Fife Countryfile


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Between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth

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Try saying that after a couple of wee drams.

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Along the coastline, cliffs bluster and boats bob,

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but it's the fruitful farmland I'm here to explore.

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This is Scotland's berry-growing heartland

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and today I'll be finding out about an ambitious project

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that aims to revolutionise the future of our raspberries.

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Ellie's crossing the water for a seasonal seabird spectacle.

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I've got something here, Ellie, I think you'll like.

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Tom's looking at the problem of TB in goats,

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and asking why it seems to have gone under the radar.

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when possibly it's impossible to keep livestock at all

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unless somebody gets a grip on this terrible disease.

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And Adam's having his wild flower borders mapped

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It's not a bad job, is it? Not bad at all, is it, really?

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the rather majestic full title of this eastern edge of Scotland.

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Our journey today starts here in Anstruther,

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the largest fishing village along the Fife coast.

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The plan was to board that ferry with a load of other day-trippers

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to the Isle of May - it's a beautiful place,

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open six months of the year for visitors.

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But, as you can see, the weather and the subsequent high swell

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has well and truly stopped play, so we need another plan.

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Well, the day-trippers might have missed the boat,

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Roy Giles has offered me a lift in his trusty RIB.

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What's it going to be like? A bit bumpy?

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Put it this way - I'm going to get you wet, but it's perfectly safe.

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All right. Hi, Ellie, welcome aboard. Thanks very much.

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The Isle of May is five miles from the mainland,

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And if I wasn't awake before, I certainly am now.

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with a magical mix of seabirds and seals.

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It attracts more than 10,000 visitors a year,

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but today, it will have just the one.

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the island's Scottish Natural Heritage team.

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And in this weather, I'll be seeing a side of the island few get to see.

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Come up this middle bit. What an amazing journey!

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Hey-hey! So, welcome to the island, Ellie. Thanks very much!

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Each summer, the isle puts on one of its most impressive spectacles.

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It's just another day at the office for Bex Outram,

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one of the tiny team that look after this place.

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I've got something here, Ellie, I think you'll like.

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Everywhere you look, birds are crammed onto ledges

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The noise suddenly picks up as you get closer to the edge.

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The smells as well. And the smell! That's fishy.

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I don't think there's a single crevice

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How many do you get to the Isle of May?

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Well, this is breeding season, peak season,

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so there's about 100,000 birds that are here at the moment.

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That's amazing. Why is it that they come to the Isle of May?

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It's an island, so it's very safe for them.

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We're very lucky we don't have any rats, foxes, or any land mammals

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that will come and take their eggs and their chicks.

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Is there a particular order about which birds nest where?

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So at the top you tend to find fulmars,

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they'll find their own little crevice.

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they'll build, like, a little nest bowl on ledges.

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They're fairly high up on the cliffs.

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The guillemots, they like the larger ledges.

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They nest in groups. And are they... Are they site-faithful?

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Will you see the same breeding pairs come back to the same spots? Yeah.

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You do generally, yeah. And they'll come back,

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they'll come early spring, do a bit of a spring clean

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and then just find their ledge and find their mate.

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And you'll tend to find that the older ones will nest at the top.

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older ones at the top, younger ones at the bottom,

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because at the bottom they're a bit more exposed to the elements,

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and so yeah, last week we had strong westerly winds

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and high seas so there's a lot of swell,

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and there's about 400 guillemots that nest on that one ledge,

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and yeah, they all just got washed away. All those chicks went.

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To lose 400 chicks in one fell swoop is devastating.

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This is life at the mercy of the elements.

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The seabird spectacle draws visitors throughout the summer months.

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But there's one bird in particular that people flock here for.

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Now is a crucial time for baby puffling survival on the island,

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feeding time is a top priority for the puffin parents.

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Seabird researchers Mark Newell and his team

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not only monitor and ring puffin populations

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but also look at what they're feeding their young.

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Sand eels are what they really want to bring in.

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that are in the sea around these parts.

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The sand eels are such an important part of the puffins' life.

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We're certainly finding a change in the sand eel stocks.

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Perhaps 20 years ago they would be 80mm long, the individual fish.

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Where this is a more typical size that we're finding now,

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so it means that they've got to catch more of them

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to give the same amount of nutrition to the chick.

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So they've got to work that bit harder, go out that bit more often,

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use up more energy to get more energy. Yeah.

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It feels kind of unkind, taking his catch away.

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It is a little bit, but we have looked at

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how frequently we catch individuals during a season.

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We've never caught the same individual twice in one year.

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So it's just a one-time only. Yeah. Just one breakfast load gone.

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Whilst island life may look and sound idyllic,

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it's no holiday for the island's seabirds,

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working tirelessly fending for their young.

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Later, I'll see just how the island copes

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There are some issues which come up time and again on Countryfile,

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It's a disease that has ravaged cattle

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and led to controversial badger culls.

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bovine TB is claiming thousands of hidden victims

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and damaging livelihoods on some of our more unusual farms.

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Bovine TB is one of the most emotive issues in the British countryside.

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I've witnessed the stress of cattle being TB-tested.

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What just happened there? Er, Fifi is a reactor.

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So that's it. She'll be slaughtered here, or taken away...?

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But cattle aren't the only animals at risk.

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Alpacas, llamas, deer, sheep, pigs, and even cats and dogs

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Just like cattle, they're slaughtered if they test positive.

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And one animal is particularly susceptible -

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just like a human cold, and they often live in large herds.

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Put those two together and it can make it quite easy

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and it's led to the slaughter of thousands of goats.

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We're talking about entire commercial herds.

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Goats are increasingly common in the UK

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as demand for their meat and milk has soared in recent years.

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Production of goat's milk has increased to

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and that's why Gloucestershire farmer Tom Nichols

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switched from milking cows to milking goats over a decade ago.

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and the market was growing some 25% each year.

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So how many goats are you milking here?

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We've got about 640 in milk at the moment.

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Across the UK, just 60 large-scale farms like Tom's

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That's an average of 1,000 goats per farm.

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This is no cottage industry, but serious commercial farming.

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More goats means a higher risk of TB.

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And just four years ago, Tom lost his whole herd.

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with all the young stock we had on the ground at the time.

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And what was that like for you and your family? It was terrible.

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Pulled the rug out from under our feet, really.

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Well, we'd purchased some goats earlier in the year

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We hadn't thought about pre-movement testing them at that stage

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The government compensates cattle owners for infected animals,

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but there's no deal like that for goats.

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Tom was offered the slaughter value - about ?30 per animal -

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but their real value was ?300 to ?400 each.

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The disease is the same as in the bovine, the cow situation,

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so I don't see why there should be any discrepancy

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We've got a huge amount at stake, here,

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and it's not encouraging people to test

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if they haven't got that safety net of the compensation scheme.

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And if the worst happened and it did come again,

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could you survive another outbreak? Probably not at the moment, no.

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In Tom's case, the disease was only found when a few goats

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That's because there's no routine testing.

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It was local vet Briony Kendall who made the grim discovery.

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Emotionally it was very, very tough, yeah. It's very, very rare

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that you get such an enormous proportion of the herd

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that are reactors, and it was just... Yeah.

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but Briony's going to show me what it's like working with goats.

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It's very similar in goats than it is in cattle.

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Er, but because they've got a smaller neck,

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we've got to do one injection on one side and one on the other.

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The injection triggers an immune response -

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If they're over a certain size, the animal is deemed to have TB.

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And then we have to measure the skin using these - seen these before?

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check both sides of the neck to look for lumps.

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And like cattle, is it all about the size of the lump,

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one compared to the other? Yeah, that's right.

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Goats can catch TB from cattle on mixed farms

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they can be moved around the country without being tested,

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meaning the disease can spread from farm to farm.

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It's impossible to know how much TB is out there.

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Is the lack of routine testing currently a problem for you?

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Yeah. I think we need to do more testing.

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until you know how much of a problem it is.

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And how would increased testing work? Would it just be routine,

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as a matter of course, or a bit more focused?

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I think probably the best way to do it is on a risk basis.

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Goat herds are run differently to cattle herds

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so the majority of them are housed, particularly the dairy goats,

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er, so when they're housed you can make the buildings wildlife-proof,

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you can make the feed stores wildlife-proof.

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They don't come into contact with any other animals.

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Assess the biosecurity and then make decisions on that.

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TB has been found in goat's milk but it's killed

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through pasteurisation, so it's safe to drink.

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My worry is that the backyard producers that have two goats

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and milk those goats for their own consumption,

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I worry that they really should be testing,

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and we encourage all of our small producers to do so.

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And why do you think it's a particular issue for them?

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Because it's unpasteurised milk that they're drinking. Right.

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And the TB could be passed on through that, could it?

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If the goats have the TB, then yes, it could be.

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So for the sake of animal welfare and human health,

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vets and farmers are calling for a clear strategy

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So is there a solution, and what would it look like?

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That's what I'll be finding out later.

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With scenery as breathtaking as it is here in Fife,

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it's an understandable source of inspiration for many.

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Photography can be a solitary pursuit,

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Lost in the moment, focused entirely on what lies behind the lens.

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Feeling a yearning for the coastline,

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one woman's decision to immerse herself fully in the landscape

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led to an epic walk of one of Scotland's great trails.

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I'm Karen Thorburn, I'm a Scottish landscape photographer,

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and I recently walked the entire Fife Coastal Path.

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The Fife Coastal Path is one of Scotland's long-distance routes.

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It's 117 miles from Kincardine to Newburgh.

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When I was planning the walk, I realised it was

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an excellent opportunity to do some fundraising for charity.

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As a way of making the fundraising more engaging,

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I called the project "117 Miles, 117 Photos".

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Just before I started out on the Fife Coastal Path,

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my grandad was going downhill with cancer,

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so I thought it would be an excellent tribute to him.

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My grandad, Robert Thorburn, was a train driver.

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When he was driving steam trains, he drove a lot of iconic locomotives

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Whenever I'm on a train or near the railway, I think of my grandad.

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He drove trains over that bridge thousands of times.

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With the job I was doing at the time,

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I was travelling down to Edinburgh on the train

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every couple of weeks, crossing this bridge,

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and it was looking out over the Firth of Forth

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and the beautiful views over towards Edinburgh,

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to go ahead and walk the entire Fife Coastal Path.

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I feel like I've got a really strong connection with Fife.

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regularly spent weekends and day trips in this area.

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I got my first camera when I was six years old.

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When I'm out and about with my camera

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I try and create shots that I can navigate through and make sense of.

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Walking the path was a great reconnaissance exercise.

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It's led me to come back with my professional camera

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and capture these scenes in the best lighting conditions

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There's just so much variety in Scotland,

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and the weather and the light is always changing.

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There's always something new, every time I venture outdoors.

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Can't quite put my finger on why. There's just something about it.

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Post-industrial towns, quaint fishing villages -

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was probably the most physically demanding thing I've ever done

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because I did it over consecutive days.

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but I find that whenever I go for a walk...

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..I don't only benefit physically from getting exercise,

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The walk taught me that it's not the camera that takes great photographs,

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The important thing is to have a vision

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and to go out and enjoy the countryside

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When I'm out walking, I find that's a great time to reflect.

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It's just absolutely spectacular to be on top of the Forth Bridge.

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Every time I cross this bridge I think about my grandad,

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so it really means an awful lot to actually be up here on top of it.

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To look out along the Fife coast as well

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and to know that I've walked round the whole peninsula,

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and this is a great way to celebrate it.

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I realise just how important his career was to him.

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I've only recently been clearing out his house

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and wrapping up his model locomotives,

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that that's how he defined himself, as an engine driver.

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That really serves as a reminder to me how important it is

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to have a passion in life and to follow that,

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and that's how I feel about my photography.

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and the weather has taken a turn for the worse during the night.

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I feel like I'm going to be swept off my feet.

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In the wind and rain, nature reveals its raw power.

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Off the east coast here, there is nothing but miles and miles

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of raging North Sea between us and Norway.

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That's why we're feeling the full force of it here today.

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And it's hard enough for these seabirds to find enough food

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to raise their chicks, but to do it against these huge winds

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shows what a challenging life they have.

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The island's seabirds have been battling the elements for hours.

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Thousands of puffin burrows cover the island,

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and in these storms, they're in danger of flooding.

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is anxious to check the burrows are safe.

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So many challenges for these puffins.

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They're much happier when they're out at sea,

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but the weather this last 24 hours has been awful.

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It's been tough. I mean, you know, puffins on this island

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That's what they're trying to do, just raise a single chick,

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and the weather's not helped in the last 24 hours.

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We've had a lot of rain, and when you're nesting underground,

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we've actually got a puffin chick in here,

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and as you can see from the water here which is starting to fill up,

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you know, it'll eventually just flood the burrow

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and the chick will be lost. And this couldn't have come

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at a worse time for them. If it was early on in the season

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they might have had another go, laying another egg.

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Honestly, no. I was distraught when I saw the weather pattern

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and what we were going to get on the island.

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It couldn't have picked a worse time - I just want,

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sort of mid-June into early July I just want nice, fine weather.

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I don't need this, you know. Even just 24 hours,

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So what can you do when these burrows fill up like this?

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Well, it's tough. We do try our hardest, you know -

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we'll put drainage in to try and get rid of the excess water,

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and one bird has been ruffling feathers on the island.

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Black-backed gulls have been eating the puffins.

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It's a conservation quandary for researcher Sophie Bennett.

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Why is it that just a few are doing this,

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are having puffins as the main part of their diet?

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Well, the majority of the gulls are generalist feeders,

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they'll be feeling on refuse, fish, and auks and rabbits as well.

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because puffins and razorbills and guillemots

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so the gulls that are feeding on them

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have a higher chance of successfully fledging their own young.

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And I suppose they don't have to go out to sea to get the food. Exactly.

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They can just sit right here and wait for the puffins to fly in

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and then they've got them. Efficient feeding! It's fascinating stuff.

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I suppose all of this lends itself to that perception

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Yeah, the media is often portraying great black-backs

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as these big baddies coming in and eating the cute puffins,

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but they've got their own chicks to feed as well,

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great black-backs are also amber-listed,

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and so you've got that conservation problem

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of whether to favour one or the other.

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I guess that's why having data is so important -

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decisions get made on the best factual evidence base there is.

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and the threat of the great black-backed gull,

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the puffin population on the Isle of May has remained stable,

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and although it's been a challenging day for them,

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they're still finding their way back home to their chicks.

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Ellie! Ellie, come on and look at this.

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I've managed to get an adult puffin, which is incredible.

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He's struggling a little bit, but fabulous birds. Amazing.

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He's just down the burrow there, and I'm just going to hold that in...

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Is the chick in there too, do you think? Possibly. Hang on.

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I've got the chick as well. SHE SQUEALS

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We're not allowed to say "cute" in the animal world, but that is cute.

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Indeed, yes! You can see it's just hatched,

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it's still got its egg tooth. Yeah, on top of the beak there.

:25:20.:25:23.

And it'll take about 40 days to fledge,

:25:24.:25:27.

so he will be fledging, hopefully, in sort of early August.

:25:28.:25:30.

He's late, this one. He is a late one.

:25:31.:25:32.

We expect a lot of the puffin chicks to go by mid-July,

:25:33.:25:36.

so yeah, he's going to be an early August one,

:25:37.:25:38.

just in time for the school holidays.

:25:39.:25:40.

And with the adult there, that sort of yellow bit on the bill,

:25:41.:25:43.

is that... That's the hinging that allows it

:25:44.:25:45.

to hold so many sand eels at the same time? Yeah.

:25:46.:25:47.

It allows the bill to not just open up and down

:25:48.:25:50.

so it actually can collect... plenty of sand eels.

:25:51.:25:55.

Record's about 61 sand eels in the bill. No way!

:25:56.:25:58.

It is a very efficient way of hunting. Indeed.

:25:59.:26:01.

Right. Right, I'm going to put these back,

:26:02.:26:03.

if that's all right, cos he's getting a bit cold.

:26:04.:26:06.

I'll let him get back on with his parenting, just hold over that one.

:26:07.:26:09.

Brilliant. Amazing! Fabulous. Good stuff!

:26:10.:26:19.

a side of the island that few get to see.

:26:20.:26:24.

And so far, my island adventure hasn't disappointed.

:26:25.:26:29.

Later, I'll be finding out what island life is like

:26:30.:26:31.

for the tiny team of 12 that live here.

:26:32.:26:39.

is not just a disease that affects cattle -

:26:40.:26:43.

So what's being done to tackle it in livestock other than cows?

:26:44.:26:49.

Bovine TB has claimed the lives of around 370,000 cattle

:26:50.:27:03.

in just a decade, and more than 14,000 badgers

:27:04.:27:07.

since the controversial culls began in 2013.

:27:08.:27:12.

But is all that pain in vain if TB is hiding in other animals?

:27:13.:27:19.

Goats are susceptible to TB, but unlike with cattle,

:27:20.:27:23.

so many goat herds have never had a TB test.

:27:24.:27:31.

It's only mandatory if there's reason to suspect

:27:32.:27:34.

Otherwise, they can be bought, sold and moved around the country

:27:35.:27:39.

without a test. In other words, the disease can slip under the radar.

:27:40.:27:46.

And with little or no compensation for infected animals,

:27:47.:27:50.

than face losing their livestock and livelihood.

:27:51.:27:58.

This farm in Devon is the only place in the country

:27:59.:28:01.

where you'll find this variety of cashmere goat,

:28:02.:28:04.

you'd get two or three small, but beautiful-quality jumpers out of it.

:28:05.:28:15.

had the herd TB-tested for the first time in December

:28:16.:28:25.

after an outbreak on a neighbouring cattle farm.

:28:26.:28:30.

So tell me, what was this TB test like?

:28:31.:28:32.

and although we tried very hard to keep calm,

:28:33.:28:39.

and goats pick up your mood very quickly.

:28:40.:28:43.

stressful for us and stressful for them.

:28:44.:28:49.

And what would it have meant for your business

:28:50.:28:51.

if you'd lost a large number of them?

:28:52.:28:53.

It would have been the end of it, because this is a unique flock.

:28:54.:28:57.

and Lesley's expecting another test any time.

:28:58.:29:08.

You're farming goats in a high-risk area for TB. Yeah.

:29:09.:29:13.

There are cattle just over there. Exactly.

:29:14.:29:16.

Is it sensible? I can see a time coming

:29:17.:29:18.

when possibly it's impossible to keep livestock at all

:29:19.:29:21.

unless somebody gets a grip on this terrible disease.

:29:22.:29:28.

Farmers and vets have made their feelings known to government

:29:29.:29:32.

by responding to a consultation on tackling TB

:29:33.:29:36.

in non-bovine species, including goats.

:29:37.:29:43.

Defra, the government department in charge of tackling bovine TB,

:29:44.:29:48.

published its response to the consultation.

:29:49.:29:55.

and bring in improved compensation rates

:29:56.:30:01.

But we've had a general election since then,

:30:02.:30:09.

and farmers are worried that it's got...a bit buried.

:30:10.:30:15.

Unfortunately, no-one from Defra was available to talk about it,

:30:16.:30:19.

so I'm meeting David Harwood from the Goat Veterinary Society,

:30:20.:30:23.

which was involved in this consultation.

:30:24.:30:27.

flow out of this government consultation?

:30:28.:30:30.

What we've lacked in the past is a consistent approach,

:30:31.:30:33.

It isn't actually laid down in legislation

:30:34.:30:36.

er, and there's been different interpretations

:30:37.:30:40.

What changes might you like to see around compensation?

:30:41.:30:44.

Well, there currently isn't any compensation at all payable

:30:45.:30:48.

in England under the legislative process.

:30:49.:30:51.

There isn't a compensation scheme in Northern Ireland either,

:30:52.:30:53.

I think we need to get some standard compensation scales in place

:30:54.:31:02.

and also we have to be mindful of the fact that this money's

:31:03.:31:08.

coming from the public purse, you know, it's not a bottomless pit.

:31:09.:31:11.

Is there a danger that without that, farmers might end up covering it up

:31:12.:31:14.

a bit, or now wanting to acknowledge their problem? Very much so.

:31:15.:31:17.

There's a disincentive to report a suspicion of disease.

:31:18.:31:20.

As you say, farmers may try and bury it.

:31:21.:31:22.

So I think we need to get something that is very clear, very concise

:31:23.:31:26.

and very consistent in place on compensation.

:31:27.:31:29.

How confident are you that the government

:31:30.:31:31.

will actually follow up this consultation?

:31:32.:31:33.

I'm hopeful that something will come of it,

:31:34.:31:36.

David may be reassured by the subsequent statement

:31:37.:31:43.

we received from Defra, saying, "Later this year,

:31:44.:31:46.

"we will introduce a statutory compensation scheme

:31:47.:31:50.

"along with improved disease controls."

:31:51.:31:55.

But right now, farmers like Tom and Lesley are farming on a knife-edge.

:31:56.:32:01.

spelling financial ruin for their businesses

:32:02.:32:06.

and sounding the death knell for their goats.

:32:07.:32:11.

to improve the TB control strategy in goats,

:32:12.:32:17.

The goat industry say they need this to happen

:32:18.:32:23.

Well, it doesn't get much wilder than out here on the Isle of May,

:32:24.:32:34.

but if you managed to capture the call of the wild on your camera

:32:35.:32:38.

for our photographic competition, here's John with the details.

:32:39.:32:50.

"The call of the wild" can be found almost everywhere in our countryside

:32:51.:32:53.

and it's up to you to interpret that theme.

:32:54.:32:56.

no matter what the weather, no matter what the season.

:32:57.:33:03.

the many thousands of entries that you send in

:33:04.:33:16.

and picking the very best for our Countryfile calendar,

:33:17.:33:19.

which goes on sale later this year in aid of Children In Need.

:33:20.:33:23.

Buy one and you'll get some amazing photos to look at on your wall

:33:24.:33:27.

we'll have an overall winner voted for by you, our Countryfile viewers.

:33:28.:33:38.

Not only will that picture grace the cover of our calendar,

:33:39.:33:41.

the winner will receive a voucher for ?1,000

:33:42.:33:45.

The person who takes the judges' favourite photo

:33:46.:33:50.

If you fancy a shot, why not send us your photos?

:33:51.:34:01.

We need your name, address, and a contact number

:34:02.:34:04.

with a note of where the picture was taken.

:34:05.:34:09.

Or you can enter online, on our website.

:34:10.:34:23.

The full terms and conditions are on our website

:34:24.:34:32.

of the BBC's Code of Conduct for competitions.

:34:33.:34:45.

We're off to the Cotswolds now to Adam's farm,

:34:46.:34:49.

where he's been testing out some new mapping technology

:34:50.:34:51.

that aims to get the most out of farmers' field margins.

:34:52.:35:03.

Summer is in full swing here on the farm.

:35:04.:35:06.

The oilseed rape is coming along nicely...

:35:07.:35:18.

And the hedgerows are looking magnificent.

:35:19.:35:22.

Hedges are not only lovely to look at,

:35:23.:35:24.

and they're good for the farmer, too,

:35:25.:35:28.

because they can help our livestock and crops by providing

:35:29.:35:32.

shelter from the bracing winter winds

:35:33.:35:34.

And it's not just the hedgerows that are bursting with life.

:35:35.:35:42.

our field margins have become a riot of colour.

:35:43.:35:48.

We've been involved with environmental stewardship schemes

:35:49.:35:51.

and what that means is that we're managing certain areas of the farm

:35:52.:35:58.

So on this side, we've got plants that have been grown specifically

:35:59.:36:04.

to provide seed to feed the birds during the winter months.

:36:05.:36:06.

And over here is a pollen and nectar mix that provides flowers

:36:07.:36:10.

to help the bees and butterflies and other insects.

:36:11.:36:13.

We've also created raised mounds called beetle banks

:36:14.:36:17.

to provide a habitat for bugs and insects...

:36:18.:36:22.

Richard Spyvee from Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

:36:23.:36:30.

are doing their best for both the environment and the farm.

:36:31.:36:38.

Hi, Richard, good to see you. Hi there, Adam, how are you?

:36:39.:36:40.

Richard, we spend a lot of energy and effort

:36:41.:36:43.

and we're very keen on conservation on the farm,

:36:44.:36:47.

but I'm never quite sure whether they're working. What do you think?

:36:48.:36:51.

I think you only just need to look at the colour here at the moment.

:36:52.:36:55.

They're creating a great source for insect pollinators

:36:56.:36:59.

that are doing a great job on the farm.

:37:00.:37:01.

These oxeye daisies are a real splash of colour

:37:02.:37:04.

and this is providing a great nectar source

:37:05.:37:07.

that are going to help pollinate some of your cereal crops

:37:08.:37:12.

and some of your fruit crops as well.

:37:13.:37:14.

And we've got various different margins.

:37:15.:37:16.

it's not only providing a pollen and nectar source for them,

:37:17.:37:24.

you also need areas for them to nest in and for overwintering as well.

:37:25.:37:29.

So you need a variety of options that cater for those different needs

:37:30.:37:32.

rather than just this lovely colourful one in front of us here.

:37:33.:37:36.

And where are we with conservation nowadays?

:37:37.:37:39.

There's always plenty to be done, yeah.

:37:40.:37:42.

is obviously making a big difference.

:37:43.:37:49.

The government provides financial support

:37:50.:37:52.

to manage areas of their farm for conservation.

:37:53.:37:56.

But measuring these areas that have been put aside for wildlife

:37:57.:38:00.

It's an important one, though, because the amount of subsidy

:38:01.:38:06.

is determined by the amount of land that is set aside.

:38:07.:38:11.

Normally, farmers measure their margins by hand,

:38:12.:38:14.

has come up with a much quicker and more accurate method.

:38:15.:38:39.

a state-of-the-art camera mapping system

:38:40.:38:42.

is taking to the skies and heading this way.

:38:43.:38:50.

With me on the farm is Roger Nock from Ordnance Survey.

:38:51.:38:54.

Where we're planting our conservation margins,

:38:55.:38:57.

you can measure those very accurately.

:38:58.:38:59.

Yeah. The data we supply can be used to measure, yeah.

:39:00.:39:02.

It's within sort of a few centimetres of detail.

:39:03.:39:06.

A few centimetres! It's the most accurate you're ever going to get,

:39:07.:39:09.

using the kit that we've got. It's the latest technology.

:39:10.:39:12.

And you're working with Defra? Yes - the Rural Payments Agency

:39:13.:39:15.

asked us to survey and map all the hedgerows in England

:39:16.:39:18.

The technology allows us to, using near-infrared,

:39:19.:39:23.

pick up the hedgerows' sizes and positions and shapes

:39:24.:39:26.

so without any sort of human input to that,

:39:27.:39:31.

So as farmers, where we've got our hedges and walls and margins,

:39:32.:39:35.

some of which are supported by government,

:39:36.:39:38.

and we're measuring and sending those details in,

:39:39.:39:41.

you can work out whether they're correct or not?

:39:42.:39:43.

Well, it's up to them to decide that.

:39:44.:39:45.

We provide the information that they can look at.

:39:46.:39:47.

We provide where the position of the hedges are.

:39:48.:39:50.

We don't decide whether that's in the right or wrong place

:39:51.:39:53.

or it's too big or too small. Sure. We just purely take the imagery

:39:54.:39:56.

Our ability to put these things on the map very quickly

:39:57.:40:00.

in a short space of time, and very accurately,

:40:01.:40:02.

allows organisations to be able to pick and choose

:40:03.:40:05.

It's not long before our plane appears.

:40:06.:40:12.

That'll be around 5,500 feet at the moment.

:40:13.:40:16.

Normally we fly between 8,000 and 10,000 feet,

:40:17.:40:18.

so dropped down a little bit for this one.

:40:19.:40:20.

Well, the camera operator will be talking to his pilot,

:40:21.:40:25.

and liaising with the local air-traffic control

:40:26.:40:27.

just to make sure there's no other aircraft in the area,

:40:28.:40:29.

and he'll be checking his system and his camera's working fine.

:40:30.:40:32.

Eight lenses are all operating correctly.

:40:33.:40:35.

We've got a large-format digital camera on board,

:40:36.:40:37.

and it's continuously overlapping photographs of cities,

:40:38.:40:43.

and trying to keep on top of the update of the maps.

:40:44.:40:50.

Not a bad job, is it? It's not bad at all, is it, really?

:40:51.:41:01.

records thousands of tiny points in space,

:41:02.:41:06.

And when combined with thousands of detailed photos,

:41:07.:41:17.

it creates an incredible 3D map of the farm below.

:41:18.:41:23.

Buildings, hedgerows, crops and margins

:41:24.:41:25.

are all clearly visible across this virtual landscape.

:41:26.:41:32.

This technology has the power to transform agriculture,

:41:33.:41:36.

and that could bring huge benefits to farmers.

:41:37.:41:39.

Yields could be calculated much more accurately,

:41:40.:41:43.

or it could be used to guide whole fleets of autonomous tractors.

:41:44.:41:48.

But for now, it's helping record our all-important green spaces.

:41:49.:41:55.

There has to be a balance between food production

:41:56.:41:58.

And while this technology could pave the way for the farms of the future,

:41:59.:42:04.

it also ensures that government are rewarding farmers accurately

:42:05.:42:08.

for their work transforming field margins into wildlife habitats.

:42:09.:42:20.

in landscapes, and in edible treasure,

:42:21.:42:29.

so today, I'm celebrating the area's ruby-red jewels.

:42:30.:42:35.

Ripe and juicy raspberries and the humble redberry

:42:36.:42:38.

has coloured the agricultural history

:42:39.:42:41.

Berry-growing has long played an important part

:42:42.:42:47.

By the late 1950s, sought-after harvests

:42:48.:42:52.

were even transported by steam train down to London

:42:53.:42:55.

is a world leader when it comes to raspberry research.

:42:56.:43:05.

to produce new and improved strains of superberries.

:43:06.:43:15.

Dr Rachel McGorley is one of the scientists working on the project.

:43:16.:43:20.

I can see hundreds of raspberries here, ready to ripen.

:43:21.:43:25.

What are you trying to change? Do you need to change anything?

:43:26.:43:27.

They look great to me. Raspberries on the whole are fantastic.

:43:28.:43:30.

They're a really yummy, tasty fruit, they're full of antioxidants,

:43:31.:43:33.

which you can see in the nice vibrant red colour,

:43:34.:43:36.

But they're quite expensive for growers to produce,

:43:37.:43:41.

it takes quite a lot of time for pickers to pick them,

:43:42.:43:44.

because they're not displayed openly like strawberries,

:43:45.:43:47.

and also they're quite susceptible to diseases,

:43:48.:43:49.

in particular a disease called Phytophthora,

:43:50.:43:51.

otherwise known as raspberry root rot.

:43:52.:43:53.

I can see some plants here that don't look so healthy.

:43:54.:43:55.

Is that the root rot? Yeah, it is, unfortunately.

:43:56.:43:58.

"Root Rot" sounds like some evil villain in the raspberry world!

:43:59.:44:00.

It's a very evil villain in the raspberry world.

:44:01.:44:03.

so you can see the canes are all dead here,

:44:04.:44:06.

and the leaves are dead. You're not going to get any fruit off this.

:44:07.:44:09.

And you don't know that your raspberry has got the disease

:44:10.:44:12.

until it starts to die above ground, and because there's no treatment

:44:13.:44:15.

for it, that's it. There's nothing that you can do.

:44:16.:44:17.

as soon as there's quite a lot of water in the soil

:44:18.:44:21.

it can flow between one plant and another. As you can see here,

:44:22.:44:24.

one of these plants have got it and then it's spread. Yeah.

:44:25.:44:26.

The findings of the research carried out here are vital to the industry

:44:27.:44:30.

and are shared with growers across the globe.

:44:31.:44:33.

In fact, around 50% of the world's blackcurrant crop

:44:34.:44:36.

was developed by scientists here, and their latest

:44:37.:44:39.

cross-breeding programme hopes to revolutionise raspberry-growing.

:44:40.:44:42.

So what we're doing here, we're breeding,

:44:43.:44:44.

so we're taking the characteristics of Latham,

:44:45.:44:48.

which is a really, really old variety from North America,

:44:49.:44:52.

which does have resistance to root rot,

:44:53.:44:54.

and then crossing them with the yummy berries that we already have

:44:55.:44:56.

to try and make a yummy berry that a grower's going to want to grow

:44:57.:44:59.

but also that can survive in the soil.

:45:00.:45:04.

Helping to translate Rachel's research from science to soil

:45:05.:45:08.

She grows up to 10,000 seedlings a year

:45:09.:45:12.

This is a glasshouse with more than 50 different varieties

:45:13.:45:20.

of raspberry, and some blackberry in here.

:45:21.:45:23.

And this is part of the disease testing scheme in the UK

:45:24.:45:26.

which provides the whole of the UK industry with healthy plants.

:45:27.:45:31.

A raspberry is a collection or an aggregate of fruit,

:45:32.:45:34.

er, and each one of these little drupelets

:45:35.:45:37.

is a fruit in its own right, and each produces a seed.

:45:38.:45:40.

Luckily for me, visitors are encouraged to

:45:41.:45:43.

aiming for a perfect balance of sugar and acid -

:45:44.:45:48.

the quintessential taste of a raspberry.

:45:49.:45:52.

If you go into any supermarket in the UK,

:45:53.:46:02.

if you see the word "glen", or the prefix "glen",

:46:03.:46:05.

it means that it was bred here at the Institute.

:46:06.:46:09.

All of our raspberries are named after glens,

:46:10.:46:12.

all of our blackcurrants are named after bens,

:46:13.:46:15.

and our blackberries are named after lochs.

:46:16.:46:17.

Having eaten my own body-weight in raspberries,

:46:18.:46:20.

it's time to see the science out in the field,

:46:21.:46:22.

where livelihoods depend on producing a good crop.

:46:23.:46:31.

Just over the River Tay, near Coupar,

:46:32.:46:34.

John Laird's family has been fruit farming for nearly 50 years.

:46:35.:46:37.

John, you've got a really successful set-up here,

:46:38.:46:40.

and at the heart of it are these raspberries. What type are they?

:46:41.:46:43.

These are born and bred in Scotland. These are our main crop.

:46:44.:46:47.

As you can see, the fruit's very well presented, easy to pick,

:46:48.:46:51.

er, it's a very firm berry so it travels well,

:46:52.:46:53.

but more importantly, the flavour's fantastic.

:46:54.:46:56.

Yeah. Like, these are on the verge of being ripe, aren't they?

:46:57.:46:59.

What makes this part of Scotland so successful in growing berries?

:47:00.:47:04.

We have very well drained soils. We've got plenty of moisture,

:47:05.:47:07.

and chilly winters, which is what the raspberry needs.

:47:08.:47:11.

But most of all, it's long, cool summers,

:47:12.:47:14.

which help the raspberries ripen slowly

:47:15.:47:16.

and that gives them their fuller flavour.

:47:17.:47:18.

As sales of raspberries have grown by nearly 14%

:47:19.:47:21.

in the last year, it's about keeping up with demand.

:47:22.:47:23.

We produce about 15 to 20 tonnes of raspberries a year,

:47:24.:47:27.

but we also have a pick-your-own element to the business.

:47:28.:47:30.

And just off the coast you've got oil, black gold.

:47:31.:47:33.

Is this Scotland's red gold? This is definitely our red gold.

:47:34.:47:36.

Green gold today, but red gold normally.

:47:37.:47:38.

In a few days, it'll be red gold. It'll be red.

:47:39.:47:41.

Having access to new, robust varieties

:47:42.:47:44.

will make growing the soft fruit more reliable and profitable

:47:45.:47:47.

I don't think there'd be a raspberry industry in Britain,

:47:48.:47:53.

not just Scotland, if it weren't for the breeding programmes.

:47:54.:47:56.

Er, they've produced dozens of wonderful varieties of raspberries

:47:57.:47:59.

over the years. Each one has improved on the last.

:48:00.:48:02.

They've also managed to get flavour back into them.

:48:03.:48:07.

For a long time we forgot about flavour,

:48:08.:48:08.

Nikki from the James Hutton Institute has spent

:48:09.:48:20.

the last few years trialling and testing this new breed.

:48:21.:48:24.

And these local berry farmers from the Angus Soft Fruit Collective

:48:25.:48:27.

OK! New breed taste-test time, are you ready?

:48:28.:48:33.

ALL: Yeah! Great. Let's go for it.

:48:34.:48:37.

So the big question is, you're all growers -

:48:38.:48:51.

I think I'll give it a go. Definitely.

:48:52.:48:54.

Seems this new Scottish Glen raspberry

:48:55.:48:57.

could soon be on our supermarket shelves.

:48:58.:49:00.

into a traditional Scottish dessert - cranachan.

:49:01.:49:06.

Well, this looks like my kind of recipe.

:49:07.:49:08.

Only five ingredients - raspberries, honey,

:49:09.:49:11.

toasted oats, cream, and whisky, all locally produced,

:49:12.:49:15.

and I'm going to enjoy mine with some shortbread.

:49:16.:49:18.

Today has been a good day for fruit-picking,

:49:19.:49:32.

Will it be weather for cranachan in the garden

:49:33.:49:36.

or crumble and custard in the kitchen?

:49:37.:49:38.

Here's the Countryfile five-day forecast for the week ahead.

:49:39.:49:53.

Good evening. If talk of deserts has made you hungry, well, the weather

:49:54.:50:00.

will serve up a whole three course meal this week. Three very different

:50:01.:50:04.

types of weather on the way. Initially we will see sunshine and

:50:05.:50:09.

warmth as well. For midweek the temperatures are likely decline a

:50:10.:50:12.

bit further and that will spawn some thunderstorms. They will then clear

:50:13.:50:16.

away and our weather deserts at the end of the week will bring a cooler,

:50:17.:50:20.

fresher feel but more unsettled as well. Back to the here and now, it

:50:21.:50:25.

was a nice looking day across Northern Ireland. Some blue skies to

:50:26.:50:29.

be had here. It was more of a struggle to break up the cloud

:50:30.:50:37.

further south. As you can see from the earlier satellite picture,

:50:38.:50:39.

southern areas did have this area of cloud to content with. Also some

:50:40.:50:44.

cloud bringing showery rain across northern Scotland. For the vast

:50:45.:50:48.

majority, high pressure starts to take control of our weather,

:50:49.:50:51.

building its way in from the West. That means a dry night, clear spells

:50:52.:50:56.

and in the south, it cooler, fresher feel than we had last night. If you

:50:57.:51:02.

like warmth and sunshine, you will like tomorrow. Blue skies will be in

:51:03.:51:06.

abundance across the country, perhaps showers across northern

:51:07.:51:09.

Scotland. These will become confined to the Northern Isles through the

:51:10.:51:14.

day. Some high cloud close to southern England and South Wales and

:51:15.:51:18.

turn the sunshine hazy. The temperatures starting to climb.

:51:19.:51:24.

Widely into the 20s, maybe 26 or 27 towards the south-east. High

:51:25.:51:27.

pressure will stay with us on Monday night into Tuesday. But it drifts a

:51:28.:51:32.

bit further east. What that will bring is an east or south-easterly

:51:33.:51:37.

airflow. That will import some warm and humid air indeed from the near

:51:38.:51:40.

continent. Those temperatures likely decline even further, and with that

:51:41.:51:44.

late in the day, the risk of one or two thunderstorms. For much of

:51:45.:51:48.

Tuesday did fine and dry with sunshine. Across England and Wales

:51:49.:51:54.

high cloud turning the sunshine hazy. In the south-west on Tuesday

:51:55.:52:00.

the first hint of thunderstorms. The heat will be widespread. With all

:52:01.:52:05.

that heat and humidity, things will break down during Tuesday night. A

:52:06.:52:11.

band of showers and storms moving northwards. Likely to become more

:52:12.:52:16.

widespread as they go. The heavy thundery rain drifting across

:52:17.:52:19.

Scotland where it will become blustery. As things brighten up

:52:20.:52:26.

further south, we could see some more thunderstorms. Still some heat

:52:27.:52:30.

towards East Anglia and the south-east. But something fresher

:52:31.:52:34.

just beginning to show its hand out west. That takes us into the latter

:52:35.:52:39.

part of the week. The cold front drifting its weight used was,

:52:40.:52:43.

introducing some fresh air returning from the Atlantic. Temperatures

:52:44.:52:45.

dropping back on Thursday. Having said that, not a bad day. Showers in

:52:46.:52:52.

the north-west and more persistent rain into Northern Ireland later on.

:52:53.:52:57.

The temperatures well down. As we move into Friday, it looks like low

:52:58.:53:01.

pressure will drift its way in from the West. Still the winds coming

:53:02.:53:05.

from the Atlantic. Still fairly cool and fresh feel. A band of rain

:53:06.:53:12.

staggering eastwards, blustery showers in the north-west. Still the

:53:13.:53:13.

fresher feel. I'm on the Isle of May,

:53:14.:53:27.

just off the mainland of Fife. Surrounded by nothing but ocean

:53:28.:53:34.

and open to nature's elements, living on the island

:53:35.:53:39.

is not for the faint-hearted, but what's it like

:53:40.:53:47.

for the 12 people that live here? There's a real sense

:53:48.:53:52.

of chaos and calm here and, over the years, the island has

:53:53.:53:55.

seen many different inhabitants - Vikings, monks and smugglers have

:53:56.:53:59.

all enjoyed life on the Isle of May. and only a handful of hardy souls

:54:00.:54:07.

inhabit this island. The houses

:54:08.:54:13.

on the island's only street are now temporary accommodation

:54:14.:54:16.

for the researchers and staff that live here

:54:17.:54:20.

from April to September - As jobs go, this is probably one of

:54:21.:54:23.

the best offices in the country. During breeding season,

:54:24.:54:35.

the team is kept busy, from monitoring

:54:36.:54:38.

and studying the birds to acting as

:54:39.:54:40.

the island's caretakers, ensuring all is shipshape for

:54:41.:54:42.

the visitors when they arrive. And it's all hands on deck,

:54:43.:54:46.

including mine. If you can just, yeah, get those

:54:47.:54:49.

leaflets there and just tidy up that table

:54:50.:54:52.

and just top everything up. And there's a bit of highway

:54:53.:54:55.

maintenance to do And then there are

:54:56.:55:04.

the less glamorous jobs. You can be in

:55:05.:55:11.

amongst the puffins one minute But what we're really here for

:55:12.:55:14.

are the birds. Oh, amazing!

:55:15.:55:23.

This chick is just hatched. We've actually got one

:55:24.:55:26.

hatching as well. Oh, yeah, you can see

:55:27.:55:28.

the egg tooth coming out! That is amazing!

:55:29.:55:30.

That is currently hatching, yeah. During my time on this living

:55:31.:55:39.

laboratory, it's become clear that there's a huge amount of

:55:40.:55:43.

dedication within the team it's time to down tools

:55:44.:55:46.

and chill out. Taking time away from the chicks

:55:47.:55:52.

to cook is Becky Lakin, who is volunteering on the island

:55:53.:55:55.

for three months. What was it that brought you

:55:56.:55:58.

over to the island? I've always been very interested

:55:59.:56:01.

in nature and wildlife and particularly seabirds,

:56:02.:56:06.

so when I saw the opportunity to come and be a long-term volunteer

:56:07.:56:10.

on the Isle of May, I just grabbed it

:56:11.:56:14.

and I just went for it. to live on an island

:56:15.:56:16.

for that length of time, that must have been

:56:17.:56:21.

quite an undertaking. I think if you're interested in

:56:22.:56:23.

nature and particularly seabirds, like I am,

:56:24.:56:27.

then to wake up every morning and not know

:56:28.:56:31.

what's going to turn up, what you're going to be

:56:32.:56:32.

involved with today, is... is more exciting than anything

:56:33.:56:35.

I can think of. That's incredible. And what about

:56:36.:56:38.

kind of practical things, cos you are very much cut off

:56:39.:56:40.

out here? You kind of get thrown in the deep

:56:41.:56:42.

end when you arrive and you just fit in

:56:43.:56:45.

with everything, so going down to one shower a week,

:56:46.:56:48.

at first I was like, "Wow, that's going to

:56:49.:56:52.

be different!" But everybody's in the same boat

:56:53.:56:55.

and you just all help each other. I feel bad because I've had two

:56:56.:56:58.

showers already and I've only been here 24 hours!

:56:59.:57:01.

Have you?! Very good. Right, this chilli

:57:02.:57:03.

is taking shape, isn't it? With more hungry mouths to feed

:57:04.:57:08.

on the island, Right, it's rice and chilli

:57:09.:57:13.

for everyone, I'm afraid. Have you enjoyed your experience

:57:14.:57:19.

out on the Isle of May? Island life is a really particular

:57:20.:57:27.

way of life, you guys all know that,

:57:28.:57:32.

it's very intense. I'm not sure I could handle it

:57:33.:57:33.

for a length of time, but I've got such respect for,

:57:34.:57:36.

not just living here, but the massive amount of work

:57:37.:57:39.

that you do. It's been amazing to see it all,

:57:40.:57:41.

it's been fantastic. Well, thank you as well,

:57:42.:57:43.

I hope you've had a good experience, Bring some better sunshine

:57:44.:57:46.

next time. I'll do that. There's a great team spirit

:57:47.:57:54.

amongst the volunteers and it's clear they're passionate

:57:55.:57:57.

about what they do And sitting here with them,

:57:58.:58:00.

I feel part of something special. Well, that is it from me

:58:01.:58:12.

from the Isle of May. Next week, John and Anita

:58:13.:58:15.

will be in Wiltshire, where some international beekeepers

:58:16.:58:17.

are creating quite a buzz. Join us live, and follow

:58:18.:58:21.

the world's wildest animals... ..across the most

:58:22.:59:02.

challenging of terrains...

:59:03.:59:06.

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