:00:15. > :00:18.Landward at the Royal Highland Show 2013. It's billed as the Greatest
:00:18. > :00:28.Show on Earth and so over the weekend we have two programmes for
:00:28. > :00:28.
:00:29. > :00:37.you. You may have noticed that a certain person is missing?.where can
:00:37. > :00:44.Dougie be? The offer good behaviour. Tonight I will be marking the
:00:44. > :00:48.magical Midsummer solstice at the Callanish standing stones. Join me
:00:48. > :00:52.straight after Landward Borough celebration of Scotland's scenery,
:00:52. > :00:56.wildlife and people on the longest day of the year. But the Midsummer
:00:56. > :01:05.solstice is still a few hours away and for the next thirty minutes its
:01:05. > :01:11.all about The Royal Highland Show. Dougie will be back for our
:01:11. > :01:18.highlights show on Sunday afternoon. To help out in the meantime we've
:01:18. > :01:21.drafted in Cat Cubie. What are you going to be up to? This is my first
:01:21. > :01:24.Royal Highland Show so I'll be out around the showground finding out
:01:24. > :01:29.why the event draws around 175,000 people over the weekend. I'll be
:01:29. > :01:32.looking at some of the themes of this year's show. The show president
:01:32. > :01:35.this year comes from the Highland's and islands and they'll be
:01:35. > :01:39.highlighting the great range of food and leisure activities available in
:01:39. > :01:42.the region. And I'll be setting Nick Nairn a cooking challenge and
:01:42. > :01:45.finding out how to take the perfect picture of a winning beast. But
:01:45. > :01:48.first with so many trophies and so much prize money at stake this
:01:48. > :01:58.weekend I've been looking at the efforts to ensure all animals abide
:01:58. > :02:02.
:02:02. > :02:06.by a strict set of showing rules. There are more than 5000 animals
:02:06. > :02:11.competing here at the Highland show over the next few days. Stop men
:02:11. > :02:18.like these many here are busy offering their animals, getting them
:02:18. > :02:23.ready for the big moment in the show ring. -- stalk men. They have to
:02:23. > :02:27.follow a strict set of rules laid down by this show organisers. I
:02:27. > :02:32.thought I took a long time to get ready, but that is so much pampering
:02:32. > :02:40.going on here. How long does it take them to get the animals ready for
:02:40. > :02:48.the show? There's a lot of feeding and correct diet to get it in the
:02:48. > :02:58.right condition, then we start preparing the courts. The user here
:02:58. > :02:59.
:02:59. > :03:04.to stand up. If there is no heard on the back, they are inclined to stick
:03:04. > :03:14.something else in which is easily spotted. How did people bend the
:03:14. > :03:18.
:03:18. > :03:26.rules? Be used to stick things to the back with glue. How are the
:03:26. > :03:31.rules enforced? We use of veterinary inspections after the judging. If
:03:31. > :03:38.they find anything, they come and report to me. We will then
:03:38. > :03:44.disqualify that person. Maybe for future shows as well. The animals
:03:44. > :03:49.shown here represent the best that Scotland has to offer. When he
:03:49. > :03:55.brings both and prestige. The message to anyone thinking of
:03:55. > :04:05.cheating is clear, cooking and cleaning is fine but good polish and
:04:05. > :04:10.
:04:10. > :04:14.tampering with the adders is a definite no. -- boot polish. There
:04:14. > :04:22.is something going on here all day. We even have soared wielding
:04:22. > :04:28.warriors. We have a small medieval camp year. We do educational
:04:28. > :04:34.programmes for children. They can try on costumes and they can hold a
:04:35. > :04:40.sword. Everything is specially made for children to handle safely.
:04:40. > :04:43.One of the themes of this year's show is Precision Farming. Over
:04:43. > :04:46.recent years the industry has gone hi-tech with specialist companies
:04:46. > :04:49.developing technology to automate a lot of the activities on arable
:04:49. > :04:52.farms in particular. I went to meet one of the pioneers of Precision
:04:52. > :05:02.farming? Jim Wilson is not only the technical director of the company
:05:02. > :05:05.
:05:05. > :05:14.based in Brechin, he's also the local farmer. How did you get into
:05:14. > :05:18.this? I got into it because when I was combining in the mid-90s, I was
:05:18. > :05:22.harvesting a field and in some areas there was high yield and 50 yards on
:05:22. > :05:27.there was no crop at all. It annoyed me that I was spending the same
:05:27. > :05:29.amount of money growing poor crop as good crop. There are three aspects
:05:30. > :05:38.to the business, firstly the agronomy side which optimises the
:05:38. > :05:48.amount of fertilisers and sprays to each bit of the field. We take soil
:05:48. > :05:51.
:05:51. > :05:55.samples. We upload the results to a web application. The farmer logs on
:05:55. > :05:58.and creates a map to put the correct amount of lime in each bit of the
:05:58. > :06:08.field. Then the application map is sent to the spreader and it applies
:06:08. > :06:08.
:06:08. > :06:11.the correct amount of lime for each area. We fit customers' tractors
:06:11. > :06:21.with auto steer systems so they can track themselves accurately across
:06:21. > :06:25.
:06:25. > :06:28.the field. It uses the signals which allows the tractors to do that.
:06:28. > :06:30.According to Jim, If you are not using Precision Farming technology,
:06:30. > :06:34.you are simply playing catch up. You're wasting fuel, seed and
:06:34. > :06:44.fertiliser. The clever thing about this is you can sit back and have a
:06:44. > :06:46.
:06:46. > :06:49.cup of tea and a bit of cake while the technology does the work.
:06:49. > :06:53.Now our resident chef, Nick Nairn is always so busy at the Show doing
:06:53. > :06:56.cooking demonstrations. I decided to set him a quickfire cooking
:06:56. > :06:58.challenge and yesterday I went shopping in the food hall to find
:06:58. > :07:08.him some ingredients to work with. Three ingredients. Ingredient number
:07:08. > :07:17.one. Thank you. Ingredient number two. Thank you. Ingredient number
:07:17. > :07:27.three. Black pudding. Thank you very much. Everyone on Landward likes a
:07:27. > :07:27.
:07:27. > :07:29.much. Everyone on Landward likes a wee drink. Thank you. Cheers. Right,
:07:29. > :07:35.three ingredients sourced from the Highlands and Islands which is the
:07:36. > :07:41.sheer's region of the show. What can you do? Salmon is a great choice.
:07:41. > :07:49.This is a beautiful piece of salmon. Black pudding, you are not making
:07:49. > :07:56.this easy. Take that away with you. Not the easiest combination.
:07:56. > :08:01.have 20 minutes. I will leave that with you in case you need it.
:08:01. > :08:06.make some sauce with this raspberry gender. It is a bit early in the
:08:06. > :08:14.morning for this. We will so take a bit of the sausage as well. We will
:08:14. > :08:20.pan fry the black pudding. We will put some potatoes on to cook. We
:08:20. > :08:30.will chargrilled the salmon. Give that a couple of minutes. Then turn
:08:30. > :08:35.it over. Some spinach as a garnish to go underneath the salmon. You are
:08:35. > :08:41.culinary genius to think up this extraordinary combination. That is
:08:41. > :08:47.the cooking done. Time to put together this masterful creation
:08:47. > :08:52.forcefully enough. We start off with the spinach. Sit that at the centre
:08:52. > :09:00.of the plate. Then we put the potatoes with the black pudding. On
:09:00. > :09:08.goes the beautiful salmon. And to finish off, the sources around the
:09:08. > :09:14.outside of the plate. We have a masterful, culinary creation. I just
:09:14. > :09:20.need someone to taste it, Sarah. Tell me what you were thinking of
:09:20. > :09:30.this combination? Fantastic Scottish ingredients from the Highlands and
:09:30. > :09:39.Islands. That was less than 20 minutes. You surpassed yourself.
:09:39. > :09:46.Very good. Very, very good. Coming from you, that is a real compliment.
:09:46. > :09:52.I am was impressed by your talents, when it comes to cooking.
:09:52. > :09:58.Herewith the sheep that is the beauty parlour. All the livestock
:09:58. > :10:03.are getting their here and nails done. All to get competition ready.
:10:03. > :10:09.She gets unwashed, shampoo and set. She gets trimmed down so that
:10:09. > :10:17.everything is even. Is that the special shampoo? Fairy liquid. I
:10:17. > :10:22.tried some soap flakes as well. Hands that do dishes and sheep that
:10:22. > :10:32.do competitions! As well as all the livestock events
:10:32. > :10:36.
:10:36. > :10:39.and food demo's the Show is a hotbed of political activity. That man
:10:39. > :10:42.behind me is European Environment Commissioner, Janez Potocnik, He's
:10:42. > :10:46.here at a critical time for the reform of the Common Agriculture
:10:46. > :10:49.Policy. Before we meet him I went to find out where we are in the process
:10:49. > :10:52.and what the Scottish industry would like to see from the CAP which
:10:52. > :10:54.supports the production of food across the E.U. We're on the cliff
:10:55. > :10:57.edge, this has been a real marathon. It has been going on for years.
:10:57. > :11:00.People are sick of it. The deal should be done in the week after the
:11:00. > :11:06.Royal Highland Show. What do farmers want to get out of its? We want to
:11:06. > :11:11.get the deal done and get rid of the uncertainty. This is probably
:11:11. > :11:17.important for new business. And for new entrants. This change should get
:11:17. > :11:22.them into the system the first time and a level playing field. It is
:11:22. > :11:27.vital for the next generation. But established businesses, it is about
:11:27. > :11:33.getting a transition to a tougher world. Given our low-budget, moving
:11:33. > :11:39.can be painful for businesses. Common Agriculture Policy takes up
:11:39. > :11:43.around have of the EU budget. With an annual spend 55 billion euros,
:11:43. > :11:50.farmers and managers are keen to find out what the latest round of
:11:50. > :11:53.reforms will have in store. We had in the final stage of negotiations.
:11:53. > :11:57.The good stations are going between the European Parliament and the
:11:57. > :12:01.the European Parliament and the commission. Use came yesterday from
:12:01. > :12:07.Brussels. There was an agreement reached from the financing
:12:07. > :12:14.commission. The door is now open for parts of legislation in specific
:12:14. > :12:19.areas like the agricultural policy. It has been going on a long time,
:12:19. > :12:26.how long will it take? We do not have this time. Should finish
:12:26. > :12:31.negotiations faster. We want to move ahead. It is good we have this
:12:31. > :12:36.continuous financing in place and 2014 is not so far away. For more
:12:36. > :12:42.than half a century, the Common Agriculture Policy has supported
:12:42. > :12:44.European farmers. Its aims are to ensure a fair standard of living for
:12:44. > :12:50.farmers and sustainable and affordable supply food for
:12:50. > :12:52.consumers. The latest round of negotiations has been going on for
:12:52. > :12:59.years so hopefully the powers in Europe can reach an agreement before
:12:59. > :13:02.the end of this year. Anyone who was at the show last year
:13:02. > :13:05.will probably never forget the terrible weather. Incessant rain
:13:05. > :13:11.caused flooding in parts of the showground and led to hundreds of
:13:12. > :13:15.motorists unable to get out of the car park. Over the last year the
:13:15. > :13:18.organisers have had to spend a lot of money repairing damage. Stephen
:13:18. > :13:26.Hutt is Chief Executive of the RHASS. Stephen, how difficult was
:13:26. > :13:29.the clean-up last year? It was a challenge. You could hardly believe
:13:29. > :13:35.that looking around today. Some of the ground has still not recovered.
:13:35. > :13:41.But we have had good dry weather over the last few weeks. What has
:13:41. > :13:49.been done and how much money has been spent? We have lead to Colombo
:13:49. > :13:54.tours of dreams. We have spent about half a million. -- to Colombo tours
:13:54. > :13:59.of dreams. We will continue to invest so that each year will be
:13:59. > :14:04.better and people can get in and out easily. The long-term plan is to
:14:04. > :14:09.continue to invest in the showground. The showground accounts
:14:09. > :14:14.for 50% of our income and that is a rather nerve wracking position to be
:14:14. > :14:19.in to depend on the weather. We are trying to develop other revenue
:14:19. > :14:23.streams like a centre of excellence. We want to take
:14:23. > :14:32.advantage of being next to the international airport. Fortunately,
:14:32. > :14:35.the weather has been kind to us and fingers crossed it stays that way.
:14:35. > :14:45.To find out what the prospects are for Ingliston and the rest of the
:14:45. > :14:49.country this weekend it's over to Let's take a look at the chart for
:14:49. > :14:52.tomorrow. We will have some fairly sharp showers tomorrow as we had
:14:52. > :14:56.through the day, and equally in between is there will be some
:14:56. > :15:01.brighter skies. To start the day, a band of rain across the south-west
:15:01. > :15:05.which fragments and turns showery. There could well be some thundery
:15:05. > :15:09.downpours, some hail mixed in with the heavier showers. In the south,
:15:09. > :15:15.some brighter skies in between but a little cool in comparison with the
:15:15. > :15:18.week we've just seen. 16 or 17 is the best we can expect. Through the
:15:18. > :15:25.north, the central highlands, we will see the most of those thundery
:15:25. > :15:28.downpours. Perhaps in the north-west, some brighter skies. But
:15:28. > :15:32.fairly cloudy and damp for the Northern Isles. If you're
:15:32. > :15:36.hillwalking or climbing, the best place to see some sunshine is the
:15:36. > :15:42.central highlands. Elsewhere, cloudy with rain. The winds across the
:15:42. > :15:52.whole country will be quite high. The changes direction through the
:15:52. > :15:54.
:15:54. > :16:02.day. The inshore waters. Over in the east, we have a southerly force
:16:02. > :16:06.three, swinging round. Into the evening and overnight, this band of
:16:06. > :16:11.showers work their way south towards the Borders as we had through
:16:11. > :16:16.overnight. Not a cold night as we head toward Sunday. Temperatures
:16:16. > :16:20.foremost no lower than ten or 11. So, let's take a look at Sunday. The
:16:20. > :16:26.low pressure tends to pull away towards the near continent and we
:16:26. > :16:30.introduce a fresh northerly air and strengthening winds. Still one or
:16:30. > :16:33.two showers around. It will not be as slow-moving as Saturday and in
:16:33. > :16:39.the morning we could see some rumbles of thunder and hail mixed
:16:39. > :16:44.in. Temperatures are about 15. For the Royal Highland Show, unsettled
:16:44. > :16:48.conditions. Some heavy showers at times and we could see some hail and
:16:48. > :16:52.rumbles of thunder. What about next week? The low pressure tracks its
:16:52. > :16:56.way away from us towards Scandinavia and we introduce these pressure
:16:56. > :17:02.conditions from the north and some windy conditions down the West
:17:02. > :17:07.Coast. However, in the West, writing up. The cloud concentrated across
:17:07. > :17:12.eastern parts. Overnight towards Tuesday, we could see a grass frost
:17:12. > :17:15.in some rural locations. The Tuesday and Wednesday, high pressure builds
:17:15. > :17:21.keeping things settled and drive. There will be some brightness around
:17:21. > :17:26.as well however we could see some showers set. Temperatures around 17
:17:26. > :17:30.or 18. Around the coast, something cooler. A similar story towards the
:17:30. > :17:40.middle of the week. Generally try and bright with temperatures at
:17:40. > :17:50.
:17:50. > :17:58.around 18 at best. And that is the There is tight competition here.
:17:58. > :18:03.What is a winning shoe? It is all to do with a certain size. You've got
:18:03. > :18:13.to copy the specimen, make your shoe to the exact size. Males have got to
:18:13. > :18:16.
:18:16. > :18:22.be in properly, level with a nice with beautiful livestock and indeed
:18:22. > :18:30.beautiful people. Now our very own Euan has a puncture on for blondes
:18:30. > :18:35.and we have sent along to meet some. Here we are in the north-east of
:18:35. > :18:45.Scotland. Just around these corner -- this corner, there are some
:18:45. > :18:52.
:18:52. > :18:57.blondes getting their hair washed. a British blonde. They originated
:18:57. > :19:02.from France. They came over 43 years ago now. They came from the
:19:02. > :19:07.south-west of France. Did they change their name? It used to be
:19:07. > :19:11.Aquitaine. Yes, but they are known as British blonde is because the
:19:11. > :19:14.supermarkets didn't want the French name associated with the beef. But
:19:14. > :19:19.we've also modified it somewhat to suit the market in this country.
:19:19. > :19:26.They are not as tall as they used to be. And they are more beefy than
:19:26. > :19:32.they were. They tend to have a bit of double muscling. So, a butcher 's
:19:32. > :19:37.favourite? They are because of the length of the loin across the top.
:19:37. > :19:43.That is where the expensive cut of meat is. And have you got an entry
:19:43. > :19:47.in the show? Yes, we do. It's moved north of the border for the first
:19:47. > :19:52.time which is excellent because it means that we will get a crack at
:19:52. > :20:02.winning the National Trophy. Who are you taking down? We are taking down
:20:02. > :20:13.
:20:13. > :20:20.ten. It is their holiday, in journey down to Edinburgh. This show
:20:20. > :20:24.is in full swing. What do you think of the turnout? The turnout is
:20:24. > :20:28.tremendous and the quality of the capital here is very good. What do
:20:28. > :20:33.you think the national show here is going to do for the popularity of
:20:33. > :20:37.the breed? It is a great exhibition for the breed. People can see what
:20:37. > :20:43.we can do and we're up there with the Continental breeds. How have you
:20:43. > :20:49.been doing? We had a first prize in the Junior heifer class. And we've
:20:49. > :20:54.been out with the second and third class. So, pretty chuffed?Yes.
:20:54. > :21:02.Thank you. The standard of this pageant is very high but let me
:21:02. > :21:07.introduce you to the winner. This one is from Ireland. Beautiful.
:21:07. > :21:15.more than delighted with what she's done for us. Congratulations. Thank
:21:15. > :21:19.you. All the prize-winning livestock at the show are photographed for the
:21:19. > :21:24.agricultural press and as a permanent memento for the breeders,
:21:24. > :21:31.one of Scotland's livestock photographers is working flat out at
:21:31. > :21:38.the show and a few weeks ago I met up with her in Aberdeenshire.
:21:38. > :21:44.I've been in photography for ten years. It's been an inspiration from
:21:44. > :21:49.being brought up on a farm. You always outside working. I get cabin
:21:49. > :21:52.Fever stuck in an office all day! The main thing about doing livestock
:21:52. > :21:57.photography is to try to get the confirmation of the breed character
:21:57. > :22:03.in the cattle. You want to get their legs standing properly, there he is
:22:03. > :22:07.looking turned around so you know they've got a good breed character.
:22:07. > :22:11.Do you ever feel intimidated? Sometimes you do but most of the
:22:11. > :22:15.time, you get used to it and you always know if there is one behind
:22:15. > :22:21.you that's got a funny look in its eye. Once you've been in a feel for
:22:21. > :22:27.ten minutes, you generally -- they go off in the indirection. They
:22:27. > :22:31.don't notice you. You're about have another baby I'm even more impressed
:22:31. > :22:35.that you are in this field is lying down on all fours taking
:22:35. > :22:42.photographs. I have three weeks ago. I might be lying in some strange
:22:42. > :22:46.positions! The Highland show, it is a pretty relentless time for you. It
:22:46. > :22:54.is probably one of the highlights of the year for me. I've taken on
:22:54. > :22:59.another girl to work for me. We have to get every single breed champion
:22:59. > :23:06.for the breed sponsor. And we've got someone else doing the horses as
:23:06. > :23:11.well. We start work at 8am. And you are working until 10pm, editing
:23:11. > :23:17.photographs, so that we can put them up straightaway. Now, are you going
:23:17. > :23:21.to enjoy it? Do you enjoy it? been going to the shows since I was
:23:21. > :23:26.tiny. You always look forward to it. There is always good banter because
:23:26. > :23:30.you know everyone. It is early o'clock on the first day of the show
:23:30. > :23:34.and Catherine is already in the thick of things. I know you're busy
:23:34. > :23:40.so I'm sorry to interrupting. How are things going? Great! The weather
:23:40. > :23:45.is on our side. That is a bonus. What is the standard like? It is
:23:45. > :23:52.excellent from what I've seen sofar. We've just started but this has the
:23:52. > :23:58.best example of breeds in the world. It's always good. And you are nearly
:23:58. > :24:02.at your due date. Please tell me you're still not going down. Another
:24:02. > :24:06.couple of weeks and then I will have a week off before the baby is born.
:24:06. > :24:12.I hope you get to put your feet up at some point. Good luck and I'll
:24:12. > :24:19.let you get on. Thank you. One of the most popular attractions
:24:19. > :24:23.at the show is the forestry area. But with chainsaws blasting all
:24:23. > :24:30.weekend, it's also one of the noisiest. What are you making?
:24:30. > :24:34.thing people ask us to. I am doing an owl, he's doing a bear, somebody
:24:34. > :24:40.else is doing a bench. Is the competition intense? It's not
:24:40. > :24:44.supposed to be, but it is. We work flat out for four days.
:24:44. > :24:48.Each year the show president comes from a different region and this
:24:48. > :24:52.year it's the turn of the Highlands and Islands and the owner of the
:24:52. > :24:57.Alvie Estate near Aviemore Jamie Williamson. His mission is to
:24:57. > :25:01.promote the region's wide range of leisure and tourism initiatives.
:25:01. > :25:04.Before the show, I met up with him in his home.
:25:05. > :25:09.The Highlands and Islands of Scotland are framed the world over
:25:09. > :25:13.for their world beauty and landscapes but getting beyond the
:25:13. > :25:17.picture postcards and making a living in this area is the difficult
:25:17. > :25:20.bit. I've come to the Alvie Estate to meet this year's show president
:25:21. > :25:26.who's been in charge of promoting and highlighting the range of
:25:26. > :25:31.opportunities this area has to offer. What we've got to do is do
:25:31. > :25:35.what we can do better than anyone else. We've got some of the best
:25:35. > :25:39.landscapes in Europe or in Britain which attracts tourists. It is great
:25:40. > :25:44.for renewable energy. We've got the hills, we've got the water. We are
:25:44. > :25:47.one of the best places in Britain for hydro schemes, wind energy, one
:25:47. > :25:57.of the best places in Britain for food production in terms of niche
:25:57. > :25:58.
:25:58. > :26:05.markets of things like shellfish, lamb, Highland beef, etc. You have
:26:05. > :26:08.diversify tenderly. What are you looking at here? We start off with a
:26:08. > :26:14.traditional sporting estate but now we've got tourism. We've got more
:26:14. > :26:19.visitor beds and we've got sheep. Originally, we were looking at
:26:19. > :26:23.diversifying from the scheme. Things like clay pigeon shooting, archery
:26:23. > :26:32.fitted in, but we have diversify do with horse riding, quad biking, zip
:26:32. > :26:37.wires. The zip wire gives you a bit of a thrill, gets people out, the
:26:37. > :26:42.Canyon in, again, is getting people out of doors. Most of what we are
:26:42. > :26:52.doing can be done all year round. We can do most of these regardless of
:26:52. > :26:54.
:26:54. > :26:57.Back at the Royal Highland Show in the countryside area, the president
:26:57. > :27:04.'s initiative is to get kids involved. What is the idea of behind
:27:04. > :27:08.this? What we're trying to do is promote the Highlands Islands. We've
:27:08. > :27:13.got one of the best tourism areas in Europe and in Britain. We are trying
:27:13. > :27:18.to give a smattering of what we can provide. On the climbing wall, we
:27:18. > :27:24.are showing what climbing, abseiling is. We've seen what you can do on
:27:24. > :27:29.your estate, but what can the region achieve? I think what we can do is
:27:29. > :27:34.tell people this is a tremendous pitch tea for tourism, recreation,
:27:34. > :27:39.food production, and renewable energy. How important is this
:27:39. > :27:43.initiative for the whole Islands and Highlands region? We need to improve
:27:43. > :27:48.the economy of the Highlands and Islands, and we need to give every
:27:48. > :27:51.opportunity and show people the opportunities that we have up here.
:27:51. > :27:55.This is one of the activities on offer throughout the Highlands and
:27:55. > :28:05.Islands so after the show, why not get out there and explore it for
:28:05. > :28:06.
:28:06. > :28:11.That's all we've got time for tonight but you can watch highlights
:28:11. > :28:15.of the weekend of the show on Sunday at 6:30pm on BBC Scotland. We will
:28:15. > :28:19.feature some of the most prestigious livestock show in competition
:28:19. > :28:23.including the Queens cup, showjumping and sheep shearing. We
:28:23. > :28:26.will be sampling some great food and be charging around the showground
:28:26. > :28:32.meeting some of the tens of thousands of visitors. If you can't
:28:32. > :28:36.make it in person, watch Landward on Sunday, but stay tuned because to be