Episode 6 This Farming Life

Across some of the most beautiful and remote landscapes

of the British Isles...

It's 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.

HE WHISTLES

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 won't go forward, missus.

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.

BBC Radio Scotland.

-REPORTER:

-There are warnings of gales in all areas.

It's January in Scotland.

Winds gusting at more than 100mph have caused

disruption in Scotland.

The new year has brought with it wild winter weather,

but also violent storms.

Cyclonic severe gale 9 to violent storm 11...

Across the country, the farmers are battling the elements.

Come on, ladies.

In the Outer Hebrides,

off Scotland's northwest coast on the edge of the Atlantic,

the weather has been exceptionally fierce.

Stornoway recorded a gust of 113mph.

You wouldn't come here if you were frightened by wild weather.

You can't leave anything out that's not really firmly fixed down here.

We get wind blowing at 120mph,

tiles flying off your roof.

But you stagger back in the house

and your face is like a big tomato and you just...

The rain's been stinging away at you.

It's a mixed pleasure.

Sandy Granville owns two smallholdings, or crofts,

where he rears sheep and cattle on the Isle of Lewis -

the northernmost island in the Outer Hebrides.

Today, he's literally picking up the pieces after a recent battering

from one of the most severe storms on record.

It's just about the worst storm we've had for ten years.

It's just a pile of wreckage out here really.

The next thing is to just go round with a camera and take a few

photographs to let the insurance company know what's going on.

Sandy moved here 12 years ago with his wife Ali,

swapping their careers as barristers in London

for the traditional life of crofters in these windswept isles.

Good few tiles off the roof.

We also lost the...

Lost a bit of fascia on the barn here.

It's not too badly damaged, it's lost a bit of its roof.

That bit of roof is sitting just over the hill.

There's nothing there I can't straighten up.

HE WHISTLES

Oh, here comes the snow again.

We've had every kind of...

precipitation over the last couple of days.

Snow, hail, rain.

Time for another snowstorm.

Unlike their croft...

..their hardy Blackface sheep and Highland cattle,

used to living outside all year round,

have all escaped unharmed.

In their weatherworn barn, Ali checks on

their less resilient 15 hens

and 26-year-old horse, Samson.

They never go out if it's windy

and I haven't even opened their door today.

They don't mind the rain so much, as long as it's still,

but they don't like the wind.

I think they're quite comfortable here, quite warm.

I used to love the wind. I used to think it was really exciting,

but I've given that up now and I think it's horrible.

I don't like it at all.

The biting cold and strong gusts quickly sends them back inside.

I just got caught in a gust there, lost my good balaclava and my...

-glasses just ripped away and lost one of their legs.

-Oh.

And I think this is one of the more expensive pairs of glasses.

I think I paid a tenner for them.

I think it's going to be some administrative work indoors

for the next little bit.

Pretty much everything I'm going to do outside I've done now.

But if I were to build this house again,

I'd definitely bolt a steel roof onto it.

270 miles south on the mainland near Loch Lomond...

..hill farmer Bobby Lennox is also grappling with the after-effects

of the storm.

See if I've got any power yet.

Nope, still no power.

Six miles from the closest town, the remote location of Bobby's farm

makes it vulnerable to power cuts during the winter months.

We were off for about two days at the start of the storm

and then we got the power back on and then this morning,

power back off again, which is a nuisance

cos to feed these sheep there's an auger system out the feed bin

and I can't get any more feeding up until the power comes back.

With his hi-tech feeding system out of action,

Bobby must revert to the old-fashioned method.

These ten-month-old lambs, living in the shelter of the barn,

are the lucky ones.

Their older relatives are scattered across the 5,000 acres of hillside

that Bobby farms.

The weather's miserable.

There are...tremendous rain the last four or five days.

I think last night we'd over two inches of rain, just last night,

so that's followed about six inches of rain over this week so far.

Everything's getting mucky.

The sheep are miserable.

We're miserable.

Inside, wife Ann is equally out of sorts.

No power. The house is like a fridge.

Shocking how much you miss having electricity.

You get so used to it and, I mean, I've had the fire on

in the living room today and yet it's...everybody's been in and out

and it's just cold.

Hey-ho, we'll survive.

158 miles northeast, north of Aberdeen,

this side of the country may have escaped the brutal force

of the storms,

but not the biting temperatures.

On Martin Irvine's 240 acre rented farm,

Martin, his brother and fiance Mel,

are bracing themselves for a busy day.

Today we're going to be scanning the ewes to see how many lambs,

if they're in lamb,

how many lambs they've got inside them.

But it's freezing.

Up here, it's windy, windy, and more windy.

It's never warm.

Hopefully we'll get through it as fast as we can.

Yeah, Mel loves her sheep, but she's not loving it just now

cos it's cold and wet, but once the sheep start going through,

she'll be excited to see...

Well, she is excited to see what we've got.

Hopefully there are lots of babies, but not too many.

Mel's love for sheep is not shared by Martin.

He reserves his affection for his pedigree Limousin cattle.

He sells the bulls for breeding

and it brings in most of the farm's income.

But since Mel made a profit on her first flock last year,

she's convinced Martin there's money in sheep.

So, they've taken on a contract to manage over 500 ewes

for the local estate.

Last year, they began their new enterprise.

Hell of a size of nuts on him.

Mel invested more than £3,000 of the estate's money

in some virile young tups to grow the flock.

Drummuir Home Farm.

On the farm, they introduced the tups to the ewes.

He knows what he's doing.

That's it.

That's the only thing they need to do, is stay alive and make babies.

Now the ewes are three months pregnant

and Mel's about to find out how many lambs she can expect in the spring.

Here's our scanner now.

She's hired the services of livestock scanner John Urquhart

to give her ewes an ultrasound.

Mel and Martin get paid per animal by the estate,

so if they increase their flock, they'll also increase their profits.

This just slots onto that too.

There's an ideal ratio of ewes to lambs that farmers aim for.

So, ideally, we'd scan every ewe and they'd have twins, just for the

fact that a ewe's got two teats, two lambs.

Matches out pretty perfect.

If you have a single, it's just one lamb and it can be

too big for lambing. Makes it harder for lambing, more problems.

Triplets end up having two teats, three lambs.

They'll be fighting over it and it's harder for the ewe

to look after three lambs.

What you don't want is quads.

They're just hassle.

They'll measure their success by the average percentage increase

in the size of the flock.

We scanned at 180% last year,

so it's 1.8 lambs per ewe going through our pens.

So we're looking to beat that this year.

I'd like to get... Mel's looking at 185 - 190,

which would be great, but we'll see.

John's machine is up and running and he's ready for business.

This is the ultrasound probe here.

This basically gives you a 180 degree view into the sheep.

This is basically warm soapy water and this gives you contact

with the ewe's skin and then creates the image.

Probably doesn't have the detail that you have

with the human scanners.

A lot more definition in them.

Took a little while for farmers to understand that it was

a great management tool and I would think, UK wide,

it's probably 70% to 80% of the nation flock will now be scanned.

Mel gets into position.

This is us just getting started now.

So, sheep will come in there, through to John,

and then I'll spray them according to what they're having.

She's got a colour-coding system worked out.

One.

Blue is if they're having one lamb.

Nothing for... What's wrong?

Nothing for two and red's for three

and a red and a blue is four.

When it's a big sheep, like this, I'd like to see it having two.

Two.

You got your wish!

Martin's got to keep track

and direct the sheep into the right pens.

You've got twins, singles, empties,

triplets straight in the back.

Not only will scanning help predict the number of lambs to expect,

but by separating the ewes into different groups...

One.

..they can also save money on animal feed.

We can feed every batch different.

Triplets will get well-fed, twins will get something,

singles, they'll get the minimum.

Just to let them tick over, you ken.

It'll just be keeping the condition on them.

It is an expense. It cost 50p per ewe for scanning.

But it's very little if you look at the feed you could save.

To get through the whole flock of over 500 today...

Triplet.

..they've got to work quickly.

So many handles going.

-Two.

-Twin.

I do struggle sometimes, but...

With 30 years' experience...

Three.

..it takes John less than a minute to interpret each scan.

So, it's one lamb there. Head, neck, into body, out of body,

umbilical cord and here's another lamb here, so that's two.

To me, I all I see is dark marks, white and black, white and black.

He's got a trained eye.

So quick to pick out spines, ribs, eye sockets.

Two.

Working with white fuzz.

Four.

See that's not good.

After two hours, they're approaching the end.

Three.

Oh, no, really, John?

Three, that's what you don't want.

Triplet.

-Two.

-Two.

And it's a boy and a girl.

THEY LAUGH

Now for the final result.

Mel's aim is to increase their flock by more than 180%.

-We had 13 empty.

-Yeah.

105 singles.

Twins?

299.

299. Triplets?

-110 sets of triplets...

-Oh, dear.

..and then that was five quads.

Yeah. So...

-Percentage.

-Yeah.

-Percentage.

-Yeah.

-196.

HE WHISTLES

-Happy with that.

-That's good.

-Yeah. Happy days.

It's an improvement. We're going to be busy.

The triplets is a bit much but we'll just have to cope with that.

With over 1,000 lambs in the pipeline,

the prospects for spring are looking good.

They're looking well. I'm quite happy with the condition of them

just now so I'll just keep them ticking over till lambing.

It's been a long day.

Chuck these girls out to their parts, leave them to it,

and before you know it there'll be lambs on the ground...

and this shed will be my home for a month.

150 miles away,

on the other side of Scotland,

on the West Coast...

They can probably come up with you. It'd save a bit of a hassle.

Yep.

..hill farmers Sybil and George Macpherson are making their way

through their morning chores.

You hungry, boys?

BLEATING

Bit late today, aren't we? Come on, move.

During the winter, they keep a small number of animals on the farm,

which they have to feed every morning.

The thing is, when you get them in here and involved with

feeding them twice a day...

Watch out, guys.

..you start to get attached to them,

which is not what one is supposed to do, but I'm afraid I do.

And, yet again, you start to learn the characters of them.

Sheep have very different characters and ambitions,

just like people really.

You're the cheekiest, you, brown.

The rest of their 2,000 sheep,

mostly of the hardy Blackface breed,

are scattered across the 15,000 acres that they farm.

You thirsty? Is that what your problem was?

You're coming for a drink, mate, aren't you?

As soon as the feeding is over,

Sybil and George must attend an urgent job.

Are we going by bike or pick-up or what's the plan?

-We need to take...

-We need the pick-up up there, don't we?

-We need the pick-up up there anyway.

-Right. Yep, we do. Kip, come on.

They've got to return four male lambs, or tups,

that Sybil borrowed to mate with some of her ewes,

to sheep breeder and close friend Willie McNicol.

He very generously lent us lambs and we said,

"Yeah, we promise we'll have them back within ten days, Willie,"

and the ten days has come and gone, due to the weather.

He'll know perfectly well, but he's probably sitting thinking today,

"This is quite a good day.

"I hope they're out and getting my lambs in."

Sit down, Kip!

Now with Sybil for two months,

it's been the first mating, or tupping, season for the male lambs.

We're just going to take in the sheep out of this hill park area

to capture these tup lambs.

Called chasers, they were introduced to a flock of ewes at the tail end

of the tupping season, to mate with the ones that hadn't fallen pregnant

by the experienced tups.

Watch. Oh, Kip, don't.

-Kip!

-Christ.

It's a big responsibility, having a loan of other people's livestock.

Willie's been a tremendous character and a great support when

my father died when I was so young. He's been a great help and

I would be absolutely devastated to lose one of his animals.

Sybil's hoping she'll find Willie's tups in the same flock

of 200 ewes they were introduced to two months ago.

Lie down. Just take your time, man.

I'll be very relieved when we're dropping them off at Willie's

and safely, hopefully, touch wood, deliver them home.

Come on, ladies.

With the flock down the hill, they need to herd them

into the holding pens, known as the fank, for sorting.

These two sheep with the fleeces on, don't know

if you've been watching them, but they are so badly behaved

no wonder they've still got their wool on from last year.

Every opportunity to run away.

And they stick together all the time. Here, Tib.

Look at them. They're wicked.

At the fank, Sybil and George need to weed out Willie's tups,

marked with green dots, from the rest of the flock.

Aye, if you take the tups in there, that'll be handy. Okey doke.

It's down to Sybil to work the gate to try and catch them.

Green, green, green. The next one.

Just steady yourselves, sheep.

Keep in the pair of them, Sybil, please.

Right, OK.

Finally, the tups are cornered.

-Just put the tups in this pen.

-Yep.

-Got all four, yeah?

-Think so.

And after a bit of wrangling...

..Sybil can at last take them to their rightful owner.

Great.

It's a short drive to Willie's farm,

where the tups will be reunited with the rest of his flock.

Thank you very much for the loan of the tups.

We'll let you know if there are any lambs next year.

You will.

Well, this year it is now. We'll let you know.

But if there's none...

if there's none you'll be directly responsible.

Oh, right.

BLEATING

167 miles north,

in the Highlands near Inverness,

large scale sheep farmer John Scott

is also preparing to have his ewes scanned.

Can you give me sprays, please?

Orange, blue, green, red - make sure you have plenty.

Like Martin and Mel,

John also employs the services of scanner John Urquhart.

But his sheep enterprise is more than eight times the size.

He's got more than 4,000 ewes.

Just looking for singles, twins.

Middle two.

And the demands of breeding at this commercial level are unrelenting.

I'm always nervous before scanning. I'm always a little bit worried

that we're not going to get as many lambs as we hope.

Our Fearn ewes would always be scanning,

probably about 190%.

Middle two.

To run such a large operation efficiently and profitably,

John needs more information from the scan than just

the number of lambs per ewe.

Early two.

What John's given me there is early, middle and late so

-if I mark at the front...

-Early one.

..like that,

that is due between the 20th of March

and the 27th of March.

And, middle, so if I'm marking, middle of the back...

Middle two.

..like this... You're doing well here.

..that's the week after.

So earliest first week, middle the second week,

and I'm marking the tail here, that's anything after that.

Precision is essential

and John plans the lambing season like a military operation.

Early two.

He scans every ewe in his flock, from commercial cross breeds

bred for meat, to valuable pedigrees raised for breeding.

It's great cos John gives us a great rate for the numbers,

-don't you, John?

-JOHN LAUGHS

He'll get through 1,000 sheep today.

-Two.

-Early.

Yes. Early two.

So far it's all going to plan. The percentages are good...

That's just what we need.

..the timings are as expected...

Middle three.

..and John's on target to start the lambing season

on the 20th of March.

But then scanner John goes quiet.

So what I find is John goes quiet for a while,

it's either going to be empty, or multiples, as in more than two.

100 days.

That's February lambing. Yeah?

It's not good news.

So these sheep, these mules were bought from my brother-in-law,

and it has just turned out that, through John's scanning, we found

out some of them were actually in lamb when they arrived on the farm.

So that's going to be an interesting conversation next time I see him.

We didn't expect to be lambing in February, but obviously now we may

have a small February lambing flock.

Might not be that small cos there's still quite a lot of these to scan.

Oh, dear.

So it's a bit of a pain, another

group of sheep we're going to have to keep an eye on.

It means that we're going to have to spend a bit more time with them.

It's a bit of a hassle.

Early, early two.

To stick to schedule, John must park the surprise and carry on.

After six hours, 1,000 sheep are scanned.

Early two.

Well, a wee burst of pairs there to lift things.

Yeah, nice end to it all.

He finishes the day with a good average of nearly two ewes per lamb.

Today went really well. There are

plenty of lambs in the ewes and the hogs and, yeah, pretty pleased.

So we'll just get things back out to the fields now,

finish off, see what else needs done for the day and that's it.

But despite the good result,

he's still not over the surprise of his brother-in-law's sheep.

He certainly owes me a couple of beers, I would say, for that,

but it means we'll be lambing a little bit earlier than anticipated

but it's not the end of the world.

As the month of January progresses,

the farmers continue to brave the elements

and carry on with their winter routines.

These are the joys of living on the West Coast,

or living anywhere in Scotland. All weathers in one day.

Come on. It's coming. Just give me a minute.

But it's not all bad news. The short days mean that

once the daily ritual of animal maintenance is through...

It's quite nice, this time of day.

..there's often free time.

There's a chance to catch up on paperwork.

For some, there's time to indulge in pleasurable pursuits.

Got almost no wind at all.

But it's the most delightful day.

It's just...probably somewhere near freezing, bit above freezing,

and I'm hoping that when we get out from these islands,

we might get a little more wind.

But even if we don't get any more wind, it's jolly nice to be here.

-Don't you think, Ali?

-Yes, lovely. Just lovely.

Just got to make the most of what daylight we get round about now.

And we've got Christmas cake and coffee, which is good.

And a steak and kidney pudding in the oven.

-When we get home.

-When we get home.

For others, there are neglected odd jobs to do.

Just fitting the taps, the plumbing and maybe fitting in the hob units.

Fancy.

And for Martin and Mel, there's some big event planning to do.

They're getting married in May,

timed perfectly for the end of the lambing season.

Today we're going for our tasting for our wedding menu,

so we're both quite excited about that.

Purposefully had a light breakfast,

cos I know it's involving lots of food.

-It's a good feed, isn't it?

-Lots of lovely food.

Sunny.

Like most of the farmers,

lambing is one of the busiest times of year so they need to have

all the arrangements in place before the season begins.

Hello!

Today, they've got an appointment with their wedding caterer.

-Hungry?

-Yes.

Good, good. Come and sit down.

They're having a traditional white wedding

and have invited 106 guests for a three-course meal.

This afternoon, they need to choose the menu.

-It's melon and passion fruit cocktail.

-Thank you.

To sample, they've got three starters, two main courses

and three desserts.

I love melon.

Refreshing. I quite like it.

Thank you.

That looks fancy.

-Is it really, really haggisy?

-Yep.

When I first met Martin,

he hadn't tried a lot of different foods so...

he tried a fresh apricot and nectarines and...

Pomegranate.

..pomegranate. Yeah. Sheltered life he lived.

Yeah, it was just apples, bananas and oranges at Braehead.

Prawn cocktail and the hot smoked salmon mousse,

-and Cullen skink in the shot glass.

-Wow.

Nice, isn't it?

I don't know which I'd pick out of that three but...

But sheep-loving Mel is certain about one item

that won't be on the menu for the main course.

I hate lamb, I just hate it.

Hate the taste of it, the smell of it cooking. Oh.

The smell you get from roast lamb in the kitchen

reminds me of the lambing shed and it's tying that two together

just puts me off completely.

The beef is just so tender.

Think that would be the perfect main course.

-Everything OK for you?

-Mm-hm.

-No problem.

Three large desserts later...

Oh, it's got glitter on it!

Oh, yes.

..it's decision time.

-Don't know.

-Beef.

-Yeah, beef.

Yep. And for pudding pavlova and your profiteroles...

-..please.

-Good.

-Thank you very, very much.

-You're welcome.

Having sorted out the arrangements, it's back to the day job.

Near Inverness, it's an early start for John Scott and his team.

Will I take one as well?

I would take that two together.

This morning, it's not his sheep that have got him up,

but his beef cattle.

He has a herd of 200.

John has a business rearing pedigree bulls

and this morning he's preparing to take four of his best

to the Stirling bull sales.

At the moment, we're just loading the bulls up.

Yeah, I'll get involved in the handling, especially when we're

down there, but Jimmy's an expert at it, he's really good at it.

If they're used to him, they'll be more relaxed going on there.

One of the key members of the Scott team is 73-year-old

bull expert Jimmy Laing, who John's known for many years

and came to work with him three years ago.

Jimmy helped me showing cattle when I was 17, 18,

so it's great to get him back.

Hopefully he'll be here for quite a while and be able to get my son...

my kids going.

John's bulls are Beef Shorthorns,

an old breed from northeast England, whose meat has become

increasingly popular as the fashion swings back to native breeds.

I'll just move into the side here and Jimmy can go up.

A wee bit worried about the weather. Hopefully it won't hold us up

too much, but I would have thought four hours to Stirling.

Further south,

bull breeder Martin is also about to set off for the Stirling bull sales.

Help with those...

Brother Darren and dad Stevie are going with him,

but he's one crucial team member short.

Well, Mel, she usually comes down with me,

but she's busy with work, so,

my brother Darren, he's coming down.

-COW MOOS

-So it'll be a boys' day...

the boys' days for a couple of days.

Martin's also hoping to sell four bulls.

-You can do it.

-His are Limousin, imported from France in the 1970s

and now the most popular beef breed in the UK.

These sales are the lifeblood of the farm

and they need to make up for their poor performance last time.

That is three. Now bidding 3.8, 3.8, 3.8...

At the previous sale in Stirling, in the run-up to Christmas...

Are we all done now at 4,000?

..Martin failed to sell three out of his four bulls.

You can see there, just, there's no atmosphere.

-There's no buzz.

-£3,000...

I'm very sorry about today.

Well, that's just depressing, that, really.

The sale has just not been a good sale.

It's not the best day but I'm coming home with two young bulls

that I'll keep till February - better than nothing, I suppose.

The best feeling would be coming home with an empty lorry.

Hopefully, a better time of year,

a bit more money going about in the farming community,

and hopefully we'll get them sold,

but I've got a far better feel this time, February, compared to October,

so fingers crossed.

Down the road, a few hours later, John's on the outskirts of Stirling.

He's also banking on a good sale.

So, in terms of our year, this is a fairly...

Well, it's a fairly big four days for us. Erm...

It's our main bull sale.

We don't go to many bull sales.

We sell a lot of bulls off the farm but, as far as the sales go,

this is the big breed sale.

Hopefully it'll be a big payday. It's a lot of cost coming down here.

We'd be hoping to average least 5,000 for the four bulls we've got.

This sale should be especially well-attended

because Princess Anne will be visiting the event on the first day.

Yeah, me and Princess Anne, we're like that. Good buddies.

No, I really enjoyed speaking to her

and spending time with her at the... at the World Trials in September.

When we had them on the farm, she visited.

A real depth of knowledge about farming and, erm,

yeah, a lot of time for her.

The Stirling sales are the most prestigious cattle auctions

in the UK and attract buyers from around the country.

Held three times a year,

six of the most popular breeds will be put up for sale.

Our four bulls will be tied up here,

and Ian from Upsall, Ian and Gerald, their bull will be here,

so what I need to do is make sure that my straw's higher than theirs,

so that my bulls look bigger than his.

See?

Tricks of the trade.

You always have initial worries that the bulls aren't big enough,

or aren't heavy enough.

And they're not... Our bulls this year aren't huge,

but they're quite well put together. They're quite well made. Erm...

Look, see? I'm going to get in trouble,

cos if he sees me standing on a fork, I'll get in trouble.

All right. Oh, aye. You're in trouble, aye.

The straw is not as good as I thought.

The straw that's here is quite good.

COW MOOS

Martin and the Irvine clan have arrived with their precious cargo,

but they're running behind schedule.

The first 50 miles was slow, with snow and everything like that,

but we made it, so we've got the pen all set up and ready,

so now we're going to take the bulls out, a quick wash,

and get them into their pen and settled down.

Both Martin and John need to get their bulls looking their best

because, before they can put them up for sale, they've got to

get them through an inspection of vets and judges known as the panel.

What they're looking for is they'll start off with teeth,

eyes and testicles, so they measure the size of the testicles,

and then there'll be a locomotion test after that.

So, I've checked the teeth, I've checked the testicles,

and the locomotion, I'm happy with, so, today,

we feel quite confident but you never know.

You always worry about it, cos you never really know on the day.

The measures ensure defects aren't passed on.

COW MOOS FIERCELY

Bulls that don't make the grade get a red dot

and can't take part in the sale.

If they do fail, it's a real kicking, really,

cos a bull that could be worth £3,000, £4,000, £5,000,

well, if you can't sell the bull, pretty much,

you're losing that buying chance.

The most valuable of Martin's four bulls is 21-month-old Imperial,

who failed to make his reserve at the last Stirling sale.

I'm looking to average at least £4,000.

The bulls are worth more than that,

but, at the very least, I'd take about £4,000 a head.

John also has his favourites.

We've got Gunslinger, General,

Great Glen, and the Godfather.

Godfather's the favourite.

So, erm, yeah, Godfather and Great Glen are my favourites.

Yeah, they're the best bulls, I think,

but, this bull here, Gunslinger, he might surprise us, too, though.

And John's hoping his secret weapon could give him the edge.

Jimmy's just giving the bulls a wee bit of brush-up before we go.

Jimmy is what's know as the Bull Whisperer. He's...

He's legendary,

and has, oh, decades of experience behind him, and...

Yeah, he's excellent -

-really, really good.

-COW SQUEALS

I've been coming to the Perth and Stirling bull sale since 1937...

..so I'm giving my age away now.

I'm putting a wee shine on him,

just to bring his hair up to standard.

What is this stuff?

Oh, it's a secret.

COW MOOS

Jimmy knows John almost as well as his bulls.

Oh, since he was a boy, maybe, you know.

I always thought he was a snob, like, you know.

But, no, he's improved.

Have I matured better, Jimmy, have I?

-Aye, you're improving with age.

-Aye.

You're getting the hang of this, too.

If you stick at it a wee while longer, you'll really perfect this.

It's time to face the panel.

John's putting his favourites through first.

He takes Godfather...

COW MOOS

..and Jimmy and Great Glen.

This is a fairly nervous part of the process.

It's... Aye, it's not a pleasant experience, this part of things.

It's quite a relief once you've been through.

-HE CLICKS HIS LIPS

-Come on.

I'm a fairly driven sort of person.

I'm quite competitive.

I do like to be winning when I'm taking part in things.

Farming well and farming profitably is very important to me.

COW MOOS

We just want to get better at it and make a better job all the time,

and, you know, sell quality livestock

and a quality product to other people.

It's all freshly cut.

He's got a fair price, the guy who's following me.

That's fine. Thank you.

Both Godfather and Great Glen get the all-clear.

Through the inspection, the first two bulls are through.

We're halfway there, yeah, so we'll...

go and get these guys tied up and, erm, yeah.

HE CLICKS HIS LIPS

-Come, come.

-For Martin and his Limousin,

the ordeal is just beginning.

He's also keen to get his favourite, Imperial, through first.

Brother Darren takes Imperial,

while Martin leads another bull called Ivanhoe.

They should pass no problem,

but you never really know so you always have that kind of worry.

They don't want to chuck out anybody,

cos it's not a nice feeling to do, but they are there to do a job.

Imperial is through the first stage

and is sent to the locomotion test while Martin supervises Ivanhoe.

Yeah, that was perfect. No problems there.

I think that's the worst bit - that's the bit I can't really judge.

But, by the time Martin and Ivanhoe arrive at the locomotion test,

it's clear something's gone wrong with his star, Imperial.

He's failed the locomotion test, and has been given a red dot.

Is it that bad?

Lame, back left.

You think so?

A six-hour journey down the road, we were held up a bit.

Martin argues the long journey has just made Imperial stiff.

I wouldn't have said he was that bad.

Lame's lame, though.

Is he that bad, Steve?

-Is he that bad?

-He wasn't.

Second time round he was worse.

Despite Martin's protests, the judge's decision remains.

Imperial is out of the sale.

I can't show him, I can't sell him.

They're saying he's slightly lame.

There's nae enough to put him out to my mind's eye, to be honest.

There's a couple of people mentioned already there was nothing

wrong with that bull enough to chuck him out.

For the extra time of the journey that's been added on,

extra time on the lorry standing, doesn't help the job maybe.

Selling him is going to be a problem but...

That's just the joys, like.

Across the hall, John's having better luck with his Shorthorns.

His third bull, General, has passed.

Good lad, good lad, on a wee bit, on a wee bit.

And he's just got Gunslinger left to go.

Good lad.

Many dots so far?

How many reds so far?

Oh, oh, can somebody hold this?

Hold that.

The judges have spotted a problem.

Virtually no right testicle at all.

You can feel where it is.

Nah, nah. OK.

Fair enough. That one's out.

Gunslinger has failed the inspection.

That's like the long walk of shame.

All the way back with a red dot.

One of the testicles, just isn't right and, er,

hindsight I probably should have found that at home.

Have a feel, Jim.

No, it's not there. It's not there.

It's not there.

I never even noticed it when I was washing, certainly.

I'll just phone Stevie White and get him out here.

That's the bull sales for you.

That's the second time it's happened to us in what, probably, 15 years selling?

Erm, delighted that you guys are here to capture the moment.

Erm...

Bollocks.

It's been a long and disappointing day for both John and Martin.

-How are you getting on?

-All right.

How are you getting on, John?

On the same circuit for years, they meet to swap notes.

-Get through the panel OK?

-No. No, one out.

I had one of them, as well.

I was out of synch, cos I went through the first one,

no, just complete negligence...

-I never seen that.

-Didn't.

-And I just got this.

-Yeah.

-Oh, no. Anyway, he said one of them's shrunk away up.

-I see it.

And how we hadn't noticed that at home I don't know.

It can happen, it could have been stood on.

It could be an injury that's happened in the last couple of days and it's just happened but,

the bull spent all this time and money on, he's lost a lot of money. He'll lose money on that bull now.

Oh, well, good luck.

And you, hope all goes well.

-See you tomorrow.

-Yep, will do.

All John and Martin can do is hope

they'll have better luck at the sale.

On the Isle of Lewis, the bad weather is finally easing.

Ex-barristers turned crofters, Sandy and Ali,

have recovered from their recent battering

and are taking advantage of the good conditions to move some sheep.

I'm going to the island of Chearstaidh.

This is where they're going to spend the next bit of their life.

Sandy's resuscitated their battered horsebox

and is already putting it to good use.

We had to put that back on its wheels

and do some repairs after the... after the last storm.

It's all OK now, it's a bit more battered than it was.

But it'll be OK.

We're not in any beauty competition.

Right, come on, boys.

Their job today is to ship 18 of their castrated male lambs, now

nine months old, to the uninhabited island of Chearstaidh to graze.

These male sheep are the bread and butter of Sandy's meat cooperative business...

In you go, boys.

..that he set up to bring in money and entice people to become crofters.

There we go.

When these lambs are two years old, they'll be sent to the abattoir and

the mutton sold to Sandy's customers across the UK on the internet.

First step on the journey.

Crofting, the practice of rearing livestock on a smallholding

with rights to graze on common land and where much of the work is

shared by the community, is a dying way of life.

We just have one last chance possibly,

to turn it all around, by persuading all our fellow citizens,

to give up eating inferior meat and to eat our very good meat.

Having got his prized lambs to the shore, he's now got to get them

over to Chearstaidh

on his not-so-trusty boat, Seadog.

OK?

In the autumn, Sandy tried...

..and failed to launch Seadog

when her engine wouldn't start.

Well, that's a nuisance.

Now Seadog is back to fight another day, with a reconditioned engine.

But with a trailer load of semi-wild juvenile lambs to wrangle,

there's no guarantee this job will go smoothly either.

To bolster his chances, the ever resourceful Sandy has

come prepared with makeshift barriers to direct the sheep.

Bugger!

As soon as the barriers are up, the rain comes down,

and the lambs aren't taking kindly to being pushed around.

HE WHISTLES

With Ali's help, they're finally all aboard...

..and off they head to Chearstaidh, a 30-minute motor across the bay.

The island, just a third of a square mile, will be

the lambs' home or the next eight months.

You boys are going ashore now just nice and gently

so there's no slithering and falling in the sea.

We'll just start them off, and with luck they'll all just

jump gently out.

But the sheep are less willing to cooperate.

Go on, boys.

Pick your way up the shore, boys.

It's getting a bit crowded there.

Go on, boys, up you go.

Once on the island, the lambs' only job will be to gorge on the grass and heather.

Good job. Lots of good food here.

They haven't had anything as good as this for months.

By the time they come off, they'll be twice the size.

But we've got a gale coming.

It's only going to go downhill from here, but what a lovely morning.

A lovely morning.

So we'd better...set off home and get the boat all snug,

and...then time for breakfast.

The next time Sandy will see these sheep will be in the autumn,

when he'll return to transfer them to a bigger island

for a final year of grazing before they're sent for slaughter.

On the mainland in Stirling,

it's the day of the big bull sale for Martin and John.

Today, there's a large crowd as Princess Anne,

patron of the Beef Shorthorn Society,

is here on an official visit.

But having both had a bull thrown out by the panel...

Do a bit of farming yourself?

..John and Martin are too busy trying to talk up their remaining bulls

to prospective buyers before the sale, to notice.

He was at the Highland Show, he won one of the summer shows up north.

They each have three bulls left.

If they're to make money today, they have to sell at least two.

I would have said there's probably half a dozen people been back

and forward a few times so

you can't count your chickens, you know, you've got to wait and see.

He's a lovely bull.

It's nice to get a good bit of interest that makes you feel

quite positive about things and builds expectations too,

but you've got to be careful of that cos they can get dashed.

How are you getting on?

For Martin, who depends on these sales to

bring in most of the farm's income, success today is crucial.

You want to sell them, we need to sell them, we had a bad go in October.

We're needing a good bull. This is the first sale of the year, so we want to have a good start

and they're good bulls, they're something special.

Some people just like to be left alone and see things but

some people will ask, "What's the mother like, what's things like?"

So you've just to be clever and sneaky about it and kind of...

..sales patter really.

You don't want to push them away

but you don't want to nae push them neither.

Martin's remaining bulls, Inforcer, Ivanhoe and Ice,

are generating a lot of interest.

There's plenty of people around, a bit of buzz, it feels good.

You'll feel a buzz.

The lines are full of potential buyers so

just got to fish them all in.

2pm and the auction is under way.

Each of the breeds has an allotted sale time

and the Shorthorn section is in full flow.

For the last four decades,

continental breeds have dominated the market.

But with native breeds making a comeback,

Shorthorn prices have been rising.

John's set a reserve price of £5,000 on his three Shorthorn bulls

but he's hoping his favourite will go for more.

Godfather's up first.

If we get...

Kind of hoping for 8,000 plus maybe,

so I'll study the trade just now and see how it goes.

Godfather's first in the ring.

1,500 bid...

As is the tradition at pedigree sales, bidding is in guineas.

One guinea is one pound and five pence.

5,000... 5,500. 6,000...

The bids pass the reserve

and keep going.

Ten...

He's away this time at 10,000 guineas.

Godfather has been sold for 10,000 guineas,

£10,500.

I'm happy with that.

That's the first time I've seen you smile in four days now.

10,000. I was always going to be happy with that sort of price.

Better get round the other side cos there's another bull to go soon.

And it seems John's on a lucky streak.

Five...

Great Glen goes for 7,500 guineas.

You played a binder in the end, well done, thank you.

And General...

4,000.

..sells for 4,000.

After auction fees, John will make over £21,000.

Delighted with the trade.

Came looking for a total of 24.

We're not going to be far away from that, so to do that with one

bull out of the equation and not going through the ring is good.

Yeah, pretty happy, so...

A very good sale.

Yeah. Very pleased.

Yeah, it's sad to see them go.

But, at the same time, it's a new phase in their lives,

they're off to new homes.

They've got some exciting time to look forward to,

that's what they're there for, serving cows.

A lifetime of sex and eating.

What's not to be happy about?

Two hours later and the continental Limousin section begins.

Martin and the team are getting the three bulls ready to step into the ring.

His most promising talent is Inforcer.

I've put a reserve of four a head, and hopefully they'll go past that

and at the very worst 4,000 a head.

They should be all right, there's good interest.

You never know till you go in there.

I'm kind of nervous now.

But the sale is two hours behind schedule

and since Princess Anne has left, so has much of the crowd.

It's nae very busy in here. There's not a lot of bodies here, is there?

2,200...

2,200...

First in the ring is Inforcer.

4,500... 4,800...

The bids are promising.

I'll take my time for you.

5,000 guineas.

5,000-guinea bid.

Are we all done? 5,000.

It's a good result.

Inforcer's sold for 5,000 guineas.

£5,500.

Happy enough with that.

5,000, just above average, we'll work away with that.

One down, three to go.

Next, is Ivanhoe

with a reserve price of 3,000 guineas.

Who's going to get me started here?

5,000, 4... 3...

2,000 guineas...

After a slow start, the prices climb.

3,000...

What do you think?

He'll grow to a monster.

3,500. 3,800.

3,800!

Ivanhoe is sold for 3,800 guineas.

I'm happy now.

Last is Ice, also with a reserve of 3,000.

Look at the shape here, 2,800.

2,800. 2,800.

But the bidding stalls...

2,800. I'll take my time here.

2,800.

-Well, we're rather short here.

-Yeah, another.

Ice hasn't made his reserve.

OK, boys, thank you very much.

Martin will have to take him home and try to sell him at another sale.

On the day, two away, I'm happy enough with that.

Better than it was in October.

Some money into the bank, I suppose.

Like I say, I'd like to average four,

so there's a bull at five and a bull at 3,800. I'll take that.

On a bad day we'll take it.

It's not the result he hoped for but at least he's walking away

with nearly £9,000 for his farm.

Next time -

there's a dramatic start to the lambing season for John.

It's going to be a bit of a struggle to get the lambs out naturally.

I think it'll be a Caesarean.

One, two, three.

Yours it is.

-Ready for another one?

-Yes.

..Martin and dad Stevie

get into a flap building a windbreak for their lambs...

Stupid things!

..and George takes some clients out deerstalking.

Yeah, perfect.