Episode 10 This Farming Life

Across some of the most beautiful

and remote landscapes of the British Isles...

This is not a bad office, is it? You know, look at it.

..Scotland's farmers carve a living...

Everything has a time and a season. Nature doesn't stop.

..breeding sheep and cattle...

There's a lot of old friends here.

They've come to the end of their working life.

Quite a sad day.

Wait a second!

..bringing new life into the world...

..and battling with the elements.

They're all cute in their own way

and especially if they end up on your plate as a lamb chop. Yum.

Over a year, five very different families

let cameras onto their farms...

Hell of a size of nuts on him.

..and into their lives, to share their struggles...

I don't know why you want the... Do you need to do this?

..and their triumphs...

Look at my baby. He's alive!

..as they try and turn a profit in testing economic times.

That's just depressing, that, really.

There's cause for celebration...

Gorgeous.

..and a time to reflect.

I feel sad that I haven't provided the next generation

to carry on here.

But it's never dull.

I'm not letting go!

It's not a job. It's a way of life.

It's been the second wettest spring in Scotland since records began.

The rain's come during one of the busiest periods in the farming calendar,

calving time.

In Western Scotland,

hill farmers Sybil and George Macpherson

mainly farm sheep, but they also keep cattle.

Calving's a very exciting time of year and

it's also a time of year when you have to have your wits about you.

Birth is a very difficult process, whatever the animal,

be it human being or cow or sheep.

Things can go wrong, but you must be alert and aware so that

if you have to assist, then you're ready and able to do that.

But it is hugely exciting because it is this new life.

It's a new calf and calves are...

Wee baby calves are absolutely beautiful.

Sybil and George farm over 15,000 acres of mountainous terrain.

So pretty.

They have a herd of 60 cows.

20 are hardy types, particularly suited to living all year round

in this challenging landscape

Watch you don't fall in this bog.

There are cross Highlanders and Blue Greys,

both hybrid types combining self-sufficiency,

low-maintenance,

and the ability to endure difficult conditions.

We decided to go away from the more shapely heavier cross

Limousin cattle into the wee Blue Greys for outdoor wintering

and because they're smaller, supposedly better foraging cattle.

During calving, these breeds give birth outside on their own.

You're very calm today, girls, aren't you?

Sybil's brought the pregnant cows

and new mothers to a field closer to the farmhouse

so she can keep an eye on them

and give them supplementary feed if they need it.

They're just in here for supervision at the moment,

'close at hand for calving in case anything goes wrong.'

Good girl.

'And then they'll be back to the hill to do the job that we keep them for.'

Good girl, Eccentric.

'And the calves will run on them until October-November time,'

when they're either sold or taken away for the winter.

The male calves will eventually go into the food chain.

The females will be kept for breeding

and in three years' time,

go on to produce another generation of calves.

Where is the wee guy? There he is round there.

Three healthy calves have already been born

and another two are expected.

But Sybil has more than just the cows to look out for.

She's also planning a special party for husband George,

who has a big birthday looming.

Unfortunately, his birthday lands at lambing time,

so it's never an event.

But because he's 50 this year, I'm very tempted, to actually try

and have some kind of celebration.

So, I'm trying to get a move on and get it organised for him.

Top of the guest list is Sybil's sister Helen, nicknamed Moppet.

She left the hardships of farming life 35 years ago

to become a student in London.

It actually ties in with an interview for my youngest niece,

who's coming up to have an interview in Edinburgh that weekend,

and they don't usually come to Scotland because she hates the rain,

but I think she will make an exception on this occasion, I hope.

COW MOOS

COW MOOS

The rest of Sybil's herd of cattle are continental crossbreeds.

One of them, Julia K, is currently in need of round-the-clock care.

Sorry, girl.

Three weeks ago, she had to have an emergency Caesarean.

She'd become pregnant before she was fully mature

and her calf got stuck during labour.

Unfortunately, the calf died from stress.

The vet's coming because, as you can see,

her Caesarean wound is not at all nice.

Foot in, missus.

She's so weak, that she can't get up on her feet by herself,

so Sybil and George have been lifting her to a standing position

twice a day to help improve her muscle strength.

We've been lifting her for about a fortnight because the first...

No, a bit more than that actually.

The first few days, she was so nearly dead,

there was no point in doing anything with her.

Julia K weighs 450 kilos - over 70 stone -

so Sybil and George have turned a builder's bag

into a sling to help lift her.

Right, girl.

It's no easy task, but if they can get her back on her feet,

she still might have a chance of a future on the farm

as a breeding cow.

I don't know why you won't go forward, missus.

SHE GRUNTS

'We are responsible for all the animals that are under our care

'and it is up to us to look after them...'

She's gone right on this wound, George.

'..and, for something like this, where it's been a mistake that she

'ever got pregnant when she was too young...'

You'll either have to go in front of the wound or behind it.

It's right on it.

'..and the fact that she has, herself, has tried so hard,

'you could only support her and do as much as we can.'

You might be better now, though.

Lifting her is a time-consuming and stressful process.

'A fit animal of that age would do you a lot of damage.

'She could do a lot of damage if she fell on top of you.'

She's fallen out of it.

-Eh?

-She was falling out of it - you'll need to do this.

'But, as she gets stronger, she'll get more active with us.

'You hopefully read the signs.'

SHE GRUNTS

Whoa, missus.

Missus, missus...

I'm just physically not fit enough.

Oh.

Good girl.

Want a drink?

Get your sweeties.

Just as they get Julia K standing,

the vet who performed the Caesarean, Julie McGlynn, arrives.

She's come to inspect the wound.

I bet you never thought you'd see her standing up, did you?

No, I was absolutely shocked when they said

-that she was still here, so...

-She's remarkable, isn't she?

And quite... It's unbelievable.

We have spent an enormous amount of time on this,

on this one animal, but, basically because we so admired

the fact that she survived the whole thing to start with.

Yeah, it's that lady again.

Sorry, girl.

Visits from the vet are costly but, if Julia K recovers,

she could go on to produce calves for the next 12 years.

Whoa, missus. Whoa, you're going to fall, now, now...

-I'll just push her in against the side, then, or whatever.

-Try to.

'Farming's not all about trying to make lots of money.

'It's so much more than that.

'It's, you know, caring for the animals.

'You develop relationships with them.'

-I would love to think she was able to kick but I know she can't.

-No.

'They're characters and individuals,

'and they rely on us for their wellbeing

'and it's our duty, really, to look after them.

You should be able to flush this now, just...

-It basically just wants the water pressure.

-Just with water?

Yeah, just literally a stream of water to actually

-flush out all that pus out of it.

-Like a dosing gun?

-Yeah, that'd be fine, yeah.

-A flow or something, wouldn't it?

-You'd just keep squirting it, wouldn't you?

-Yep, that would work.

Well, I'd better leave you to it, anyway, and head on.

-Yep, yep.

-Well, thanks, Julie.

We get lots of disasters and this may end still in one,

but, while she keeps trying, then we'll keep trying,

however long it takes,

and hope that one day she'll skip out of this shed.

Julia K is now able to stand on her own for about two hours

and get herself down when she gets too tired.

Soon the whole process will start again.

THUNDER RUMBLES

60 miles east of Inverness, the wetter-than-average weather

has meant that Martin Irvine's pedigree herd are still inside

his large sheds, where they've been for the last eight months.

His 168 Limousin, a breed that's originally from France,

are not suited to being outdoors during a Scottish winter.

COW MOOS

It means Martin gets plenty of opportunity to get up close to them.

This is the nice bit. I like this.

The calves, they get the run of the court.

They run back and forward there. They're playing, to be honest,

and if you just sit here, nosing this,

they'll just come in, wanting to smell you.

I know every cow, every calf.

I could probably name every cow just by her silhouette.

Every calf, I'll know which cow it belongs to

and which is the father, and the breeding.

Just cos you work with them all the time, you just learn it.

I've known them all since born

and I'll know them until they go, really, much.

Over the winter, 12 bull calves have been born.

While some of them will be sent off for meat when they're

15 months old, most will be kept or sold for breeding.

Among the calves are two of Martin's favourites

that were born in November.

You had Jaya and Jumbo born the same day.

Jaya, born first, pretty much textbook calving -

up and sooking its mother within half an hour. Perfect.

With Jumbo, you couldn't have wrote the story any worse.

Everything that could have went wrong did go wrong.

He pretty much should have died, really.

I wonder if he remembers that I gave him mouth-to-mouth.

Wait till the calf's up, now...

HE BLOWS AIR

Jumbo was particularly large.

Over the wall.

-Just wait a second!

-COW MOOS

He was stuck in the birth canal for too long...

HE BLOWS AIR

-The leg.

-Front legs!

He is breathing. He is breathing.

..and the stress nearly killed him.

COW MOOS

-Is this it?

-Yeah.

After eight long minutes, Martin managed to get Jumbo to breathe.

COW MOOS

Looking at Jumbo the now, he's going to be a big calf -

he'll be a good calf.

He's got plenty of size. He's got a bit of shape to him.

But what he really needs is to get outside and get onto the grass -

stretch his legs off, work those muscles.

But the long, wet spring has meant that Martin's been unable to

turn his cows and calves out into the fields.

RAIN SPLASHES AND COWS MOO

In this weather they would churn up the grass into mud

and the calves would risk getting pneumonia.

Every day they stay inside costs Martin money in feed and bedding.

So every night the last thing of the day

is to roll out one or two bales,

-just depending how dirty they are...

-COWS MOO

..and just give them a clean bed for night-time.

5th of May and I shouldn't really be doing this.

All of this shed should be empty at this time of year,

and all the cows outside on the grass.

So, the way the weather's going, this May could be another week,

ten days before I get stuff outside,

which just leads to more expense

and I've only got about 30 bales of straw left,

so I've only got enough bedding for about another ten days.

ENGINE RUMBLES

We're inside for eight months of the year

and outside for just over four months of the year.

-It's kind of back to front.

-COWS MOO

Getting outside soon is particularly important for the healthy growth

of Jumbo and the other calves.

The cows do better outside.

What they really want is

"green medicine", we call it - grass.

And they'll get their summer coats

and they'll just get a really good bloom.

They'll get a really good shine.

I think that's what I need as well, to be honest.

COWS MOO

In the West in Argyll, there's been a break in the weather,

just in time for Sybil and George's big weekend.

Come on, everybody.

Sybil's sister Moppet and her daughter Lucy

are coming to stay for two nights to celebrate George's birthday.

It does you good to get outside and stretch your legs.

Sybil and George don't have any children and Sybil hopes to

use the visit to discuss who might eventually take over the farm.

Our farm's been handed down through the generations

for over 170 years

'and I am custodian of the farm.'

Maybe one day you'll be on top of those hills, will you?

'Just caring for it for the next generation to'

come along and farm it and look after it.

Well, you've always got your best sides showing.

'I have a hope that my nieces,

'who both live in the South of England,

'will want to come back and farm here.

'Whether they will or not, I don't know.'

Come on, you're going to get left behind.

LAMB BLEATS Today, sister Moppet and niece Lucy

are arriving by train...

Is the gate shut?

..and will stay until Lucy's university interview in Edinburgh.

I'm just going to the metropolis of Dalmally Station,

to pick up Sybil's sister and niece. Wowee(!)

Moppet met her husband in the South East,

and they now live in Kent with their two daughters -

21-year-old Claire and 18-year-old Lucy.

We have completely different lifestyles, totally different,

and it is really surprising how much our lives are different,

considering that we were both brought up

on the same family farm for 18 years,

and she spread her wings and flew, flew far away,

and achieved a massive amount,

whereas I'm still flapping about at home, really,

but happily so, and I don't think that would have been enough for her.

So sad that the weather's broken

because one of the reasons that my sister

would never come and live back here is because she can't stand the rain,

and it just absolutely always starts as soon as she appears.

However good the weather's been, it'll rain once she arrives.

I hope they're not in their T-shirts and shorts.

Why does it have to rain?

It's all my family we see normally, do you know what I mean?

Cos they're closer.

It's not very often we see Syb's family.

No, and especially the girls.

I mean, I think my sister was so relieved that you came along

and, I think, I think it's such a relief for her that

we have each other and we have such a, you know,

I think, such a happy time together.

Sybil's nieces are next in line to inherit the farm.

George has a special way with kids

and they've always absolutely adored George,

and you've got, pretty much, a special bond with Lucy.

I'm the softer one of the pair.

-I'm nearly crying just thinking about them. Don't look.

-It doesn't...

It doesn't seem it, like, when it comes to animals or stuff like that

but when it comes to, like, family and that, yeah, definitely.

Here they come.

-TRAIN RUMBLES

-Where are they?

There's Lucy, there.

Where?

Down there.

-They're in that one.

-Middle carriage.

BRAKES SQUEAK

-Hello! Hello!

-Hello.

Oh, look at all your gear. Loopy!

-Hello.

-Oh, lovely to see you.

Oh, Lucy, you've grown up!

What a glamourpuss.

-Fantastic to see you both.

-Oh!

-Wow.

But, true to form, it's raining.

Is now not a good time?

Yeah, that's why I live in the sunny South.

But it's... It's lovely to be here

-and it's lovely to see George on his birthday.

-Yeah.

But it's been a while since we've all been up here, hasn't it?

-Oh, yeah, years.

-I think, Lucy,

the last time you were up was May at lambing, wasn't it?

-LUCY:

-Three years ago, I think.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, I thought it was about three years, yeah.

-You were right, George.

-Yeah.

ENGINE RUMBLES

Even before unpacking their bags,

Moppet and Lucy are thrown straight into farming life.

She's not in a great position, is she?

We're in trouble tonight.

Sybil wants to stop at the barn and give Julia K her evening lift.

I've been kept up-to-date with her, poor old thing.

Poor young thing.

We've to lift her up twice a day to try

and get the feeling back in her legs.

LUCY: Aw, poor thing.

Julia K's condition is of particular interest to Moppet.

-I'm a midwife. Different...

-There on the other side.

- Different...species. - Breed.

-With the wound.

-What do you want to do?

-Flip her over.

-Oh, missus.

-OK.

-Oh, I don't know, I'd have loved to have seen the Caesarean.

It would have been really interesting,

-and Syb, can I do anything to help?

-No, watch out.

Syb, if there's anything I can do, please tell me.

You just haven't gone in a very easy place tonight, girl. Has she?

For Moppet, growing up on the farm

was a different experience to Sybil's.

Sybil was, you know, from when we were tiny,

she always loved it and was always out with my father, always.

Watch the door!

And, to be honest, I just, well, you know,

I knew what a sheep looked like and that was about it, really.

Head end, tail end, four legs.

Yeah, not for me.

Steady, missus.

Sybil's banking on her 18-year-old niece Lucy

-showing more interest in farming than her mum.

-Yup.

It's a lot of hard work and it kind of looks a little bit makeshift.

ENGINE RUMBLES

But, I mean, how does that not break?

It obviously works.

Come on, missus.

SYBIL GRUNTS

Where are you?

Steady, missus.

-Watch your head.

-ENGINE RUMBLES

Sweeties, sweeties, sweeties.

-SYBIL SIGHS

-What do you think, Lucy?

Is this putting you off?

It's amazing. How do you...?

-Isn't she amazing?

-Poor little thing.

It is very inspiring but, at the moment,

I kind of don't have a clue, about this kind of side of it,

-but, erm...

-We're learning, too.

We didn't have a clue when we were 18 either, much,

but it's different when you're the person that's responsible

and you've got to make the decisions.

In the North of Scotland near Inverness...

Come on. Come on!

..large-scale sheep and cattle farmer John Scott is up early,

enjoying a much-needed break from the rain.

He runs a successful business,

producing livestock for both the meat and breeding industry.

I'm just having a bit of a drive round.

We do this every morning

to make sure all the sheep and cattle are fine,

and anything that needs fed gets fed.

Like Sybil and George, he keeps a variety of breeds

picked to suit the different landscapes

on his 4,000 acres of farmland. COW MOOS

One of John's hardiest herds is his Luings -

a hybrid of Highland cattle and Beef Shorthorns,

originally bred on the island of Luing in the Inner Hebrides.

Come on, then.

They're a hardy hill-type cow,

so we've been calving them for,

-yeah, a couple of months now.

-COW MOOS

I'm nearly finished.

-I think there's one or two left.

-COWS MOO

While most calvings are planned, some are not, and John, like Sybil,

has to deal with the occasional unplanned pregnancy

that doesn't always end well.

Most of the time it's...

You get a dead calf and a live heifer.

A nice heifer, too.

We've got a batch of Luing steers and heifers here.

-They're about 14, 15 months old.

-COWS MOO

Unfortunately we have a teen pregnancy, so we have one

that's been a little bit naughty and has been doing things

-she shouldn't have been doing...

-COW MOOS

..before she should have been doing them.

Normally, we wouldn't let them calve till they're two,

but this girl's going to be calving a lot earlier than that.

My experience of these type of calvings isn't that good

and we don't often get a good result,

erm, but fingers crossed it might be OK.

There's a nice bag of milk forming on her now.

-COW MOOS

-It might be all right

but it's certainly not something I want to try and repeat.

HE THUMPS THE CAR

COW MOOS If she does fall into difficulty,

he'll call out the vet.

There's the financial implications for calling the vet out.

I don't really think about them, to be honest, because it's...

It.... If an animal is in pain or...

its welfare is, is...

It's paramount that we look after our animals

to the best of our ability,

so you tend to think about the financials later

and focus on the health of the animal and getting it better.

That's the main concern for us.

COWS MOO The bulk of John's herd of 200

are Shorthorns - one of the UK's oldest breeds of cattle.

This is one of my favourite two-year-old heifers

and she was one of the first cows to calve

and, to be honest, I didn't think her calf was going to make it,

so it's really satisfying being out here and seeing the calf.

It was a little bit premature, and it struggled a little bit.

I had to tube feed it for a while, but it's a nice heifer calf

and to see it out here with its mum is really satisfying.

His Shorthorns are prime beef-producers,

which he keeps on the low-lying parts of his farm.

Animals aren't here just to produce food.

I mean, that's their main purpose but, for us,

you do get attachment to them and you...

you have your favourites, erm, and it's tough sometimes seeing...

seeing your favourites leave, especially.

Erm, and they're characters - they're all different characters.

It's a funny thing, the emotion you have for them.

It's a different emotion, yeah.

You know, the grass is growing now,

the cows are...have got good milk and the calves are thriving,

so it's great to see it.

SHEEP BLEATS

In Central Scotland near Loch Lomond...

DOG BARKS AND SHEEP BLEAT ..sheep farmer Bobby Lennox

has an annual event to attend to.

Just as he passes the peak of his busy lambing season,

he holds an open day for members of the public,

to raise awareness of farming.

-SHEEP BLEAT

-We're in the lambing shed.

Basically, the way...

The sheep on this side of the shed are all going to have twins

and the sheep on that side are singles,

so we can control the feeding at different levels.

SHEEP BLEAT

This is the fifth open day at the family farm

and they're expecting over 150 visitors.

It's good fun. Yeah.

It's great seeing the kids' and the adults' faces,

you know, when there's a newborn lamb and they watch it

and there's 100 folk piled round the pen watching this poor ewe perform.

It's a way of getting somebody that's never had any involvement

in farming actively to see what,

you know, where your food's coming from.

I think that anything that we as farmers can do, to help

the general public understand what's involved in our business, helps.

I wanted to get the signs out on the end of the road as well,

without getting run over.

It's a huge amount for the family to organise, but everyone chips in.

Blu Tack! That's what I need. Blu Tack...

Daughter Kay is taking on the job of chief organiser.

We need to get the marquee up. We need to get tables and chairs up.

We need to get all my signs - they need to be put up round the sheds.

My sister and her husband

should be arriving in the next ten, 15 minutes,

so the more bodies we've got for the marquee the better

cos it's pretty windy now, so...

-Look!

-No, cos you've had... Where's your chocolate, Ailsa?

-Full up.

-Where's your chocolate?

Gone.

Gone? Did you eat it?

Yes.

Let's go and get the marquee up when we've got bodies.

- Yup. - All right.

As long as it's not a corner, it's all right.

What are you building?

We're building a big tent!

-Tent!

-Are you going to help?

Yeah, I'm helping Grandpa.

Are you helping? Now, don't move them, though.

Bobby's wife Anne is in charge of the catering.

What's that for?

That's the barbecue, Blair!

-Are we having tea out here?

-Yes.

The thing about having a farm is, even,

these things probably should have been thrown out years ago

but you just keep it cos you never know when you're going to use it.

Right, are we ready at that end?

-I don't think we'll be using this one.

-Maybe not.

And round...

It's become a tradition for Bobby to show people round the farm

on an unusual mode of transport.

Mummy, I can!

Right, you can, you can do the lot now. Push.

This is Rambo,

cos it's got a ram's head on the front of it for some reason.

That's where it got the name.

-Ram's horns, just a ram's horns.

-Ram's horns.

-Not head, that would be quite bizarre.

-Ram's horns,

and it got called Rambo the first year we had it.

I need to bang it down!

-No, you need to get a spanner.

-You need to get a spanner.

You just sit behind each other.

You've got a rope to hold on to and I just drive them around the farm.

-LAMBS BLEAT

-They can look at the lambs that are out and about.

We'll go through a few muddy bits, a few steep bits

and it's just a fun ride for them, basically.

ENGINE RUMBLES

A quick test drive, then the family await the public

and hope the weather holds.

TRAIN RUMBLES

Further north, at last the rain has stopped,

and Sybil is attending to one of her sheep.

Well done.

A ewe is struggling to bond with her lamb.

Moppet and Lucy are on hand to help.

It's a wee gimmer that George has just brought in from...

from the hill park, who was...

The lamb was...was almost choked.

Erm, we've got a biggish lamb for a wee sheep

and his head was just coming and he was stuck.

I'm just encouraging the ewe, just, to mother him,

and she's been rattled down in the back of a quad bike

from the hill park. She'll be quite disoriented and quite stressed.

-If you go down to the shed, get some pellets.

-Mm-hmm.

-How many?

-Enough for a sheep.

SHEEP BLEATS

I don't know how much a sheep has.

A double handful, just like that.

-OK.

-I'll go and get that, and you can get the water.

Sybil's keen to get Lucy involved in as much of farm life as she can.

I'm hoping I'm going to interest her enough that,

maybe in a few years' time when I've retired,

that Lucy or Claire will want to come and farm here.

Lucy has been coming to the farm since she was a small child.

That's good.

I mean, I always loved it when we came up when I was younger

but, kind of, doing Geography at uni isn't much like farming,

but you never know.

They loved coming up as kids, you know,

just for the summer holidays.

It was great, and that is, that's good fun, isn't it?

It's fun to be a farmer for two weeks in the summer,

but I think the day to day drudgery of farming, I don't think...

from what I know of my two girls, I don't think...

It's not a drudgery. Every day is an excitement and an interesting...

-Something different.

-OK.

The day-to-day excitement of farming,

I don't if that's quite what they're...

gearing themselves up for at the moment, but they might do.

Yes, one mustn't pressurise them

but I would dearly love one of them or somebody.

I mean, how much more exciting can it be?

When Sybil and Moppet were very young,

it became clear that Sybil was destined to take over the farm.

Syb was outside all the time with my father doing sheepy things

and I was inside playing with my dollies.

We didn't... We didn't really get on very well.

Not at all.

We did nothing together. Nothing.

But as, you know, with the length of the country between us,

-and life events...

-Stab.

No! Life events and things. I mean, I think we're very...

I would do anything for you and I know you'd do anything for me.

-Absolutely. Definitely.

-There's certainly never any jealousy.

We fought like hell when we were little.

Oh, yeah, we really did not get on.

-We were horrible.

-Really big fights.

-Yeah, very nasty.

I think you knocked me out once.

My memories of our childhood are fabulous.

Listening for the curlew, looking for the first lamb -

all the sort of things that still give me such a buzz now.

And, talking with Moppet over the years,

her memories of our childhood was that it was boring,

we didn't do anything, nothing happened...

-Well, that's just, different people though, isn't it?

-Yeah.

And I remember my father saying to me, you know,

"I know you don't like the farm, and I know that you won't want to

"do anything with the farm,

"and it will be your sister's, so get right away from it."

And I can't remember how old I was when he said, you know,

-when we had this little talk. Did you know he said that to me?

-No.

No. And he said, yeah, "Get right away from it."

I mean, I had every intention of getting right away from it anyway,

so, it wasn't...

And it didn't even enter my head to think

anything other than she would take it over

and that I would be... it wouldn't ever be part of my life.

I had never really heard that before but, I suppose,

she had never, ever shown any interest,

a remote interest at all in the farm,

whereas, from an early age, I had sat on my father's shoulders,

hanging onto his hair.

She had never wanted to do those sort of things,

and I was quite sad to hear that she felt like that.

All Sybil can do now is hope that Lucy will warm to a farming life

more than Moppet did.

At the Lennox farm, visitors have started to arrive.

Why don't you come in and just have a wee wander round?

Kay's fingers are crossed that the ewes are in the mood to perform.

Hopefully we'll have some live births.

It's been really quiet this morning

so we're hoping they've been saving themselves for this afternoon, so...

Bobby's desire to educate the local community,

and encourage the next generation of farmers,

is being thoroughly embraced.

I've been coming for years,

every year since Bobby opened up the farm.

It's just great fun for the kids to come and see what it is like,

and my oldest daughter wants to be a vet

so she's up here helping out at the moment - has been up through

-the week helping out with lambing.

-SHEEP BLEAT

Some of the kids just see things in the supermarket -

they have no clue where it comes from -

so, here, they can see right from the offset,

right through to where it is.

It gives them a more, kind of,

I don't know, just more of a realism to their lives

and more to the...more... more about it.

It's been so good.

I want to be a farmer.

-Do you want to be a farmer?

-SHEEP BLEATS

Then, Kay spots a ewe showing the signs of labour.

You can see her - she's kind of resting.

She's kind of rolling around a little bit

and she's kind of padding the ground so that's her sitting down again,

so maybe a couple of more shoves and we might have a wee lamb,

so I'm just going to let some people know, so we've got a few witnesses.

Guys, without sending too much alarm,

we've got a sheep about to give birth,

so, if you want to quietly make your way down, this direction.

SHEEP BLEAT

Not yet. Nearly.

As soon as it's out, she'll suddenly stand up

-and start licking at it and cleaning it.

-Licking?

-Yeah, she's got to clean it. Yucky.

-LAUGHTER

It's all covered in this yucky stuff.

Is it? Is it?

-Whoa, it's there. It's there.

-Oh, there it comes, look.

-Yay! Look! Wahey!

-CHEERING

That's it, shake it out.

I would say, within the next two minutes,

that lamb will be up on its feet.

The first thing it wants to do is feed off its mummy.

-SHEEP BLEAT

-Wow.

-I love this bit.

SHEEP BLEAT

There we go. We're thinking about it.

Wahey!

-Oh! Hey!

-SHEEP BLEAT

The ewe is expecting twins,

and the second lamb needs a bit of help,

so Kay moves in quickly to intervene.

-SHEEP BLEATS

-Oh...

Pretty cool.

It's pretty normal for us but it's really nice to see

the reaction of everybody else, cos it's what we do,

but it's really nice to see everyone.

It's the questions as well.

It's totally normal questions but for us it's second nature,

so it's really good.

I think it's very important,

and that's why we welcome a day like this,

where people can come on the farm -

they can see, they can hear, they can learn.

To be able to hold lambs, to touch sheep -

it's really nice for kids, and adults, to do that.

Well, it's good they've seen a lamb being born, that's a bonus.

-All right, are you ready?

-Yes!

-Hold on tight!

-Everybody ready?

And Bobby has plenty of takers for his unique farm tour...

KIDS SQUEAL HAPPILY

It's going down very well at the moment so far, yeah.

Everyone seems very happy when they come off it.

There's a few shout and squeals on the way round,

but it seems to be doing fine.

ENGINE HUMS

LAUGHTER

The day's been good.

I think it's been a successful day, all told.

It was a nice number of crowd that you could actually work with,

and just seeing the folk's faces,

the kids, you know, out on the bike ride

or in the sheds when they were watching that sheep lambing,

well, you just need to see their faces -

that makes it worthwhile, without anything else.

It is a good life.

It's not a profitable life, or financially rewarding,

but physically rewarding and mentally rewarding.

it is a great life.

Further north, it's the evening of George's birthday bash.

We are going for a meal in the George Hotel in Inveraray.

It's just a get-together for a few friends for my birthday.

-50.

-50th birthday.

George, is that you and your dolly bird?

I wish. I wish.

"I wish," eh?

I do wish.

If I could be so lucky.

Stuart's dad Dave.

Oh, hi, Dave, nice to meet you.

Well, very fitting that we're in the George hotel

celebrating George's 50th birthday,

with his mum and dad, my sister and my niece and George's pals.

It's a good turnout,

considering that many of George's friends are farmers

and it's a busy time of year.

Unfortunately, most of them are tied up with lambing,

but we've come over to have a special wee night

just for George's birthday.

But a dedicated farmer never quite switches off -

Julia K is always at the forefront of Sybil's mind.

We, sort of, had to stop off on the way here to check the heifer,

so we have got all of the dirty clothes in the pick-up,

ready to change on the way back.

But, yeah, it's good to make an effort and see Euan and Rina out -

his parents to celebrate his 50th birthday is pretty important,

so that's good.

# Happy birthday

# Dear George

# Happy birthday to you. #

CHEERING, WHISTLING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you very much and don't give up your day job!

Oh...

In the far north, near Inverness, John is up late.

He's keeping an eye on one of his pedigree Shorthorns

that's in labour.

So, we've just got a two-year-old heifer calving at the moment.

She's been calving probably three hours now.

I'm just a wee bit concerned. She's...

She is one of our smaller heifers

so we're just going to take her in and examine things.

I suspect we are going to have to help her give birth to the calf.

For some reason, this year,

everybody seems to be getting big calves.

I speak to both vet practices in the area,

they're both calving more than they would normally calve,

and we've certainly had bigger calves,

whether it's something to do with the kind autumn last year

and cows have put on more condition

and they've been able to put more into their calves but...

I don't know what it is but the calves are bigger.

We've had definitely bigger calves.

John feels inside the heifer to gauge how likely it is

for her to give birth unaided.

Her pelvis is too narrow to get that calf out of there.

I'm going to phone the vet for assistance.

If the calf gets stuck, then the likelihood of it dying is high.

Oh...

-'Hello, John.'

-Hello, Paco. How are you?

I suspect we've got a Caesarean in a heifer.

'I'll see what I can do.'

Yeah, yeah, make an assessment when you get here. Yeah, yeah.

Thanks, Paco. Cheers. Bye.

As every minute ticks by, the heifer is struggling.

METAL CLANKS

It's a tense wait for the vet to arrive.

COW MOOS

RAIN SPLASHES

In Argyll, the birthday party is over,

but the night's work has just begun.

This is just on our way home from George's 50th dinner

out in Inveraray tonight,

and we unfortunately didn't have to have time to lift the heifer,

so we've had to stop on the way back.

It's after midnight. HE SIGHS

Moppet's on hand to help,

but Lucy has fallen asleep in the car.

-ENGINE HUMS

-I don't think I've ever had to come

out to help with a cow being put on its feet after a night out.

Looking good, Mrs P.

Sybil and George have been lifting Julia K

twice a day for two weeks now,

and she's remained fairly immobile,

but, as Sybil puts her legs in the right place,

she suddenly tries to stand on her own.

Oh, no!

Luckily, the sling holds Julia K in place.

I think tonight the problem was,

for the first time, she really tried to move her back legs.

She went to push, and she shot out backwards, which was not good.

-You naughty monkey.

-ENGINE RUMBLES

And I don't hear about them, and then, sort of, like,

a few weeks later, you know, they say they, sort of, did this

and then the cow nearly fell on them or that it...

Oh, it just makes me feel ill.

But it's a good sign - Julia K is getting stronger.

Certainly not nearly as much yucky stuff here tonight.

That's not for you to drink - that's your drinking water there.

She seems to be quite chirpy tonight.

-It's quite good, actually.

-WATER SPLASHES

I think she's got a wee bit more life every single day.

Is that enough for tonight with that, girl?

And I hope that the outcome's a good one, eventually.

It seems to be going in the right direction now, thank God.

OK. You're OK.

I can't believe I was frozen a wee while ago

when we came out from the lovely dinner,

and now I'm pouring with sweat and covered with muck.

In your nice shirt. It's a glamorous job, isn't it?

Erm, no. Erm...

No.

No.

Now everyone can get some well-earned rest

and Lucy can get to her bed.

At John Scott's farm, it's nearly 12.30am,

and the vet has arrived.

-Have you been to bed yet?

-Not yet.

Barcelona-born vet Paco Morera

has been practising in Scotland for 15 years.

Is it worth having a check? What do you think?

I think you should have a check, yes.

The heifer has been struggling in labour now for over four hours.

It's crucial she gets help. HE SNIFFS

First, Paco wants to assess the calf.

I'm just trying to check if it's still alive.

I'll be disappointed if it's not.

She's not been going... An eight o'clock start?

Yeah, still alive.

-We'll open the side and it will...

-COW MOOS

It will have more chances to having them alive, both.

CLIPPERS BUZZ Paco decides on a Caesarean.

It's a major operation but Paco does at least 30 a year.

-A live calf - very narrow pelvis.

-BUZZING CONTINUES

Small heifer.

We could try but, if we try, you know,

just to get out through the back and it gets stuck at the pelvis,

we are likely to damage the heifer and maybe lose the calf.

The heifer is able to stand throughout

with just her side anesthetised.

Whoa, lass. Whoa, lass.

A straightforward Caesarean should take about an hour to perform.

Are we ready?

I'm ready.

Paco has to cut through several layers of muscle

and then the womb wall in order to reach the calf.

Stop it, lass. Come on.

There's a lot at stake.

This heifer here will be worth something about in the region

of £2,500-3,000.

Don't like putting pressure on Paco when he's doing his job but...

20 minutes into the operation, Paco hits a problem.

He's trying to get hold of the calf but the calf has other ideas.

Just moving away from me. The calf.

I suspect it's a pretty big calf.

Paco needs to get the calf into a position

so that he can pull it out without tearing the womb.

Because of its size, he has very little room to manoeuvre.

It's going to be... It's going to be difficult to get it out, OK?

At last, Paco gets hold of a foot.

With such a large calf packed into such a tiny space,

it takes the strength of three men to winch it out.

Keep going. Keep going.

Work on the calf, I'll deal with the mother.

John moves in quickly to make sure it's breathing.

I'm just making sure the calf is OK.

I think it's...it's fine

but that is far too big a calf for a heifer, it's a heifer calf.

It's fine, we're happy with that, yeah, just huge though.

Yeah, it would never have come out, the other end.

You know, there's no doubt

that the right decision was made to give Paco a shout.

Cos if we'd tried to calve that ourselves that would have ended in disaster.

The calf is a healthy female.

Now Paco and John must focus on her mother.

Now we probably have half an hour, 40 minutes of checking,

stitching, you know,

making sure that we do everything first to make sure that she's OK

but, second, if we can, to make sure that she can carry on having calves.

The calf at the moment is fine.

It is just looking around,

surveying the world that it's just arrived into.

Before too long it will be thinking about trying to get up

and looking for a suck from Mum.

It's been a long operation but it's gone well.

Paco gives the mum a dose of antibiotic spray.

She should be on course to make a full recovery.

That's it, what do you think?

And that's her done.

Back you go, back you go, good girl.

It's 2:30 in the morning but, before heading to bed,

John wants check on the new calf one more time.

Most of our Shorthorn calves would be between 36 and 41 kilos,

whereas this girl is, well, nearer 46, 47...

..which is too big really for a heifer.

It's great to see her up and trying to get up and on the move so,

we've a live calf, hopefully the cow will recover OK

and, before you know it,

they'll be out skipping and playing in the grass.

And I'll be asleep.

Eugh. The joys of being a vet eh?

-How lovely.

-Thanks, Paco. Catch you.

-See you, bye.

-Cheers, yep.

Just two and a half hours after entering the world,

the newborn calf is up, looking to suckle from her mother.

In Argyll, Julia K's recovery from her Caesarean

has been a long, hard slog.

But the good news is she seems to be turning a corner.

She definitely looks better than last night.

Yeah, more alert.

Moppet and Lucy's visit has come to an end.

We're leaving in about an hour, to go back to Edinburgh,

and then back home, back to school.

Back to...normal life.

As we know it, anyway.

Yeah. So different, isn't it?

I'm looking forward to going back home, yeah.

It's been nice... I mean, it's obviously nice

seeing Syb and George but, yeah, few days is enough.

Part of me's just so sad I can't tell you.

And part of me is thinking I'll be able to get things done

so much more quickly.

They want to help, they're interested,

I don't want to discourage Lucy,

but this time of year things have to be done quickly and on instinct

and whatever else but, you know, I'm just devastated they're going.

OK, everyone. Ready?

-Thanks, Moppet.

-Bye, George. Lovely to see you. Thanks.

-Take care.

-Nice to see you.

Yep, thanks for coming up.

Good luck! See you!

It's always sad to see Moppet and that go.

Especially when it's just a short visit like that.

I mean, it doesn't matter what we do with stock

but it's people that matter, isn't it, really, at the end of the day?

But there we go.

It's a chance for George to reflect on

whether Lucy might one day take over the farm.

I don't know, I don't think she's completely put off

but I think she just sees how, even like last night, how tying it is,

like, and I think that, for somebody that age, that's a nightmare.

I mean, it was for me.

You know for poor Sybil, she's always been kind of

responsible for a lot, like.

On the Scotts' farm near Inverness

it's the day after the Caesarean operation.

John wants to check on the mother and calf, now named Fearn Monique.

I'm coming to check things out.

We had a fair bit of worry there - hey, baby -

when we couldn't get that calf out naturally

and it wasn't a straightforward Caesarean.

I'm absolutely delighted with the result

and now we've got this, this nice heifer calf, who's thriving.

Mother's really maternal, looking after it really well.

It's great, we'll get them out to the field next week as well.

If she would have another Caesarean, there'd be no way back.

She'll be watched carefully to make sure she does calve without

assistance next year but I think, in the circumstances this year,

when everybody's having big calves,

we're going to give her another chance.

Further east, the weather has finally turned.

At last, Martin can let his cows and new calves out into the fields.

Such a nice feeling, getting them outside.

This is official, when the cows go outside,

to us that's summer beginning, really.

All right, girls?

They'll enjoy this.

25th of October, they came inside,

and they've been inside since then every day through the winter.

Getting fed, pretty much the same ration, same company,

so when you let them out, the legs will be in the air, the tails

will be up in the air and they'll be off.

It must be a good feeling. For them, it must be a good feeling getting outside in the field again.

The sun's out and it's quite warm so, yeah, about time.

Jumbo's now six months old.

He and his fellow calves have never been outside before.

So Jumbo, he's in here. Jaya, Jurassic, Juventus.

What they need is to get outside and get exercise

and stretch their legs and eat grass, pretty much.

Come on then, come on then!

So that's Jumbo, that's his batch out,

so that's all the back end calfers out.

That'll be the most exercise they've had their whole lives.

They run about for a couple of hours.

It'll be a new experience for them, freedom.

Hopefully this summer they'll just thrive on

and mushroom and just keep growing - that's what we want.

Now it's time for the pregnant heifers,

carrying the next generation of calves.

That feeling there for them must be a great feeling.

Just getting back out onto the grass again and away,

stretching their legs.

They run about for about half an hour, just playing, to be honest.

Just run about as a group, smelling everything, seeing everything.

It's a nice batch of heifers.

That's as big a batch of heifers as we've had.

I really do like that batch of heifers.

Big, strong, sweet.

This is like the elite, pretty much. This is our best.

This is the cream of our crop in front of us here.

This is our future.

And to me it's looking good.

On the other side of Scotland in the hills of Argyll,

Sybil and George are also thinking about the future of their farm.

These buildings here were probably built about the same time

as my ancestors came here and...

now, as the sort of last in the direct line,

I feel sad that

I haven't provided the next generation directly to carry on,

carry on here.

Yeah, but I think it's the circumstances, like.

I mean, we never met until later and it was just a kind of joint decision

between us. I didn't want to risk your livelihood or life,

just for the sake of having a family.

You know, it wasn't, it wasn't worth it. Simple as that, like.

Had we met and married when we were very much younger

and we hadn't the struggle of, like,

when my father died, as I say, in my late...

I was in my late twenties, I'd inheritance tax and things to pay

and that was the driving force that I had to...to pay off the inheritance tax,

I had to make the farm work.

I really wanted to do that and that was my main focus,

for possibly far too long, and it's only now and looking back

that I think, perhaps, I got it wrong. But, then again, maybe not.

I just feel that I was so fortunate to be given the opportunity

to live and work in such a wonderful place,

that I would have liked to have given somebody else,

but I don't suppose it really matters if it's a direct blood relative,

as long as somebody who wants to be here and wants to appreciate it

and love it the way I do,

I don't suppose it matters in the slightest who it is.

It's just finding that right person.

And if it's Claire or Lucy, then great.

If it has to be somebody else, why not?

Whatever lies ahead for the farm,

the future for Julia K is looking bright.

Here we go.

You are indeed a miracle. It's hard to believe, isn't it?

When you see her like that.

That scar is just so much better today, isn't it?

Miles. It's nearly there.

Good girl. You are amazing.

Nature's a wonderful thing, isn't it? And you're a wonderful heifer.

Yeah, you are.

Next time...Mel and Martin finally tie the knot...

Martin, you may kiss the bride.

..and, at the prestigious Royal Highland Show,

Bobby tries his hand at cooking...

..and John has high hopes for his best bull.

Looking well out there and...fingers crossed.

Keep your head up.