Farming is a Family Business The Mart

Farming is a risky business...

SHEEP BLEATS

350, 380...

..and when it's time to make money, the stakes are high.

Thainstone Mart, one of Europe's biggest livestock markets.

Sheep, cattle and machinery auctioned to the highest bidder,

day in, day out.

MOO!

Farmers spend months getting ready for their big sales day.

With livelihoods on the line, their animals have to look just right.

This is the thing that puts the food on the table. Of course I'm nervous!

Fortunes can be made and dreams can be dashed,

all in the blink of an eye.

It's just another day at work.

Welcome to The Mart.

It's late summer at Thainstone Mart, and in today's programme,

John needs to get top dollar for the Sievright family's calves

when they go under the hammer...

You only sell them once a year. Best to make the best job you can.

I look forward to receiving a good price.

Hopefully we'll put you home with a smile on your face.

..the pressure's on Colin, when his ten-year-old daughter Rachel

asks him to sell her favourite lambs...

-44.8.

-When's our sheep going to come?

They'll be coming in a minute. You be quiet.

..and rookie auctioneer Rory

struggles to get a local farmer the bids he wants.

Start the bid at 900. 900, 900...

-Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, don't give the

-BLEEP

-things away.

If Rory doesn't pull it round, he's going to have one unhappy customer.

Every year, over 85,000 cattle and 300,000 sheep are sold

at Thainstone, and in the pens, auctioneer Colin Slessor

is weighing prime lambs due to be sold today.

56 kilos, OK.

As it's the summer holidays, bidders may be in short supply.

But Colin still needs to be on top form...

-44.8.

-When's our sheep going to come?

They'll be coming in a minute. You be quiet.

..because ten-year-old daughter Rachel

is selling her three favourite lambs.

-Is that ours? No?

-I don't think so, no. Shut the gate, please.

There's one that my friend named, Shaun,

and then there's one that was, like, wandering off from his mother

so we called him Wonder, and then there's one that my brother named

which is Rodger.

I don't think most commercial farmers have got

names for their lambs, so we better say nothing about that.

-Oh, well.

-We better say nothing about it.

Farming is often a family business,

and Colin's starting Rachel off early.

But she's a demanding customer.

If Dad doesn't get her at least £70 for each lamb, she won't be happy.

The last time I got £20 for chickens. That isn't a lot.

COLIN LAUGHS

You be quiet.

I probably could do a better job than him.

Hey, hey. Don't you get cheeky, young lady.

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.

We'll make a start on the sale. There's three nice lambs coming in.

That's them, that's them!

Young lady's sheep, look.

Young Rachel Slessor, this young lady here.

What do you say, £80? 70?

80? £80 bid.

HE SPEAKS RAPIDLY

Any more? Put them in the market. At £80.

Anderson. Thank you very much, sir, thank you.

We got ten more pounds than we thought.

I think we've got...200 and something pounds.

£240, to be precise.

Perhaps Dad didn't do such a bad job after all.

-Thank you, James.

-Dad!

You happy?

Well done. Good girl. Well done.

Good girl. Right, come on.

I've got to go and speak to these guys. Come on.

25 miles away in Huntly,

mart auctioneer Finlay McIntyre is visiting a farmer

who's about to sell breeding sheep for the first time.

That's a good, strong lamb. That's a good, strong lamb.

These are the ewe lambs all picked out for you, so...

get your professional opinion and see what you think.

Jacqueline Strathdee runs a 400-acre family farm with her father Jock.

They normally specialise in Aberdeen Angus cattle.

Well, we've never done this game before.

-No, it's difficult, I ken.

-But they're looking well, aye.

Bonnie colourings, and you've got a lot of lambs

for the number of ewes.

-Quite a few sets of triplets...

-Aye. Yes.

..which I didn't expect from the black ewes.

You'll definitely have a good 20 lambs ready for the first sale.

-That'll be fine, then.

-Yep.

That's the first time I've had them to a sale,

so it'll be a steep learning curve, maybe.

The key question is, what is each lamb worth?

Down to the nitty-gritty then. A rough idea, Finlay?

You could start with a nine somewhere.

Start with nine or a late eight, but who knows,

there could be a ten either way.

-Somewhere about there I would say.

-I'd be happy with that.

-That would make you happy?

-That would make me smile!

Jacqueline is so fond of Finlay, she named her tupping ram after him.

That's my namesake.

HE LAUGHS

That's a big tup that was bought at auction, maybe three years ago now.

He's a monster of a tup.

He's very well bred and he's good-looking.

I think that's why she called him after me!

'The auctioneers are willing to help you and give you advice

'and have a laugh and a bit of a banter.'

It's a bit of fun.

Lightens your life up a wee bit.

The farm has been in the Strathdee family for over five decades.

I ken you need money to get by,

but I couldn't have coped with a big paid job

if I didn't enjoy it.

So I'm doing what I aye wanted to do,

and I can't ask for no more.

But a love of farming doesn't pay the bills.

Jacqueline needs a good price when her lambs are auctioned

in less than a week.

Back at the mart...

15 heifers.

..yardsman Steve Sievwright is putting cattle into separate pens

to be sold in groups.

With some of these beasts weighing over 400 kg,

he and colleague Kevin Rear need to watch each other's backs.

Gary, Gary, Gary!

Sometimes it can be your bad luck -

sometimes you're maybe just a step behind.

Try not to be a step behind, that's when they DO kick you.

They're a wee bit spicy.

Well, these are better.

In the last 15 years you would say

the cattle are definitely getting more...wilder.

Not so quiet as they were.

The feeding and bedding jobs on the farms are getting more mechanical,

so there's not much people in amongst the cattle, which means

when they DO come in here and see people, they're more excitable.

More...dangerous, you would say.

Yeah.

26-year-old Rory Livesey is from the Borders.

He came to Thainstone to train as an auctioneer,

and is about to take over a cattle sale from his mentor John Angus.

It's a real rush when John's selling cattle, and they're going in

and out really quickly and the sales are really good.

You've got to keep that rhythm going, and making sure the trade's

staying just as good when you go into the box and take over from him.

Which isn't easy, but you've got to try.

Rory is under strict instructions to keep the pace up -

but doesn't have the information he needs for his first sale.

Who's is this?

Tim... Tim!

Tim...

Tim, I need a price for this.

-Eh?

-I need a price for this.

To add to the pressure, farmer John Matheson,

whose 33 calves Rory is trying to sell, is standing right next to him.

And he wants at least £1,000 per head.

900 bid. I have a bid at 900. 900...

-Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, don't give the

-BLEEP

-things away.

850. 850.

850. 850...

No. No. No.

-Not today, then?

-No way.

The calves have gone unsold.

Rory needs to do better for John's remaining cattle.

The trade has quietened off. It's quieter than it was.

So...

But there's still buyers there. There's still buyers there.

And Rory starts to flush those buyers out.

Look at that for a golden calf.

Look at the shape on him.

That's a right bonnie fella. Put him into it now, 810.

830 bid.

40, 50, 60, 70. 870 bid.

870 bid. At 870...

870 bid. 880.

880 bid. 880 bid.

890.

890. 900. 900 bid.

At 900. 900, 900...

Rory successfully pulls things round.

1,100...

John's remaining calves go for nearly £29,000.

I thought it was worse actually, I must admit.

I didn't think it was quite as good as that, so it's not too bad.

That's their income. You know, it's very important to them

what you get for their cattle.

At the end of the day it's an auction.

They have to take the price on the day.

'We have sold fully 200 cattle more this day than we did last year

'so I'm delighted with that.'

If you keep it flowing, that keeps them interested and they know

they've to keep on bidding, that's why you've to keep the flow going.

The longer you take to sell, the more people start talking

and they lose interest.

-Just keep them flowing.

-Yup.

-Keep them flowing.

Late summer is when Scotland's farmers

often need to sell sheep and cattle, to raise money

so they can feed the rest of their livestock over the coming winter.

John often visits farmers before sales.

In his 25 years auctioneering,

he's become friends with many of his customers.

I deal with a lot of family farms

who have been in farms for generations.

It's all they can do, is rear stock.

They live for their stock. They'll know nearly every cow's name.

It's not a 9-5 job, it's a seven day a week

every hour a day more or less.

So, they live for it and that's what you hope,

there's always another generation of the farmers coming through.

John knows this farmer better than most.

Steve Sievwright works at the mart

when he isn't running his tenant farm near Huntly.

That's them.

Getting their tea. Breakfast, whatever you like to call it.

Steve farms sheep and beef cattle, and he's decided to sell

12 of his best one-year-old bullocks and heifers.

-Morning.

-Morning, John.

-Nice morning anyway.

They're looking very well. Nice and quiet.

John's going to give Steve advice

on how to get the best possible price on sale day.

Will you give them a trim round the tail?

I'll trim off the hair off the top of the tail.

It helps the look of it.

It all adds to the presentation. You're only selling once

so you're best to make the best job you can because you only get that...

I only get about 20 seconds of John...

Well, that's all you get so you have to have them presented.

With prices for sheep falling,

Steve needs to get as much as he can for his cattle.

A lot of people are looking for cattle, so hopefully

we'll be managing to gross you a bit over 1,000 quid.

I would hope they'll be 1,000 plus.

I look forward to receiving a good price.

Hopefully we'll put you home with a smile on your face.

Back at Thainstone, Rory's just in time

for the leaving party of auctioneer Alan Taylor.

-Hi, Alan. How are you tonight?

-Hello, Rory, how are you?

I'm delighted you could manage to come down and see us.

He's retiring after 53 years at the mart,

and was once asked to sell a very unusual animal.

In come this llama.

The first thing it did, it came in the ring and it spat at me!

LAUGHTER

Thought nothing about it and here's me standing...

5,000? 4,000? 3,000?

Nobody looked.

And the sheep buyer of that time -

-"Gie you 30 quid!"

-LAUGHTER

Well, the bidding started at 30 quid...

and it didn't move.

LAUGHTER

Rory's asked Alan for some words of advice.

I was always taught by MY mentors that the man who's selling stock,

-you are his only friend.

-Yep.

And the more money that you can get out of his stock,

the better life he and his wife and family are going to have.

I often think that maybe we've had the best of it, but

I would aye wish you my success and maybe even better.

-Yep.

-Aye.

-We'll try my best.

At the Sievwrights, Steve and his wife Jenny are prepping their cattle

to make them more attractive to buyers.

Just helps make them a wee bit...wider.

When they come into the ring they're fine and flat across the top.

That's where the meat is.

He likes to have them looking their best for the sale day.

He takes a lot of pride in his work, so he does.

That's just what you want.

We'll just let her go.

Steve took over the tenancy six years ago, when his dad died,

starting with just four cows and no sheep.

Now, he has 120 cattle and 400 breeding ewes.

BLEATING

He wants to build a successful farm he can hand over to his children,

seven-year-old Katie and eight-year-old Jane,

who's already getting to grips with the paperwork.

It's H for a heifer.

Dad is reading the tags and I'm ticking them off the list.

Whether she'll follow in Dad and Mum's footsteps on the farm,

we will see in 15 years, ten years.

Despite the pressure,

Steve still enjoys selling his cattle at the mart.

When you stand up beside John Angus and

you think they're worth 1,000 quid, and the hammer goes down

and they're 1,090 or 1,100, you've won.

You've done what you set out to do.

A new day, and an early start for Jacqueline.

Her crossbred mule lambs will be in the sale ring any minute now.

Since Finlay visited, she's dipped the ewes to give them more colour.

That can boost the price.

-What are you thinking?

-Price-wise? As much as I can.

They've fairly done since I've seen them.

We'll get as much as we can, but it's the reality that's the problem.

Aye. It is, it's the reality.

What did you guys say?

Back a while ago when I seen them

I thought the first figure would be an eight.

He's writing down a figure there, you see.

-See who's right.

-No...

I was hoping for a wee bitty more.

92.

-They're strong enough to make 90 quid. They're fine.

-Aye, they're bonnie.

For a first crack of the whip you're not bad.

Just think what you'll be like after 20 years.

I'm feared of whips though.

Especially if I'VE got it!

We'll go down to Jacquie Strathdee.

29 lambs. What a pen. Look at the power about them.

120. 110.

100.

90.

£80.

£80, surely? 70, then. £70 then.

Look at them. Strong lambs there.

70. 72.

75, 78.

80, then.

82.

82. I'm bid 82.

85, 88.

88, then. 90.

92.

95. 98.

98 I'm bid... 100.

100 I'm bid. 102. 102.

Look at the power. 102.

102.

102. You won't get them much stronger. They're going to be sold.

102.

102... 104.

104, a new man again.

104. 104.

104, they're here for sale.

104. 104 I sell away.

At 104. Mr Gaul.

Jacqueline's lambs have gone for over £3,000.

I'm chuffed to bits.

It's more than I was expecting, so I'm chuffed.

She's going to invest the money in a brand-new ram -

even better than the OTHER Finlay back home.

There is a place in my heart for sheep.

Well, Jacqueline, my evaluation was a mile out.

Aye, you were well out there. Eh, Finlay?

I was well out. But you're always better to be cautious than...

-Well, you're better to play safe as build somebody up too far.

-That's it.

But no, they were good lambs, and the trade today was exceptional.

But your lambs are looking well and they're a credit to you.

It wouldn't matter if you were breeding budgies or what it was,

you'd make a good job of them.

You're going home with a feather in your bunnet the day.

-Aye, I'm pleased to death.

-Good.

-Cheers.

-No, thank you very much. I'll get a kiss.

Oh, man... Oh, man.

Blood pressure.

Right. I better go before I get swearin'.

-Aye, before you get swearin'.

-Cheerio the now.

-Cheerio.

15 miles up the road in Midmar,

Ian Miller is gearing up for a mart machinery sale.

His family business is an earthworks contracting company, with 50 staff

and lots of big boy's toys.

The machine we're using here is a Caterpillar,

it's a 25 tonne Cat excavator.

Feeding that into the jaw crusher.

Ian wants to sell a 20 tonne excavator,

but he's a shopaholic, and may end up spending more than he earns.

Auction fever can kick in, and you go there thinking you're

just selling, but you come home

with a bigger load than you went over with, but...

ach, it's erm...it's how it goes.

Mart sales manager John Roy

has come to help Ian set a reserve price for his digger.

-What year is it?

-It's 2010.

-OK.

2010, Cat 320.

7,800 hours on the clock.

You got a figure in mind what you were hoping to get?

-Well, I was hoping we'd be into the 60s a bit, like.

-OK.

-Well, I was thinking round about 55, 60. Could have a go at that.

-Mm-hm.

Ian sets a reserve of 57,500.

But John isn't giving any guarantees.

It could be worth £30,000, it could be worth £100,000,

it's what the market dictates.

The figure he's expecting, that should be achievable,

but we won't know until the day.

But we should have a good crowd if the weather's

like this today, and obviously we've got the online buyers as well.

So fingers crossed. Optimistic.

A new day at the mart,

and the heavens have opened.

With the store cattle sale less than an hour away,

Steve and his 12 bullocks and heifers have just arrived.

I didn't sleep great last night. I didn't sleep.

But you do get a wee bit nervous, cos you don't know if folks

are going to buy them or if they're good enough, but

hopefully they are. Hopefully they are.

Time will tell.

Steve needs at least £1,000 per animal to break even.

These cattle are all just bred to make money to keep the bills going round.

Pay fertiliser, pay feed. Anything that's to be paid.

Hopefully there's a profit at the end of the day -

I won't know that until I sell them up there. I can only sell them once.

If they're not looking what you want

when they land here,

you don't get the price you want.

To make ends meet, Steve works at the mart every Friday, rain or shine.

Along with Kevin, he's about to separate 1,000 cattle into pens.

The wet conditions make a dangerous job even more treacherous.

HE SHOUTS

Aye, this is hard going, aye!

Aye, on you go.

No rest for the wicked.

We'll walk down the fence side doing the small plant diggers and tractors...

In the mart car park, a rather soggy machinery auction is under way.

..followed by the vans, commercials and pick-up...

..the heavy lorries, artic trailer and the non-runners.

Self-confessed shopaholic Ian Miller

has already bought a tractor and a loader.

Now he's spotted something else he fancies - a screener,

which separates crushed rock into different sizes.

It's not the newest of things, but erm...when you're crushing

and screening like we are all the time it might be handy

just to stick under a crusher just to size some material

when other screeners aren't available.

Shouldn't be that expensive, so we'll have a go at that.

The heavy-duty screener weighs 23,500 kg,

and can handle the heaviest of rocks.

It's maybe worth about 10,000, 15,000.

It might make 20, might make 30 or it might make 5.

If the bidding goes over £10,000, Ian will bail out.

Who'll give me 20? 15.

12,000. 10,000.

£8,000.

5,000.

2,000 bid.

2, 3.

4. 5. 6.

7. 8. 9.

Last call then at 9,000, a conditional sale at 9,000. 9,000.

9,000. Sold conditional.

Sold conditional.

Which means that it didn't quite meet the reserve price

but the seller might take that bid, so...

We'll make a phone call, Ian,

-we'll let you know as soon as we can.

-Thanks, John.

Ian's excavator is next up.

But the rain has kept potential bidders away.

It is a wee bit concerning

cos usually the ringside is packed, and it's not today

so it might affect the sale of the machine, but hopefully

again there's people sitting at home bidding on it that's

maybe come down during the week to have a look at the machine.

So time will tell.

The mart has introduced internet bidding.

But no i-bids have got close to Ian's reserve of 57,500.

It's all down to this live sale.

A 2010 machine...

The bidding couldn't get off to a worse start.

80. 70. 60.

50. Let's get on.

40.

30 bid. 30 bid.

30,000 bid. 30,000 bid.

35 bid. 35 bid. 35 bid. 35 bid.

40 bid. 40,000.

45. 45. 50.

50,000. 50,000. 50,000.

52 then. 52. 54.

54.

56. 56. 56.

58. 58. 58. 58.

60. 60,000. 60,000.

Against you, 60,000 bid.

60,000. Take a single then...

60,000 and one. 61. Against you, John.

62. 62.

At 62, last chance at 62.

At 62. 62. At 62.

62. Last chance then.

62,000. Hammer comes down then,

thank you. 62,000.

Well, that's it.

62 I think it made, so erm...

We had it reserved at 57,500,

so... Happy with that.

And Ian's £9,000 bid for the screener has just been accepted.

OK. Fantastic.

The tractor and loader cost 12,000,

so overall he's £41,000 in the black.

The screener, I think, was maybe the bargain of the day.

I believe the seller was from Shetland, so it was probably

going to cost a him fair bit more to take it home again. So...

yeah, so 9,000 was a bit of a steal.

Any day where you earn more than you spend is good all round,

so I've had a fantastic day, yes. Uh-huh.

Over in the pens,

Jenny and the girls are overseeing a last-minute makeover.

They only get a few seconds in the ring, so you want them

to look their best at the time.

This is our bread and butter.

This is the thing that puts the food on the table and clothes on the kids.

Farming's a gamble.

You're putting your fate in somebody else's hands.

Of course I'm nervous!

For Jenny and Steve it's the culmination of a year's hard work.

I can't see any of you. Come forward, everybody.

I can't see you.

Will they get the £1,000 per beast they need to pay their bills?

INDISTINCT

£1,200. 11. 1,050 bid.

£1,050, 60, 80, 90. 1,100.

1,110. 11 bid 10.

20. 30.

1,130 bid.

1,130. 1,130. 1,130. 1,130.

£1,130 bid. 1,130 bid.

£1,130 bid. 1,130 bid. £1,130 bid.

1,130 bid it goes then...

1,130. 1,130. Number four.

£130 more than Steve was expecting -

and the next pen does even better.

..Take a half. 5. 80.

1,180 a piece. £1,180. Anderson...

All Steve's calves go for well over £1,000.

In keeping with tradition,

he'll give the buyers some money back for good luck.

Your luck's in the office.

Thank you very much. A wee bit of appreciation for your support.

-Happy?

-I think so, aye. Heifers sold well.

-Keep the wheels turning for six weeks.

-For a wee while, eh?

OK. We're off.

For the Sievwright family, it's been a good day at the sales.

Next time on The Mart:

Auctioneer Finlay is under pressure to get top prices

at the pedigree ram sale.

Pensive. A wee bit pensive.

Will a bust-up among the Blackhall family sheep

make them less attractive to buyers?

The butterflies are starting. Just wondering what we'll do in the ring.

And it's all hands on deck,

when highly strung cattle arrive to be auctioned in Caithness.

You would feel safer in a cage of lions.

Can the mart team get local farmers top prices...

Watch your back.

..and escape unscathed?

Watch your back!