Live Show 4 Lambing Live


Live Show 4

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It may be the last show, but we have still got plenty in store.

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Including. Sheep behaving badly. Dogs behaving beautifully. And lots

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of these! This is Lambing Live - isn't it? !

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Welcome back to the Dykes family farm here in the Scottish Borders.

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I'm in the main lambing shed and this is a programme called Lambing

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Live and Lambing Live it certainly is. I'm going to go and join Hamish

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Dykes who is delivering a lamb as I speak. Hamish, have you got a

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slightly complicated one here? It's coming with one leg back. The

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positions I gave you last night. Yes. Most to have viewers will never

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forget them? That's right. I've pushed it back in and gone back. We

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had a leg forward and a head forward but one leg tucked back. Very good,

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yes. Perfect. So you have rearranged it and there it is. Pushed it all

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back in and reached further in to flip the leg forward and here we

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have it. Aw, that's a lovely little lamb. I'm just check, she's

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expecting twins. No spot on her back. Will you lamb that second one

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now or will you just leave her be and see how she's doing? We'll put

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her in her pen and she'll probably lamb the second herself but we'll

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sirenly keep an eye on her and see it comes out OK. Shall we leave her

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in peace to bond with her lamb? Yes. You may remember on last night's

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programme that I had a go at delivering a lamb live on air. I

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don't recommend it! Well done. Head out. Come on. That's

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quite a big lamb. That is quite a big lamb. Quite a big lamb. This was

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needing to come out as well I think. Yes. There we go.

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And here we are. This is the ewe. There are two lambs now. She was

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expecting twins. I'm guessing that might be the one that I delivered?

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I'm not quite sure. It's not looking too worse for wear? It's a big lamb

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when you see it and a big woolly coat which sometimes makes it harder

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to come out as well. You can see why it needed assistance. Yes. Just

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behind this ewe, we have got another ewe in the advanced stages of

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labour. It just never calms down, does it? Not these last two days

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anyway. It was really busy last night. We were on air, we had about

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seven ewes all in the fairly advanced stages of labour when we

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came off air. Now, usually, you would give yourself a break, but you

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didn't want to leave your night lamber on his own, so the whole

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family were in here lending a hand and Susie proved her shepherd elsing

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skills last night. Absolutely. She's obviously doing this beautifully. I

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remember when I first came here and met Gillian. She shook my hand and

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said, you have small hands, that'll make you useful. Where you have a

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birth when you have to assist, can it be helpful to have somebody like

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Susie on hand as it were almost literally? Yes, particularly with

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the younger and smaller sheep because the pelvis is so much

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smaller, so if you have a big hand it's hard to get in and sort out the

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muddle-ups, so small hands are vital at times for lambing. We have been

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following Susie's progress since filming with you in September, her

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first months full-time on the farm. Are you proud of her? Absolutely.

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It's great. Having her working at home on the farm, it feels so much

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more just like family life. You had to say that of course because we are

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now going to go to the nursery where Susie is with Adam.

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Remind the viewers of what the nursery pen is all about? Well, once

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the ewes and lambs leave the pens in the lambing shed, they come on up

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here and it's just a chance for them to be in a big open space with their

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mothers and learn to find them before we ship them on out into a

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field, we need to make sure they recognise their mums' call and that

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they can find them in a crowd. When the lambs get to be two or three

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days old, they start to play don't they? They start bouncing about,

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it's cute. We sent our cameras out and were following lots of lambs

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skipping in the spring. You could waste a lot of time

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watching that, couldn't you? Bit too cute, aren't they? I suppose that

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playing is them learning thousand run as a flock and exercise their

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muscles? Yes, and just generally getting used to springing around and

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getting out of the way of humans and sheepdogs and anything else that

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comes after them. There was a little lamb on Wednesday evening that

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Hamish had to deliver. It was quite a tricky birth. A lot of the viewers

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were concerned about that lamb, but it did very well, ended up in the

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nursery, then was taken out to the field. Susie, you took it out there.

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Let's take a look at this. So you load them up in the trailer?

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Get them on the trailer that,'s right. Usually apprehensive about

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standing on the ramp which is aluminium, so just persuade them on

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there and zoom them out to the field. A mile or so down the road

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into a nice, Freshfield. That's quite a big field isn't it, 20 or so

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acres? Yes, plenty of space for them to not get muddled up again. Plenty

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of field? Yes, give them time to find their mum and watch them

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trotting up in their happy teams. Marvellous. The little 29 is the

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lamb the viewers named Rocky and it's happy and healthy out in the

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field now with his mum? Yes, we'll check him tomorrow when he gets his

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breakfast. Kate is in the main barn and there are more lambs on the way?

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Not just on the way but actually here, Adam. We have just delivered

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Or are helping deliver this enormous, enormous single lamb. You

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can see this tiny one beneath it. This is a wet adoption, Hamish? Yes,

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she's a single and we knew she was lambing, so we just gave her that

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wee lamb. It's a bit of a mismatch there, but she spent a few minutes

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with that lamb before her big lamb came out so she had almost bonded

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with that and now she'll get up and lick her new lamb. So we put both of

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these together in front of her as if she'd given birth to both of them.

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You can tell which one got all the pies! And then the idea would be

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that she would totally accept this lamb and feed it as if she'd given

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birth to it? Yes. That is huge. That is enormous. Look. This lamb was

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born today. Look at the difference in size. We did have somebody e-mail

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in saying are distinguishes always identical, now I know that these

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aren't actual twins, but you can just see the difference in lambs.

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That's amazing. We'll let her get on with the all-important job of

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bonding with her new little family. Farmers breed sheep for all sorts of

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different reasons. The Dykes breed some of their sheep and the lambs

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that are born this season and they may stay on the farm to become

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replacement breeding stock and some may go for meat.

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Earlier in the year, I joined Hamish and Susie to learn about the

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complicated system of condition scoring.

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Sheep farming is a year round business with its own natural cycle.

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Lambs are born, raised and sold before they reach a year old.

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With Christmas approaching, it's time for Hamish to sell the lambs he

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has left, ready to start again. Can you look at them and go, I know

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that they are basically right? They really can deceive you. I like to

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weigh them every time and it givious a chance to put a hand on their back

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and to see hue they are doing anyway. In Britain, we prefer our

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lamb a certain size and shape. And this means that, like so many

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businesses, Hamish has targets to meet.

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42 and a half. I think that one can go. Once slaughtered, a butchered

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lamb will weigh half as much. Supermarkets want a consistent dead

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weighted of 21 kilos to make lamb affordable for their customers.

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So this one you wouldn't send? It's only weighing 40 kilos and really we

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are looking for 44, 45 kilos. I'm going to guess she's 42. Pf

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44. I was going to say more. I never took a guess!

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But it's not just weight that Hamish is selecting for. The back is very

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knobbly. That's the technical term. Every animal needs the right

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combination of fat and muscle. A good place to feel is the tail to

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get different, I suppose like ladies, they carry the fat in

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different places, it's a good indicator of how much excess is on

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her and there really isn't a fat tail there. It's quite Sa... Bowny

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tail. It is bone boney. -- boney tail. We'll keep hold of this one?

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Yes. The average price paid for a lamb is ?80. Too fat or too thin and

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it will make less money. It's well covered. I would they

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hasn't got a high nobble factor. What do you think? Good to go.

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The abattoir will score each lamb with a system of numbers and

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letters. Because each lamb is electronically

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tagged, Hamish can track how well he's doing. Its tag number is 5304

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and its weight is 43 kilos. OK.

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I am going to stick my neck on the line. You are going to grade it? I'm

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going to say it's a 3 H. So this is the grading that the abattoir give

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the carcass? Yes. 3 H is just getting on the heavy

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side. If you go over to 4, you might start to get penalised. OK.

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So you are going to send that one? The price Hamish gets paid will

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depend on grade and weight. 3 L. 3 L as well. Sorting the lambs

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means he can sell each one at the right time.

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Right. Happy to go. It's quite a key moment really in

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your farming year isn't it, seeing the lambs leave? Yes. I mean, you

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are looking a little sad? I think it's the thought of what is ahead of

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them, you know, they're gayly trundling along and this is the end

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of their life which is sad, but that's why we've bred them and

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that's the cycle. You do have to become a bit removed from the

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emotions of what's happening with them and, you know, you take pride

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in what you've produced. It's a product that goes to feed the

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nation, feed the world, so you have to become removed from the emotions.

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I feel more pride in hoping that we get a good price and the lambs grade

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well. Yes.

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You have been busy, you two? Yes. What we like to promise our viewers

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is Lambing Live, all the experience of the lambing shed without them

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having to get covered in placenta! We should check on our ewe and her

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adopted twin. She seems to be look looking after both of them, it seems

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to be going OK? She had the adopted lamb before her own so she's bonded

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already with that. There, the little adopted one looking for the teet

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which is a great sign? Yes, absolutely. It seems like one big

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and one little, a business of a mismatch? I didn't realise that that

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one would be quite as big. Enormous? I suppose if you put the weight of

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them both together, it would be a good average. Will it be a big

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problem because that one's so much bigger, will the little one not get

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its fair share? The big one will need more so it's good that the

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little one is little. So it will ehave been it out? A big one,

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another big one may have been too much for her. I want to pick up on

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the final thought of the last film and seeing the lambs going off to

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the abattoir and, you know, Susie feeling, having mixed emotions

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really. I think it's something that people who don't have livestock find

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very hard to grasp. We've seen you this week, you and your whole family

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putting so much work into it and how much love and care you lavish on to

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your livestock and yet ultimately, they are going to go for slaughter.

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How do you square that up? We know what we are producing the

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livestock for. If people want to eat meat, which everybody does, then you

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need to produce the livestock. As long as they are getting killed in a

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humane and orderly fashion, then we are doing our job. And you do the

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same thing, don't you Adam? You summed it up beautifully in that

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film. An effort that goes into producing farming products. Sheep

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farmers are producing lamb for the table. You do that to be proud of

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what you produce. You do it very, very well. To get that perfect lamb

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for the table - of course they need feeding. One of the main feeds of

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sheep is grass. A while ago I went off to find out about the science of

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producing grass. After a long, wet winter, the grass

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has been slow to get growing. Like most farmers I am having to provide

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extra feed for the sheep on my farm. As spring approaches, I need to look

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ahead at what food will be available for my ewes and their lambs. Grass

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master Charlie Morgan has come to offer advice. This is in permanent

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pasture. It has been down to grass for 20 years. We are in an

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environment scheme. We cannot put any nitrogen on it. Nitrogen is the

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important part. Without adequate nitrogen you will not grow much of a

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yield. Grass needs nitrogen to grow and sheep need grass. Their stomachs

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turn it into protein. The better the grass, the better the meat. Looking

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across it there is mark and all sorts of undesirables in here. We

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would look for 50% rye grass. That is the best for sheep production.

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When you look down you imagine just grass. There are stacks of different

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species in here. In here we could probably find 10-15 different grass

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species. The vast majority is rye grass. We have clover here and that

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is red clover. The back of the leaf is hairy. Red clover has a amount of

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nitrogen. This is the indigenous type which will not give you enough

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yield to make a big difference. I got excited then and now you are

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taking it away from me. Vy habit of that sort of thing. -- I have a

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habit of that sort of thing. And this grass? That does not yield much

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more than you see now. In the environmental scheme I am in, this

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is delivering all sorts of flowers and thing, but commercially for the

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sheep it is not providing a good food. Vehementally somebody would

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say it is very pretty. That is fine. If you are in the business of trying

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to produce meat then it is not necessarily what you want.

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There are more than 160 spee siss of dwrass -- species of grass in the

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UK. Only seven are useful in agriculture. It is rye grasses that

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are the most important for livestock. Charlie has found some in

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my pasture. I am worried there's not enough to go around. These ewes are

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about to give birth now. This will not deliver good enough for them,

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will it? The ideal for them is four centimetres. Sheep are fussy about

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their grass. To long and they cannot reach the richest part. Too short

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anded they go hungry. This is four. This is the bear minimum for these

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animals now. You will need an area to carry a lot of ewes. We are low

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stock, four to five per hectare. On good grass what would you look at?

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12. More than double. As a farmer, we should be growing grass as a

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specific crop and doing it much better. Grass is another crop. We

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tend to take it for granted. It has far greater potential than we know.

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To learn more about this potential, I have come to Wales. Here

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scientists are breeding sheep grasses that will make breeding more

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efficient. Wow! That is pretty futuristic,

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isn't it? It is. Alan is one of the scientists leading the way in plant

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genetics. What we have got is a fully automated conditions which

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control the light, watering, the fertiliser applications. Each of

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these tabs has a different variety of grass in it? It is like looking

:20:46.:20:49.

at an individual human rather than looking at the whole population.

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This enables us to identify the genes that cause different things in

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the plant. These plants have now come from the

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grass house behind us and are going into these scanning chambers here.

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-- glasshouse. You'll have a laser in there so you

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can measure the actual growth, the height, the density. Ultraviolet: We

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have infra-red so you can pressure the water coming off the leaves. You

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can measure that. We can even here do something which has never been

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done before, which is look at the roots of plants, so it is a complex

:21:44.:21:48.

series of chambers. It is extraordinary! I have never seen

:21:49.:21:49.

anything like it. Hundreds of measurements are taken

:21:50.:22:00.

from each individual plant. The scientists can then begin to unravel

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which genes are responsible for how the plant grows and select for the

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traits which are beneficial for farmers.

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The seeds they produce are then planted outside in hundreds of plots

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to see what the grass actually does under real conditions.

:22:19.:22:27.

Is this the exciting bit? Yes, no doubt. This is the culmination of

:22:28.:22:32.

all of that work and here you see if it works. It is incredible seeing

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the heights and colours and different leaf. There are some with

:22:38.:22:41.

more growth at the moment and they don't perform so well later in the

:22:42.:22:44.

year. You come to these here, which are some of our varieties now. These

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are high-sugar grasses. That was the first new character we added into

:22:51.:22:54.

the grass. That is not actually to feed the animal, it feeds the bugs

:22:55.:23:01.

and make sure the nitrogen is available to the animals, so you get

:23:02.:23:06.

better of weight gain and milk, that sort of thing. In the future looking

:23:07.:23:14.

at a more digestible fibre, and an energy source for human health and

:23:15.:23:18.

even looking at other things, like perhaps vitamins - all these things

:23:19.:23:22.

are to be added into the grass, into the mix. So really the science you

:23:23.:23:27.

are working in on the grass is about the meat we eat? Yes, very much so.

:23:28.:23:32.

We can look at all these components and put together the supergrasses

:23:33.:23:38.

that you farmers require. Sheep are really what they eat. If we want to

:23:39.:23:42.

produce good-quality meat for the table we have to go back to grass

:23:43.:23:47.

roots. As a farmer, I need to think as much about my fields as I do my

:23:48.:23:53.

animals. Absolutely a fascinating film.

:23:54.:23:58.

Fascinating to think of grass we take for granted as a crop that

:23:59.:24:03.

will... Well treated and well grown will do a good job for your sheep.

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Someone else doing a good job is Hamish. This is ridiculous. We are

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getting birth after birth. This ewe was showing signs of labour before

:24:15.:24:19.

we came on air and then she seemed to stop. Have you identified the

:24:20.:24:26.

problem. It is a breach. If you can remember what a breach is, perhaps

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you can demonstrate the breach position. This is not going to be

:24:30.:24:35.

elegant. A breach lamb is coming out backwards. What Hamish is feeling at

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the moment is that with a tail. So, what you have to do -- so, what do

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you have to do? I pushed the tail in and got the back legs to come out.

:24:47.:24:50.

It is harder with back legs - they are pointing the wrong way. I have

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flicked the back legs. They are both pointing backwards now. Then we have

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to try and pull the hips up through the pelvis. If you didn't intervene

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with a breach birth, can a lamb be born naturally, backwards? It does

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happen, but not very often. Another enormous lamb! My goodness!

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Breach isn't a good way for a lap tob come. They are better to come

:25:23.:25:27.

forward -- lamb to come. They are better to come forward.

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She's expecting twins. Do you have any reason to believe

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that the other one will also be breach? Is that what tend to happen?

:25:41.:25:45.

There's no reason really. Occasionally you get all the lambs

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coming the wrong way. Quite often the rest are correct. You can leave

:25:52.:25:56.

her for the time being? I am happy to leave her and see what happens

:25:57.:26:00.

with the next one. A lot of people have e-mailed us to ask whether

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sheep will lamb outside? We have seen that you bring the ewes in

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during the evening, but you put them out in the field next to the barn

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every morning. Will they lamb outside? Absolutely. And viewers

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will think this is an indoor system, but if the day is longer than the

:26:20.:26:23.

night, then predom nanltly it is an outside system. I -- predominantly

:26:24.:26:33.

it is an outside system. Just to thoroughly answer your question and

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prove Hamish's point, our cameras were out and about in the field and

:26:38.:26:41.

witnessed this wonderful moment. This must be, for you, Hamish, the

:26:42.:26:47.

ideal scenario, is it? That is perfect and just happened to notice

:26:48.:26:53.

that is a first-time lamber. She is a two-year-old sheep, but did not

:26:54.:26:59.

lamb last year. There she is get out two good lambs all by herself and no

:27:00.:27:02.

problems. When they are out in the field, do you have to check on them

:27:03.:27:06.

in the same way that you check on them when they are here in the shed?

:27:07.:27:12.

We do, either myself, Gillian or Susie. We are in the fields when we

:27:13.:27:18.

think it is necessary. The field is visible from here. You can see

:27:19.:27:22.

problems from a distance. I went out with Gillian first thing to do one

:27:23.:27:26.

of those checks and Gillian spotted something - this is basically

:27:27.:27:31.

pinching going on, isn't it? Can you explain what is happening? If you

:27:32.:27:36.

have got a ewe that's had her lambs and there's another one on the point

:27:37.:27:41.

of lambing, they sometimes get confused and try and pinch the

:27:42.:27:45.

newly-born lappens from another sheep. Gillian asked many eto pick

:27:46.:27:52.

up the -- lambs from another sheep. Gillian asked me to pick up the

:27:53.:27:57.

lambs. She thinks these lambs are hers. She used the lambs as a trap

:27:58.:28:03.

for the ewe, so she could catch the ewe that wasn't the mum. Put it in

:28:04.:28:08.

the trailer and take it away and then leave the lambs with their

:28:09.:28:14.

rightful mother. Why does it matter sf if you want things to -- why does

:28:15.:28:20.

it matter? If you want things to happen as naturally as possible? If

:28:21.:28:25.

they are coaxed away from their real mother, if away for too long,

:28:26.:28:29.

there's quite a fair chance that the mother will not take them back when

:28:30.:28:32.

you reunite them. Then you end up with a ewe who has three lambs. Or

:28:33.:28:39.

four lambs. So it is necessary just to make sure that the ewe that's had

:28:40.:28:46.

her lambs sticks with her lambs. You have to be on top of that quickly.

:28:47.:28:50.

The lovely thing at this time of year is seeing lambs out in the

:28:51.:28:53.

field and whether they are born here in the shed or out there,

:28:54.:28:57.

ultimately, that is where they will be. On beautiful, spring time, sunny

:28:58.:29:05.

mornings, there's no wonderful sight than seeing lambs dancing for the

:29:06.:29:07.

sheer joy of it. I was going to say our little lamb -

:29:08.:29:51.

our giant lamb! Looks very Perky and fine? Yes. Quite happy. Quite a big

:29:52.:30:00.

lamb. Coming backwards is not a very favourable way for the lambs to

:30:01.:30:04.

come, it doesn't help with the rib cage, but quite happy with that one.

:30:05.:30:08.

So far, not showing any signs of giving birth to the second one, so

:30:09.:30:12.

that will hopefully just happen naturally over the course of the

:30:13.:30:17.

next 20 minutes, half hour or so? Absolutely, yes. We are quite used

:30:18.:30:22.

to having our thunder stolen by lambs and it is a programme called

:30:23.:30:26.

Lambing Live and so lambs should be the stars or perhaps Hamish the

:30:27.:30:29.

farmer should be the star. But in this case, none of that is true. We

:30:30.:30:35.

have been completely trumped by two characters called Doug and Jess, so

:30:36.:30:40.

by overwhelming popular demand, here is a homage to Hamish's dogs.

:30:41.:30:52.

I like these doings. I've formed a relationship with them. Jess, she's

:30:53.:31:00.

going to be eight years old and Doug is one of her pups, so he's

:31:01.:31:07.

three-and-a-half years old -- dogs. They just absolutely worship the

:31:08.:31:12.

ground Hamish walks on. The feeling is mutual, I'm sure, though he'll

:31:13.:31:17.

not admit it. You wouldn't have thought that the

:31:18.:31:25.

noise in the field would be a good thing but it has its uses. They can

:31:26.:31:29.

use their bark to help move the sheep. I found at lambing time that

:31:30.:31:36.

moving the lambs from a distance, you know, 20 or 30 yards back, using

:31:37.:31:41.

the bark instead of having the dog close up has been quite useful.

:31:42.:31:48.

They are also very good at catching individual sheep.

:31:49.:31:58.

As soon as they know which sheep it is you want singled out, they bark

:31:59.:32:03.

and bark and bark instead of herding it. The sheep becomes mesmerize and

:32:04.:32:09.

pretty much stands still. That's do it. Good dogs.

:32:10.:32:20.

We have to get this close to the sheep. We struggle to get them

:32:21.:32:25.

moving because this is what they do when you get too close, they turn

:32:26.:32:29.

around and start stamping their feet and that alerts the lambs, so the

:32:30.:32:33.

lambs start splitting so it would be a slow walk from the field to here,

:32:34.:32:36.

but because we can get all the sheep moving from 1010 yards back, the

:32:37.:32:41.

sheep are less stressed because you are not as close to them and they

:32:42.:32:45.

are moving down the field of their own free will -- 100 yards back. He

:32:46.:32:49.

would be on his own without them. Yes. It wouldn't be the same. It

:32:50.:32:54.

would be difficult catch ago sheep without them. The farm just wouldn't

:32:55.:33:00.

be the farm without them. And here are Jess and Doug. Doug

:33:01.:33:09.

obviously demonstrating the breech position far better than I was able

:33:10.:33:12.

to. They are wonderful, wonderful dogs, Hamish. Can you remind us what

:33:13.:33:18.

breed are they? These are New Zealand hunters. Were they bred

:33:19.:33:22.

specifically for work? Yes, absolutely. When farming was started

:33:23.:33:29.

in New Zealand, they came to the conclusion that the collie dog

:33:30.:33:34.

wasn't best suited to the high numbers of sheep they work with. So

:33:35.:33:37.

they started to develop different breeds off the back of the collie

:33:38.:33:41.

and introduced a dog with a bark which I think was the blood hunt and

:33:42.:33:47.

there are other breeds in this -- hound. The bark helped move the

:33:48.:33:52.

sheep. It may not be appropriate to ask this in this environment, but

:33:53.:33:56.

can we have a demonstration of the bark or will that upset the ewes?

:33:57.:34:02.

They are used to it now. Speak up Doug. Speak. Good lad. Good boy.

:34:03.:34:08.

He's much more vocal than Jess isn't he? Jess realises there's no need

:34:09.:34:13.

for her to bark when he's making the noise, but she does speak on command

:34:14.:34:18.

but she just chooses not to when he is. When making the racket. The

:34:19.:34:25.

border collie uses its eye to move the sheep and mayor mayorises them,

:34:26.:34:29.

but when you have hundreds of sheep, you need the sheep to know a dog is

:34:30.:34:34.

about and that's how to do it, with a bark like that. The collie is used

:34:35.:34:39.

as a guide doing, you know, a heading dog, and the hunter is for

:34:40.:34:45.

the power. You are constantly on the search for dogs, Adam, I know. You

:34:46.:34:49.

have got a great working dog at the moment. Would you ever be tempted by

:34:50.:34:53.

one of those? They are lovely but probably not for me. I was told they

:34:54.:34:58.

bark the moment they are out of the kennel until the moment they get in.

:34:59.:35:06.

You have got a Welsh sheep dog? Which I adore, but I have been very,

:35:07.:35:11.

very taken with these. So people again who would love a dog like this

:35:12.:35:15.

but don't have any sheep, can they make good pets? They can make good

:35:16.:35:20.

pets even if you didn't have sheep, but only if you had plenty of space

:35:21.:35:24.

for them because they are outside working dogs and need a lot of

:35:25.:35:29.

space, especially the bigger ones. That's what they thrive on. You are

:35:30.:35:32.

lovely and I don't mind having my thunder stolen by you at all. Earl

:35:33.:35:37.

earlier, we discover what had Hamish had to do to work out whether his

:35:38.:35:41.

lambs were ready for market. Later, the next stage is them going to the

:35:42.:35:45.

abattoir and I joined Hamish and Susie back in September to find out

:35:46.:35:49.

whether the lambs that Hamish had chosen really did make the grade as

:35:50.:35:52.

far as the supermarkets were concerned.

:35:53.:36:00.

It's 5. 30am and we have headed north to abouter denshire. This

:36:01.:36:06.

abattoir processes and packages meat for Morrisons supermarkets right

:36:07.:36:10.

across the country. In Britain, we are picky customers, liking our lamb

:36:11.:36:14.

with the right amount of fat and meat. Hamish and Susie have come

:36:15.:36:18.

here today to see if their lambs are making the grade. -- Aberdeenshire.

:36:19.:36:32.

Richard Henderson is one of the supermarket's livestock buyers. Have

:36:33.:36:37.

you made a good purchase? The carcass is in good shape, good

:36:38.:36:41.

confirmation, very happy with what I see. It's his job to work with

:36:42.:36:45.

farmers like Hamish to source the best lamb possible.

:36:46.:36:50.

Can you tell me what this chap is actually doing? He's putting in

:36:51.:36:54.

confirmation and a fat cover score on the lamb. Literally just doing

:36:55.:36:59.

that by looking at it? In six seconds, yes. How much a farmer like

:37:00.:37:03.

Hamish gets paid depends on the weight and grade of each lamb.

:37:04.:37:07.

I'm very, very impressed with what you are doing? We have such a good

:37:08.:37:12.

system with high quality meat coming through, so it makes life easier.

:37:13.:37:17.

He's real think middle man between the abattoir and the Fareham making

:37:18.:37:22.

sure that the farmer gets the right price for his lambs.

:37:23.:37:27.

What What is extraordinary about watching him is that he gives each

:37:28.:37:31.

carcass a squeeze and a poke and that's it.

:37:32.:37:46.

Hamish is very much independent. Supermarkets like Morrisons are

:37:47.:37:49.

looking for a consistent product to sell to their customers.

:37:50.:37:58.

What seems amazing to me is how pretty much identical they all look.

:37:59.:38:04.

There is differences. Here we have a good comparison. This one is an

:38:05.:38:08.

absolutely superb lamb, just about perfect. He's got a body full of

:38:09.:38:14.

flesh and muscle, a good wide back and good wide shoulder. Next to him

:38:15.:38:23.

here is a poorer specimen, he's narrow, longer in body which means

:38:24.:38:28.

he's Lenner and he's narrow on the shoulder. There wouldn't be as much

:38:29.:38:33.

meat on a lamb like this compared to that one, that one will yield more

:38:34.:38:38.

and that's why we pay more for this than this one -- more leaner.

:38:39.:38:43.

Each carcass has been given a bewildering series of numbers and

:38:44.:38:48.

letters by the graders. This will determine the

:38:49.:38:53.

all-important price per kilo. Hamish graded these lambs before

:38:54.:38:56.

they left the farm. But is he supplying the product he

:38:57.:39:05.

thinks he is. Slightly leaner. Not so much fat cover. Not a huge

:39:06.:39:08.

difference here. Not a massive difference here.

:39:09.:39:13.

A fatness score of 3 is the target for supermarket lamb.

:39:14.:39:19.

The important factor for me is being able to grade the fatness level at

:39:20.:39:21.

home because that is the key for whether it's too good or not good

:39:22.:39:24.

enough. Hamish not only knows his flock,

:39:25.:39:28.

he's producing good lambs for the table.

:39:29.:39:36.

R 3 H. Absolutely spot on. U 3 H. He's good at this isn't he? Practise

:39:37.:39:40.

makes perfect. I've got a lot to learn!

:39:41.:39:44.

As margins get tighter, selling the right grade of lambs at the right

:39:45.:39:49.

time will mean a big difference to Hamish's payday. Sounds like Hamish

:39:50.:39:54.

might be ready to do you out of a job, five out of six, not bad? !

:39:55.:39:59.

Very good. Testament to how interested he is in what he does,

:40:00.:40:04.

he's got five out of six, exactly right grades. Average 20.9 kilos,

:40:05.:40:08.

target weight 21, so very happy. I think the really illuminating

:40:09.:40:20.

thing for me about, first of all being with Hamish and Susie and

:40:21.:40:24.

learning about that condition scoring, about finding out whether a

:40:25.:40:30.

lamb is ready to go or not, and then going and seeing the next part of

:40:31.:40:34.

the process and just house picky it is. You know, you slightly think,

:40:35.:40:38.

you get a sheep, bung nit the field, hope it gets fat and send it off to

:40:39.:40:43.

slaughter, but I mean it's a real science isn't it? It really is quite

:40:44.:40:47.

an art, yes. Some farmers are very, very good at it themselves. Some

:40:48.:40:51.

might use agent who is come in to help them out. Which use a guy at

:40:52.:40:56.

home sometimes to help my livestock manager select lambs to make sure we

:40:57.:40:59.

are getting it right to deliver the right thing to the abattoir. But are

:41:00.:41:03.

you basically bending to consumer pressure? Shouldn't you, as farmers,

:41:04.:41:08.

actually be saying, these are our lambs, you are jolly lucky to have

:41:09.:41:12.

them and you kind of get what you are given? Should you be bending to

:41:13.:41:18.

this pressure? Well, I think that they want a consistency and

:41:19.:41:22.

continuity of supply and there'ses a strict grid of what you supply and

:41:23.:41:26.

you get paid according to that. There are lots of different flavours

:41:27.:41:29.

and different tastes and breeds and shapes and sizes and perhaps the

:41:30.:41:34.

consumer often Baines the supermarket but it's ourselves that

:41:35.:41:37.

have that choice and if you want something different, we should ask

:41:38.:41:41.

for it. The other thing that fascinates me is that it feels like

:41:42.:41:46.

the price is basically dictated, you know, again, by the supermarkets.

:41:47.:41:51.

How much, in a year like this year particularly for people in the South

:41:52.:41:55.

West, you know, it's been a terribly wet winter, grass has been slow to

:41:56.:41:57.

come through, last year with all that snow which was so devastating

:41:58.:42:03.

for farmers, is that reflected in ultimately the price? Do farmers get

:42:04.:42:07.

more because they've had to shell out more for food, you know, all

:42:08.:42:11.

that kind of thing? I really wish they did but that is not the case at

:42:12.:42:15.

all. Labour prices can go up, rent, feed, then we can get struck by

:42:16.:42:19.

inclement weather and those sorts of things. It can affect the

:42:20.:42:23.

profitability of the business and the lamb prices are where they are

:42:24.:42:26.

and they can be after ex-bid cheap imports too. The consumer in this

:42:27.:42:31.

country will only pay a certain price for lamb and if it gets too

:42:32.:42:35.

high we buy in lamb from New Zealand and other countries sometimes. It's

:42:36.:42:39.

difficult and only the very good sheep farm Kerrs make a profit out

:42:40.:42:47.

of farm farming sheep - farmers can make a profit out of farming sheep.

:42:48.:42:53.

I mean you can think, I have got the nutrition right and the right land

:42:54.:42:56.

and you still don't know year on year whether you are going to be

:42:57.:43:00.

able to make a living out of it? Farming is a roller coaster and you

:43:01.:43:04.

have to live with those things. But you have got to do your very best.

:43:05.:43:08.

Breed the right sheep, your Husbandry and the way you look after

:43:09.:43:12.

them has to be spot on. You have to get your markets right and be on top

:43:13.:43:17.

of your business. We have the tightest legislation. The best way

:43:18.:43:20.

we look after our staff, waste and energy and all those things, you

:43:21.:43:24.

know. So I would encourage people to support the British farmer and buy

:43:25.:43:29.

British lamb. So if viewers have like what had they have seen this

:43:30.:43:32.

week, if they have appreciated what the Dykes do and other farmers in

:43:33.:43:38.

this country do, the west twice show that appreciation is buy British? It

:43:39.:43:43.

is and it's a good plug for British farmers, but sheep are the view,

:43:44.:43:47.

they are the landscape, so we go at it so hard to try and make a really

:43:48.:43:51.

good job of farming and sheeped farming is very tough. So yes, if

:43:52.:43:54.

you want to support that view and the British sheep farmer, buy

:43:55.:43:57.

British lamb. There you are! You heard it from

:43:58.:43:59.

him! Now, a few of you have been

:44:00.:44:09.

e-mailing in to find out how my badge badger face Welsh rams have

:44:10.:44:13.

been getting on. We saw earlier on in the week that the year old sheep

:44:14.:44:19.

hogs scanned quite well and earlier this week, I went out into the

:44:20.:44:23.

fields with Hamish to see if there was any evidence that the rams

:44:24.:44:25.

really had done a good job. All the ones that look really good!

:44:26.:44:43.

I would say there's definitely a bit of Badger in this one. A nice ewe

:44:44.:44:50.

lamb and you can see that sort of little bit of ginger in the fleece

:44:51.:44:56.

and quite often they will come out quite gingery, the pure-bred Badger

:44:57.:45:05.

lambs and this is her brother. I mean, look at the fleece on that -

:45:06.:45:11.

it is much tighter curls. It looks more like a blue-faced Leicester. It

:45:12.:45:17.

has taken some of its mums genes. One of the things that is so

:45:18.:45:22.

exciting about lambing time is playing a part in it, I suppose. You

:45:23.:45:31.

know, rams I bred have now come up here to Hamish's farm and it's given

:45:32.:45:36.

me that feeling that I always hope to get after the very first series

:45:37.:45:43.

of Lambing Live. Seeing these lambs just makes me realise how far I've

:45:44.:45:49.

come, I suppose and they are good lambs. I hope Hamish is not

:45:50.:45:54.

disappointed. Maybe he'll sell them all as soon as I've gone. I am in

:45:55.:46:01.

the pen with Rosy here. This is one of your favourites here, isn't it?

:46:02.:46:10.

Grab a little lappen. -- lamb. I will bring this one two. Come on!

:46:11.:46:18.

Bring it over here. Show me how you know whether it's got a full tummy

:46:19.:46:27.

or not. This one is quite full. He's quite good. I'm not finished with

:46:28.:46:34.

you! Is this one of your favourite spots? Yeah. Do you like getting in

:46:35.:46:42.

with the pet lambs? Yeah. Do you get attached to them? I do, don't I? You

:46:43.:46:50.

enjoy helping out on the farm today. Earlier today the cameras followed

:46:51.:46:57.

you and your brother lambing a sheep. Let's take a look at that.

:46:58.:47:03.

Keep pulling, down that way together! That's it. Well done.

:47:04.:47:13.

Gi nor mouse! You did - a good job there.

:47:14.:47:27.

It was big! What was that word your brother said? Mumckled!

:47:28.:47:36.

What does it mean? Really big. What is this one? It is a black/blue face

:47:37.:47:47.

faced Leicester. I have a mate called Neil. He saw this and wanted

:47:48.:47:55.

me to take it home for him! Tell me a little bit more about being on the

:47:56.:48:01.

farm. How good fun is it? It is actually really good fun. I just

:48:02.:48:05.

wouldn't feel right if I was in the city, so... I love being a farmer.

:48:06.:48:12.

Well, thank you. That is lovely. Let's go over to the main barn and

:48:13.:48:14.

see how Kate is getting on. Thank you. I am just having a

:48:15.:48:23.

check-up on some of the ewes that lambed earlier. This is the ewe that

:48:24.:48:34.

lambed. Both are up and both are suckling. Moments ago the ewe that

:48:35.:48:41.

had the breach birth has given birth entirely naturally and unaided to

:48:42.:48:48.

her second lamb. So all looking very good in here. As Adam said a little

:48:49.:48:53.

bit earlier, farming is a tough business, with few financial rewards

:48:54.:49:00.

and even fewer days off. As Susie has discovered n the first few

:49:01.:49:07.

months in her time as a full-time farmer, it is a very special way of

:49:08.:49:09.

life. This farm is where we live and work.

:49:10.:49:21.

It's our family home and our business.

:49:22.:49:26.

John and Kate have spent 50 years making the farm everything it is

:49:27.:49:32.

today. My aim has always been to leave the world a better place thn

:49:33.:49:38.

you found it. That's a big idea, but any way, so long as you leave

:49:39.:49:44.

something, that's the main thing. We are very fortunate. OK, it is a hill

:49:45.:49:49.

farm and it is cold and it can be wet, but just to be living in the

:49:50.:49:52.

country, it is wonderful. Now it is down to Hamish to continue

:49:53.:50:07.

their good work. There is quite a bit of pressure.

:50:08.:50:11.

You have to live by the decisions you make and some of the decisions

:50:12.:50:13.

are quite important. He has to look after the farm for

:50:14.:50:25.

the future. If I can make a good job of what I'm

:50:26.:50:30.

doing in the time I'm here and then give either or both of the children

:50:31.:50:34.

the opportunity to carry on something after I've gone, then good

:50:35.:50:39.

and well. Six months ago I left my cosy

:50:40.:50:47.

9am-5pm to work full-time on the farm. 3. 20pm, the bus will be at

:50:48.:50:54.

the road-end in two minutes. I don't think I will ever think I have spent

:50:55.:51:00.

too much time with the children. I would reject not having spent enough

:51:01.:51:04.

time with them. They grow up so fast. It is really good to be home.

:51:05.:51:08.

Hello! Right, come on! Working on the farm

:51:09.:51:28.

means that Hamish is now my new boss. Get behind them all!

:51:29.:51:39.

It's not easy! Sheep can be fickle animals, at times. Susie - the gate!

:51:40.:51:44.

Stay behind them all. I am sure when Hamish watches me

:51:45.:51:57.

doing something, he'll think, don't do it like this, you do it like

:51:58.:52:03.

that! Everyone has to work things out for themselves. Ultimately I

:52:04.:52:11.

will do it the way he does it. "You don't do it like that! Come by,

:52:12.:52:17.

woman! " I am still learning but I know I

:52:18.:52:22.

have made the right choice. I feel more connected to the family

:52:23.:52:28.

now, no doubt about it. Part of that team.

:52:29.:52:32.

It is nice. Not just the person who runs in and out and puts the dinner

:52:33.:52:38.

on the table and hangs out the washing.

:52:39.:52:44.

Farming is not easy, but it is incredibly rewarding.

:52:45.:52:51.

If I am honest, I have always wanted to do this, so the opportunity was

:52:52.:53:00.

here and it just all made sense. It just makes you feel good.

:53:01.:53:06.

Something so simple, yet so pleasurable about it. Seeing the

:53:07.:53:12.

sheep look well, cared for, happy - it just looks fantastic and it is my

:53:13.:53:17.

favourite spot out here. I will take a minute to enjoy it! It is lovely!

:53:18.:53:24.

As a family, this is where we belong.

:53:25.:53:39.

That was a lovely film. Now, John, I have the great privilege of

:53:40.:53:47.

succeeding the farm Tennessee from my dad, who is well known in the

:53:48.:53:51.

farming industry as you are. Hamish and I have had a hard act to follow.

:53:52.:53:56.

How did you make that transition work so well? It just evolved over

:53:57.:54:01.

the years and Hamish took more responsibility and took a lot of the

:54:02.:54:06.

stress away from me. I was very pleased about that. It is a lot

:54:07.:54:12.

about family values, isn't it? Quite unique in the farming industry. We

:54:13.:54:19.

are immensely proud of our sons and families and we hope they will be as

:54:20.:54:23.

happy with their children and grandchildren as we are. You said, I

:54:24.:54:29.

think, Hamish, earlier this week that taking on a farm, you never own

:54:30.:54:34.

a farm, really - you are the caretaker for the time you are here.

:54:35.:54:38.

Well n the scheme of things if you think of the number of people on

:54:39.:54:43.

this farm alone over the last few centuries, we are just a mere blip

:54:44.:54:47.

in a matter of time, so it is a short space of time we are here and

:54:48.:54:50.

we want to make the best while we are here. Susie, we have been

:54:51.:54:56.

sharing your journey over the past few months. Any regret? Do you sit

:54:57.:55:01.

in the blienldsing snow, as you are -- blinding snow, as you are

:55:02.:55:06.

battling your way through thinking, you wish you were in that nice, warm

:55:07.:55:12.

shop? No regrets. What about you, do you think you'll be the next

:55:13.:55:16.

generation of Dykes on this farm? Yes. I think you should be. What

:55:17.:55:26.

about your brother, will he be along to help you? He can be a bit of a

:55:27.:55:31.

bore, but... We've had a fantastic time here. Just look at some of our

:55:32.:55:34.

highlights. The truck has arrived.

:55:35.:55:46.

Look at them! What do you think goes on in there?

:55:47.:55:56.

Run VT! Lamb Lambing Live is back. That one

:55:57.:56:07.

lying down there against the wall. She is well on. In fact the water

:56:08.:56:12.

bag has just... Popped out. As you look around the shed now, it looks

:56:13.:56:18.

like chaos. It is like some mad scientist, as if we are going to go

:56:19.:56:23.

and conduct an experiment or something.

:56:24.:56:34.

Our first Lambing Live lamb. They are all together. It is

:56:35.:56:40.

slippery. It is nerve-racking delivering a lamb on telly. She's

:56:41.:56:47.

incredibly enthusiastic, that Humble, isn't she? She certainly is!

:56:48.:56:56.

Missed it! And if we open i... . Surrounded by

:56:57.:57:16.

lambs. We don't know what to do with ourselves! Adorable!

:57:17.:57:21.

I will talk about castration now, so watch it!

:57:22.:57:41.

They've had a ring around their tail and tesales. The last thing they --

:57:42.:57:48.

testical, the last thing they are thinking about is a ring... I am

:57:49.:57:55.

quite tempted to get down there! If you can tell them what is on

:57:56.:58:01.

tomorrow's show! What do you think of that? Spray cans cost a lot of

:58:02.:58:06.

money. We are Scottish, and we cannot be having that either!

:58:07.:58:11.

It has been a long day! Well, it really has been a joy and a

:58:12.:58:16.

privilege and thank you so much for letting us on to your farm. It has

:58:17.:58:20.

been fantastic! It has. Thank you to all the sheep. Thank you for

:58:21.:58:27.

watching and this has been Lambing Live. A very good night to you.

:58:28.:58:33.

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