over. It's time to go back to school.

Reading the paper.

Go boys, go, go, go, go!

-Ta-ta, Dad.

-Ta-ta, boy. See you tonight.

Now, Gareth must start to think about the months ahead,

and next year's stock.

The farm has over 3,500 breeding ewes

and these will give birth to the next generation of lambs.

But first they need to mate with a ram.

To prevent inbreeding and maintain a healthy flock,

new rams need to be bought in every year.

But this is also a chance for the Joneses to sell on

their top rams to other farms.

This is what you call a real Welsh mountain ram lamb.

You don't get many in this confirmation.

He's got a good, sturdy back, straight.

A good back on him, and better than anything,

you've got the wool here that will hold the rain.

It isn't open, see.

It's very tight and that will hold the weather

when you get that heavy rain.

All in all, hopefully he'll sell well.

That's the best coat you can get.

What's the most important thing we've got is the mouth.

That mouth needs to be bang on flush.

An uneven mouth will be poor for grazing,

and with their genes passed on to countless lambs

this is a crucial characteristic for any breeding ram.

That's perfect.

Gareth, his father and his uncle Teg

will hope for a good price at the sale,

but it isn't all about the money,

there is also a prize for the top specimen.

We've had quite a few wins with our lambs and the two-year-olds,

but let's see this year.

We've got two good ones. Let's see.

Hopefully this is the one that brings the silverware home with us.

With their best rams ready for the market,

they are loaded up and on their way to Gaerwen on Anglesey.

HE WHISTLES

Farming can be a lonely life

and livestock sales like this are good places to socialise.

Farmers come to buy and sell, check out the competition

and catch up on the latest gossip.

Gareth is in the mood to buy.

What I'm looking for today is rams or ram lambs, you know, for breeding.

So, you are looking for something similar

for what we want on the mountain.

Good coats, good bone, good bodies, nice head, not too heavy horn.

A top breeding ram could cost tens of thousands,

but at small sales like this,

these Welsh mountain rams are more likely to go for several hundred.

But with around 20 bought in every year,

this is still a sizable investment for the farm.

We like to have one ram to every 50 ewes.

So, we need quite a lot of bloody rams,

and it can be an expensive job.

The top ram lambs will now be entered into a show

with a prize for the best individual.

The judge carefully examines each one.

Gareth's ram makes the cut.

It is down to the final three.

They've won!

This should lead to a better price for the farm's rams.

Same again price. 150, 150, 120, 120, 30...

With all the judging over, it is time for the business to begin.

I will take 60, selling away, 150 and sold!

Right, go on.

Roland is giving it the hard sell.

But the prices on the market are lower the usual this year

and he isn't happy with the bids.

Don't loose him.

Roland is disappointed with sales so far

but they've got still got more rams to come.

Reluctantly, Roland agrees to take a lower price and a deal is struck.

They manage to sell of all of their stock, including the prize ram.

They had been hoping for around £700 for the lot,

but have had settle for closer to five.

Disappointed a little bit with the prices.

I thought the best ram would have done a few more quid,

but that's the way of the market today. You never know.

They now need to start buying,

and it looks like something has already caught Roland's eye.

It looks like we might be buying.

The two of us are studying this big ram.

I really liked that in the show, to be honest with you.

But he might be expensive.

He might be out of our price range.

We don't like paying a lot for our rams.

As they take their place among the crowd,

the bidding is already under way.

With subtle nods and winks, business is done.

165.

We'll be bankrupt spending like this.

Bidding is fierce, everyone drives a hard bargain.

Roland has his eye on the next ram.

230, 230, 230.

230, 230, at 230, 230... I'm selling... 230, are you all set?

230!

GAVEL BANGS

230.

The price goes too high for Roland.

But they still get three good rams and at prices they are happy with.

These have cost £404.

One was £90, one was £165 and one was £130.

That...that's cheap. That's a really cheap ram.

We'll need about 13 or 14,

maybe a bit more in the next sale we go to.

From 50 to 70 ewes each and hopefully we'll have lambs for spring.

Still gives me a buzz to come here, win a couple of prizes

and go home with a couple of rams that we're...

we're pleased with.

Within a few months, these rams will be put to the ewes,

the yearly cycle of the hill farm will begin again

and the next generation of Welsh Mountain lambs will be on their way.