- 2 hours ago
True-life series tells the stories of farming families as they experience the joys and hardships. life is certainly not getting any easier on the Cairngorms croft. But Robert’s commitment to his cows and the land remains steadfast.
苏格兰岛屿风景和极端气候下的牧场生活, 與海洋牧羊人桑迪·格兰维尔的故事线, 他在外赫布里底群岛的刘易斯岛上照顾羊群, 是节目里最偏远也最有代表性的农场之一.
苏格兰岛屿风景和极端气候下的牧场生活, 與海洋牧羊人桑迪·格兰维尔的故事线, 他在外赫布里底群岛的刘易斯岛上照顾羊群, 是节目里最偏远也最有代表性的农场之一.
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TVTranscript
00:02Across some of the most beautiful and remote landscapes of the British Isles.
00:07This is not a bad office, is it? You know, it's done.
00:11Scotland's farmers carve a living.
00:14Everything, a time and a season, nature doesn't stop.
00:18Breeding sheep and cattle.
00:19There's a lot of old friends here. They've come to the end of their working life.
00:23Bit of a sad day.
00:26We're second.
00:27Bringing new life into the world.
00:30And battling with the elements.
00:35They're all cute in their own way.
00:36And especially if they end up on their plate as a lamb chop, yum.
00:41Over a year, five very different families let cameras onto their farms.
00:46Hell of a size of nuts on them.
00:49And into their lives.
00:50To share their struggles.
00:52I don't know why you won't go forward, Mrs.
00:54Do you need to do this?
00:56And their triumphs.
00:57Look at my baby!
01:00He's alive!
01:01As they try and turn a profit in testing economic times.
01:06That's just depressing that, really.
01:08There's cause for celebration.
01:10Gorgeous.
01:12And a time to reflect.
01:13I feel sad that I haven't provided the next generation to carry on here.
01:18But it's never dull.
01:20Don't let him go!
01:22It's not a job.
01:23It's a way of life.
01:36It's September, on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides.
01:44A chain of islands, 30 miles off the north-west coast of Scotland.
01:53The seasons are changing.
01:55And the autumn schedule of sheep work is about to begin for crofter Sandy Granville.
02:02No one enjoys going from summer into autumn.
02:05In the summer, we have daylight at midnight.
02:09And it's just a joy to be out and about.
02:13And then the year turns, and the nights start drawing in very fast.
02:18And we know where we're going.
02:19We're going into the pit of winter.
02:23Autumn is one of the busiest times of the year.
02:25There's plenty going on.
02:26There's plenty going on on the croft.
02:28Gathering and sorting animals.
02:30There's a time for plenty of death.
02:36We spend most of our life looking after animals and keeping them alive.
02:43And when one's successful at that, there's a great deal of pleasure in it.
02:48There's no pleasure in the killing.
02:51So there's a sadness to this time of the year.
02:57I do sometimes think about being a vegetarian.
03:01But not for very long.
03:07Today, Sandy's travelling with seven other crofters
03:11to an uninhabited island less than half a mile off the coast
03:14in search of his sheep.
03:21As dictated by tradition, the flock are all owned by different crofters
03:25but have been grazing together on common land.
03:28Come here!
03:32Crofting is a tradition that's unique to the highlands and islands of Scotland.
03:38Dating back to the late 19th century,
03:40crafts are small plots of poor quality land with common grazing rights
03:45that are part of a community where much of the work is shared.
03:49I love this.
03:50I could think of nothing better to be doing than being on the hills and the islands.
03:55And it's one of the greatest ways to spend your life,
03:59being on a hill with a trained dog or two, working these wild sheep.
04:04But it's a tradition that's disappearing.
04:06These hills and islands used to be full of sheep.
04:09And now there's very few, just people from a few villages.
04:13And mostly we're pretty old.
04:15It's been said that if you come to one of our sheep gatherings,
04:17it's like a saga outing.
04:20The group are trying to drive the flock of 60 sheep
04:23into the handling pens by the shore for sorting.
04:28But the sheep, who've been living wild here for the last year,
04:32have other ideas.
04:41At the pens, they need to weed out the male sheep destined for slaughter
04:45from the ewes that need to be sheared.
04:51The ewes aren't Sandys.
04:53But everyone chips in with the shearing,
04:55using traditional tools that have been around for centuries.
04:59Most people here use the shears, or call it the jevish.
05:03It's not as fast as using mechanical shears,
05:05but you can shove them in your pocket and take them anywhere.
05:10With flocks scattered across different islands,
05:14shearing happens all year round, whenever visits are made.
05:20That'd be still there, my love.
05:22Nearly there.
05:23And you'll be feeling much better when this is off you.
05:27Black-faced sheep are a hardy breed,
05:29so can happily withstand the harsh Hebridean winters
05:32with a shorter coat.
05:34You're an old woolly.
05:39Sandy.
05:40Sandy hasn't been wrangling sheep all his life.
05:42He was once a criminal barrister in London,
05:45but gave it up for a more traditional life,
05:48when he moved to Lewis with his wife 12 years ago.
05:52I've known this island all my life because my mother came from here.
05:56And the croft we now have is next door to one that was my grandfather's.
06:03He died about 1938, so it was a long time ago that it was his.
06:10A cup of tea, chaps.
06:11Sandy's now on a mission to try and preserve this traditional way of life.
06:15God's been good to Wilson, because even though he's struggling to learn...
06:18Who's not got a cup of tea?
06:19The one with the midge, which one's that?
06:21Come on with you.
06:22He's set up a co-operative selling wedder mutton,
06:25the meat of two-year-old castrated male sheep, to customers across the UK.
06:32If we can sell enough mutton to the English,
06:35we'll keep it going for another generation.
06:39It's strange that I, who have come here fairly lately from London,
06:43should be such a traditionalist, but there's no doubt that I am.
06:49To get his precious mutton to his customers,
06:52Sandy first has to get the wedders off this island and over to Lewis.
07:09The only way is by boat.
07:14Six at a time.
07:17So they must ferry them across in shifts.
07:25All aboard, they set off for Lewis.
07:27A ten-minute boat ride away.
07:37Sea shepherding, moving livestock between islands,
07:41has been a common practice in the Scottish Isles for centuries.
07:45And if crofting were to die out, so would this unique tradition.
07:51I have a role in what is a dying way of life.
07:57And I would love to think that we could get another generation doing this,
08:03producing this great meat.
08:05If we are the last, we're having a great time doing it.
08:22On the mainland, north of Aberdeen, in the north-east of Scotland,
08:27Martin Irvine and his family rent a 240-acre farm,
08:31where they rear-pedigree limousine bulls.
08:36His family have been tenant farmers for five generations.
08:41His father started breeding bulls 30 years ago.
08:44And it's now their biggest source of income.
08:49Our business is the bull job, and it all starts with a bull and a cow.
08:55What we are trying to produce is bulls other farmers buy from us
08:59to use on their cows to breed calves to sell for burgers, steaks, all that kind of thing.
09:07Limousine were imported from France in the 1970s.
09:11Renowned for the quality of their meat,
09:13they're the most popular breed of beef cattle in the UK.
09:19Martin has one breeding bull in his herd.
09:22When we bought Irish, we were looking for mussel.
09:24We were looking for the Arnold Schwarzenegger bulls,
09:25and he is the Arnold Schwarzenegger bulls.
09:30It's full of mussel, meat in all the right places, rippling,
09:33and looks apart.
09:35He's a good worker.
09:37We give him a bit of his breakfast every morning.
09:39That just keeps him in good condition.
09:43Irish needs all the sustenance he can get.
09:48Because his job is to service Martin's entire herd of 70 cows.
09:54Come on, girls.
09:56Our cows, most of our cows are big, framey cows,
09:59big pens, big fleshy girls.
10:00That's how we like them.
10:04The females are going to hopefully throw in the genetics
10:07for the size and power.
10:08An Irish with all this extreme muscle and ripness to him,
10:11he's going to mix it and hopefully the calves off of this
10:13will be a bit of both.
10:15Martin aims to produce a new batch of around 35 male calves
10:19every year, from which he cherry picks the best
10:22to nurture for sale.
10:25So we've got the bull pens here.
10:27And this is the creamware crop.
10:30What you look for in a bull is a nice big top.
10:33Nice and wide across here.
10:36And nice in here.
10:37All the expensive cuts come in there.
10:42And all your steak is in here.
10:45This bit here is his balls.
10:48This is the most important bit of the bull.
10:50And that's where all the genetics come from and breeds all this muscle.
10:54Martin knows the exact measurements of the perfect pair.
10:5935 centimetres to 40 centimetres in diameter.
11:04Bulls were Martin's life.
11:06And then farmer's daughter, Mel, came along.
11:09We met through young farmers.
11:13I always knew who he was.
11:16It most definitely was not love at first sight.
11:19Because when I first heard of Martin Irvin,
11:24you know, he was very...
11:25I thought he was quite up himself.
11:31Mel came across standing behind my pen of bulls
11:35and the first thing she says to me, she likes Aubrey and Angus.
11:38So right from the start, I didn't like Mel, actually.
11:42It was one of our young farmer's dances, barn dances that we went to.
11:45And then he asked me to dance and we danced.
11:48And the rest of it's basically history.
11:51We never actually went for a meal or to the cinema for about two months.
11:54It was all kind of just up to the farm and showed her the bulls like you do
12:00and running about the park and the quad bike
12:03and just kind of worked away from there.
12:06We have so much in common.
12:08When we first got together, I remember we sat on the phone for about two hours
12:13and it was all about cows and farming and how his day had went, combining and things.
12:20So we just haven't looked back since.
12:25They're getting married in eight months and together they have big plans for the future.
12:33Mel's an enterprising shepherdess and last year made over £2,000 rearing her first flock of 34 sheep.
12:41I doubled my money on them and that was then put into my wedding fund.
12:46And Martin being a sheep hater and he hated sheep and told me they just couldn't stand sheep,
12:51went on to thinking, oh this is actually quite a good idea.
12:56Having opened up Martin's heart to sheep, she then persuaded him to take on a contract to manage a flock
13:02of 550 ewes for the local estate.
13:06Come on!
13:08To increase their profits, she wants to grow the flock even more.
13:13So tomorrow, they're going to the first ram or tub sale of the season in search of some virile males
13:19to service the estate's ewes.
13:21The first sale's maybe the cheapest in the year but we'll be there and we'll see what happens.
13:26But we're looking for Texels.
13:29We're open to negotiating which breeds.
13:32Yeah, but looking for Texels. Texels would be the goal but they're going to be a bit more expensive.
13:36I'm not needing superstars but I'm just needing good tubs to improve them so that's what we need.
13:40Good tubs that are going to leave good lambs with plenty meat.
13:43Yeah.
13:44That's what we're looking for.
13:47Early the next morning, they head to the sale 30 miles away in Fainston, near Aberdeen.
13:56Farmers day out is going to the martin, seeing everybody and looking at livestock.
14:00This may be sad to some like but it's a day out for us and we'll enjoy it.
14:05This pedigree tubs sale is held once a year and attracts buyers from across Scotland.
14:12Today, six different breeds will be auctioned off for sale to the highest bidder.
14:17Brian, thank you very much.
14:19The most popular breeding tubs in the UK are Texels and Martin and Mel want to buy as many as
14:24they can within their budget.
14:27That's a pen that we need to go have a look at. These are all like ram lambs, aren't they?
14:31Originally from the Netherlands, the breed are heavily muscled and known for their superior meat quality.
14:38We're looking for a big strong man light up with a nice round bum, a long back and the head.
14:47Yeah, something that's pleasing to the eye.
14:49Yeah.
14:49And something with plenty of meat on it. That's where I want it. Something to produce plenty of lamb, should
14:54I say.
14:57It's the first sale of the season, so it's Mel's best chance of bagging a bargain.
15:02A little professional at it now. We'll go in and we'll pretty much go through every pen, how I feel
15:08and how I look at everything really.
15:09The tubs coats are dyed a darker colour to help show off their shape.
15:14Just dressing pretty much. Poofing them up.
15:18Yeah, Mel knows the Texels. Mel used to get some Texels when she was younger.
15:22I'll let her go at it first and then I'll pass my view on it.
15:29Mel wants to buy eight, but she needs to size up over 200 before making her choice.
15:35Aye, he's got a good head on him.
15:37Two, four, one.
15:38I've already marked him down.
15:40There's a big lad at the corner there.
15:43He's smaller, but he's got a nice bum.
15:46He's a bit open-coated, I don't know.
15:50We were looking for ones with nice tight skins.
15:53This is a nice tight skin here.
15:55The wool's all cut close, compacted together.
15:58It's not open like that, naturally.
16:02You know, you want meat.
16:05But it's their most important asset that she's focused on.
16:10And they feel fine.
16:13So when we're looking at tups, the main part is their testicles, because that is where all the semen's made.
16:27So when we're looking at tups, we always have a feel and see that they're not soft or spongy.
16:35They're quite firm and feel the same sort of size.
16:38If we buy this tup, this tup could be serving it up between 50 and 90.
16:44A hell of a size of nuts on him.
16:48She should be used to big testicles.
16:57Having done the rounds, Mel wants to narrow down the field over lunch.
17:04this is the best bit of the day
17:07I love them
17:07at lunch
17:11this is the only time you take me out
17:12yeah, two hours actually
17:17how many have you picked out?
17:19erm
17:237, 8, 9
17:2519
17:2619
17:26that should be enough
17:311 o'clock
17:31and the auction is underway
17:38of her select 19
17:40Mel wants to walk away with 8
17:42and is hoping at least half will be Texels
17:50she has £4,500 of the estate's money to spend
17:54we've got a budget
17:56so we can't go past it
17:57parking average
17:58our top's about £5,000, £5,50
18:00we'll be quite happy
18:01because it's very easy to get carried away
18:04very easy
18:05if you see something that you like
18:07you think, right, I want it
18:09but it can go crazy money
18:10so you've just got to learn to sit on your hands
18:13the Texel section lasts for about an hour
18:17and the first top is in
18:19at auctions
18:22the bidding is in guineas
18:23one guinea is the equivalent of £1.05
18:26£5,000
18:27£700
18:29that's way out of our price range
18:33£7,50
18:35£7,50
18:35£8,50
18:36£8,50
18:37£8,50
18:39£8,50
18:39£8,50
18:40£8,50
18:40£8,50
18:40£8,50
18:42this will go crazy
18:43let's see what happens
18:45£2,50
18:46£2,80
18:47£3,50
18:50£4,50
18:51£4,50
18:52£4,20
18:52£4,20
18:53£4,50
18:5515 minutes in and they still haven't managed to buy one
19:04Then it's the turn of one of her favorites
19:27Mel's finally got herself a texel
19:32And it's not long before she's in with a chance on another
19:41She gets him too and goes on to close the deal on another four to balance the books
19:47She also buys two crossbred bargains
19:53She walks away on target and within budget
19:56I'm really happy with them seeing them all in the pen and comparing them to each other
20:00Yeah, really happy and they're going to go home and make lots of babies
20:03Yeah, that's a plan
20:06Come on boys
20:19Further north in the highlands near Inverness
20:24John Scott runs a large farming business
20:27Rearing sheep, beef cattle and growing crops
20:38He owns his farm
20:39Which stretches across a thousand acres
20:42And he rents another three thousand nearby
20:46We've got a fairly large sheep enterprise with just around about four thousand ewes
20:50We've got 180 beef cows
20:51We've got 400 acres of cereals
20:54And we've got land rented out for potatoes as well
20:57The farm's been in the family for four generations
21:00He started working on the farm aged 17
21:02And has since expanded the business
21:05And increased the profits
21:06Success is important to me
21:08I suppose you're measured by your success
21:10It is important to be doing well in life
21:13Farming well and farming profitably
21:15Is very important to me
21:20Running the venture alongside him
21:22His wife Fiona
21:25These guys are all going to be sausages at some point
21:31Like bull breeder Martin
21:32John fell for a farmer's daughter
21:35They've been married for 15 years
21:37And have four children
21:39John and I met at young farmers
21:41There was a welly boot throwing competition
21:43And I threw the welly boot
21:44And just about knocked him out
21:50My mum kept saying to me
21:52They don't marry a farmer
21:53They put in really long hours
21:55But I didn't feel I wanted to be away from it
21:57And I think the kids are very lucky
21:59To be growing up in amongst it as well
22:01John has high hopes
22:02His children will follow in their footsteps
22:05Farming is a family business
22:07And it's important to ensure
22:08The farm is kept in good heart
22:10Hopefully James and maybe a couple of others
22:12Will take things on
22:14And that'll be fantastic
22:15That sort of drives us on really
22:16Oh come on
22:21Today John's also starting to lay the groundwork
22:24For the tupping season
22:25With one of his two permanent members of staff
22:30We're going to go through the ewes
22:31And just check everything
22:32Make sure they're okay
22:33For mating time
22:35For tupping time
22:38So traditionally we would have caught each sheep
22:40And turned them over
22:41But this crate makes life a lot easier
22:43We clamp them in first of all
22:45And I flick this lever here
22:47And it's a very quick spin over
22:49It means we can do a lot of sheep quickly
22:52Without hurting our backs
22:54It's a very handy machine
22:56As John's got 4,200 ewes to check
22:59Over the next week
23:00It's just like having your nails trimmed
23:02They're not feeling that
23:04We just want to expose any problems
23:06And try and reduce the risk of there being problems
23:09Because you really don't want this girl going lame
23:12And do that breeding cycle
23:13You want her just to be out there eating grass
23:15And thinking about sex really
23:19And getting pregnant
23:29If any of our breeding ewes are not good in the feet
23:31And able to move around freely
23:32We really need to cull them from the flock
23:35John keeps on only the fittest to breed
23:37And every year one in five ewes are culled
23:41Oh, this is a dodgy one, Martin
23:44This is a young sheep
23:46But not happy with their feet
23:48Martin's got a bad foot there in the back as well
23:51So she will be marked as a cull
23:54We haven't got space to carry passengers
23:56These sheep have to be able to do the job we need them to do
23:59And if they're not up to it, they go
24:01Anything that we don't retain for breeding
24:04Will be fattened up and sent to slaughter
24:09And I'll just mark her up
24:10That's it
24:11That's the dot of death
24:14Red is fairly terminal around here
24:17Sold on as meat
24:18Ewes can fetch up to 80 pounds per animal
24:24But foot inspection
24:25Is just one of the jobs John must attend to today
24:29Where did granny find you, James?
24:31Still
24:32Loitering
24:34Eldest son, 12-year-old James
24:36Is back from school
24:37And itching to help with the rest of the chores
24:40Play of labour is great
24:42No, he's quite useful
24:45Seems quite keen, which one to encourage
24:47He's got a good eye for sheep
24:49The weather's been mild
24:50So John's on high alert for a dangerous condition
24:53Called fly strike
24:56So this ewe here, you can see
24:58She's itching herself, she's dark
25:00If I look in there, I'll probably find maggots
25:03There, look
25:05That's blowfly
25:05They've laid their eggs there
25:06And those maggots are eating the sheep
25:08Basically, which is pretty bloody horrible
25:11That's what happens when a blowfly lays eggs
25:13And it's a maggot
25:14And they'll lay that, even on clean wool
25:15And that'll start eating the sheep alive
25:17Which is a common problem that we get
25:19And this year's been particularly bad
25:21And there's been a lot of problems
25:23Both in ewes and lambs
25:2680% of flocks in the UK
25:28Are affected by fly strike each year
25:32So what we're going to do
25:34Is we're going to trim all of this area away
25:35And get them away from it
25:40The infestation on the sheep
25:41Is easily treated
25:43By removing the infected wool and maggots
25:47And using spray-on antibiotics
25:50I quite often put a bit of fly repellent type spray in that as well
25:54But it should be fine now
25:56But we'll watch it
25:57We'll monitor the recovery
26:00It's annoying if that was to be left
26:02And untreated
26:03It would be terminal eventually
26:05Or could be terminal eventually
26:06So it's important we try and get on top of these things
26:08As quickly as possible
26:11Farming means a mass of paperwork to attend to as well
26:14And at the end of most days
26:16John and Fiona work through this together
26:18We don't talk much
26:20I haven't got my phone over here
26:21We actually communicate by email sometimes
26:25I'm not joking
26:26Sometimes we're civil that way
26:29Sometimes you know you'll get an answer if you email them
26:35If our kids decided they didn't want to farm
26:38I would struggle with it
26:39It's quite a family orientated business
26:42And that's what drives me on
26:45I'd like to build something
26:46For the kids to take on
26:48And following our footsteps
26:50And if they suddenly turned around
26:51And said well we don't want to farm
26:53We'd have to go to plan B
26:55And at the moment there isn't a plan B
26:57To think that nobody was going to be
26:58None of our family were going to be here
27:00And carry it on
27:02Yeah
27:02It would be quite a thought
27:05But yeah if they don't want to
27:07I mean as long as they're happy
27:08You've got to be happy for your kids
27:09But no
27:11I'd just keep farming until I dropped in
27:22Much further south
27:24On the other side of Scotland
27:25And just a stone's throw from Loch Lomond
27:29Bobby and Anne Lennox
27:30Rent two hill farms
27:32From a big estate
27:34Their land stretches for 5,000 acres
27:41And one of the farms
27:43Has been in Bobby's family
27:45For over 200 years
27:47We have been tenants on this farm here
27:49Since 1750
27:51I've not actually counted the number of generations
27:54As that goes back
27:54But it's quite a lot
27:57On the early come in the hill
27:58Like Crofter Sandy in Lewis
28:01They rear hardy black-faced sheep
28:03That can thrive in the rough hilly terrain
28:06On the early come in the hill
28:09We're not going to get rich farming
28:10On this type of land
28:12It's hard work
28:14But the lifestyle is good
28:16If you're a farmer
28:18It's bred into you
28:20You don't want to do anything else
28:22It's what you love doing
28:23You produce good stock
28:25The satisfaction in that is immense
28:31Today they're beginning the process
28:33Of sorting out their 1,100 lambs
28:36Born in the spring
28:37Now five months old
28:41They've gathered them in from the hills
28:43And Anne's waiting to get them into pens
28:45Close to the farm
28:47To begin their work
28:49We do a lot of hanging about and waiting
28:52Are you a patient person?
28:54No
28:55I wasn't around
28:56I was handing out patients and diplomacy
28:59You were in the pub
29:00I was in the pub
29:04The lambs were separated from their mothers
29:06Two weeks ago
29:07And need to be tagged
29:09So they can be easily identified
29:11Each lot of lambs have got to be tagged
29:16Basically within the first six months of life
29:20Each lamb has two tags in it
29:22A yellow one which is electronic
29:25And a ear identifier colour
29:29They'll feel it
29:30But no more than somebody got an ear pierced
29:34A nip at the time
29:36Bobby and Anne have three grown up children
29:39But so far none have followed them into farming
29:45They're both in their 60s
29:46And do most of the work on the farm themselves
29:49But often take on exchange students to help
29:53This year it's Sine from Canada
29:55It's through an agriculture programme
29:58And they match you up
30:00With the host family
30:01With the personalities and whatnot
30:03It's not all work
30:05She goes out to the local young farmers club
30:08As a very active social life
30:11Just ask me
30:12I'll tell you all about it
30:17In this part of the world
30:18It isn't easy to make a living farming sheep
30:22We've shrunk the cost structure down
30:25About as low as we can get it
30:27If you're on a better land
30:30More options
30:31You've got other crops
30:32You can chop and change into other livestock
30:34Or something like that
30:35But the only thing we can do is sheep here
30:40To make the most of his flock
30:42One of the crucial decisions Bobby faces every year
30:45Is which of his new lambs to keep on for breeding
30:50Basically
30:50We're only looking to keep the females
30:53To replace the stock
30:55We're looking to really about 500 females a year
30:59Most of the male lambs are for selling
31:02And we keep about 20
31:05So I'm trying to keep the best
31:09For the last 24 years
31:11Bobby's adopted a cutting edge approach
31:13To making his choice
31:15He invests £200 to employ the services
31:19Of veterinary sonographer
31:20Will Wilson
31:21So that's a sound image of basically a lamb chop
31:26That's what we're looking at
31:27If you want to put it in very simple terms
31:30Most of Bobby's farming income
31:32Comes from selling his lamb meat to supermarkets
31:35And his entire operation centres around detailed knowledge
31:39That helps to produce animals of the right size
31:42What we're taking is three fat measurements
31:46And a muscle depth measurement
31:48From in below the fat interface
31:50Down to the top of the lumbar vertebrae
31:54Bobby was one of the first farmers in Scotland
31:56To pioneer the use of ultrasound
31:58To identify the best blackface ewes and tups
32:0431 kilos
32:06And he keeps meticulous records of their weight
32:08We're looking at trying to match up the best genetics
32:14In both the male and the female side
32:15And make some genetic improvement
32:18It's trying to produce lambs to the spec
32:22That the supermarket wants
32:24So they fit in the nice wee plastic boxes
32:3031 kilograms
32:33Supermarkets will only accept lambs between 16 and 21 kilos
32:37And Bobby gets paid for his meat by the weight
32:41The big improvement that I've seen in
32:43Is that when the lambs go to the abattoir
32:47They're now weighing 4.5 kilos heavier meat on them
32:53Than there was 20 years ago
32:57Bobby will put his precious ewes and tups
33:00To good use in 8 weeks time
33:01When the tupping season begins
33:11North of Inverness
33:12John Scott's taking a break
33:14From his busy farming schedule
33:16To host a very special event
33:18On his farm
33:25He set aside 240 acres of barley fields
33:29To host the 2014 World Sheepdog Trials
33:34Held every 3 years
33:35It's the Olympics of the sheepdog world
33:39As a farmer
33:40It's important that we don't just farm
33:43We have to be out there
33:44And we have to promote what we're doing
33:46We're trying to sell a lot of bulls and rams each year
33:48So having the events like the World Sheepdog Trials
33:53Does give us a chance to showcase what we're doing here
33:56Being able to share the highlands
33:57Which is such a special place
33:59With the rest of the world
34:00Is just tremendous
34:05It was John's late father-in-law
34:07Who died 7 years ago
34:08Who paved the way for the competition
34:11To be held on the farm
34:14My dad was
34:15He was really into his dog trials
34:18And he'd suggested that we have the Scottish National here
34:23He wasn't fit to run his dogs by that stage
34:26But he was just chuffed to bits
34:28That it was here
34:29And then after the Scottish National
34:32They said how about having the International
34:33So it just all kind of snowballed
34:35In the next few days
34:37Thousands of people from all over the world
34:39Will come to John's farm to see the very best handlers
34:42And their dogs compete
34:44You can imagine you're walking across here
34:46You've got your best mate with you
34:47You've got your dog by your side
34:49You've got a grandstand to your left
34:51With several hundred people in it
34:54Pressure's on
34:55Far away in the distance
34:56That's where the sheep will get released
34:59And they've got to bring the sheep down
35:00And through the course
35:01Through the gates
35:02And eventually pen them
35:03In this pen we see here
35:06I haven't ever done this
35:07So I'm talking without the relevant knowledge
35:10My pet is fine for farm use
35:12But she's not really a trials dog
35:15But this is a different level
35:18Tonight there's an opening ceremony in Tain
35:20The local town five miles from the farm
35:23And John's one of the guests of honour
35:25We're going in there for the parade of competitors
35:29So they're all going to parade
35:30Up the main street
35:32With a pipe band in front of them
35:34And they'll be carrying their national flag
35:37A bit like the opening ceremony of the Olympics really
35:39But for the sheepdog world
35:43Not only are the world trials a PR coup for John
35:46But with visitors from across the world
35:48Descending on the town
35:50It's one of the biggest events the area has ever seen
36:14It's taken two years of meticulous planning to get to this point
36:18Denmark
36:22I'm looking along the street there
36:23And there's loads of people here
36:24A real buzz
36:26So many friendly people that we've met before
36:28And great to see them back here again
36:31Great
36:35Tomorrow the serious business of the competition will begin
36:50Across the sea on the Isle of Lewis
36:54Barrister turned crofter Sandy
36:55Is at home with wife Ali
36:59Having sent their wedders to the abattoir
37:01They need to attend to their other livestock
37:07They have a dozen highland cattle
37:09Native to Scotland
37:11On average female cows weigh about half a tonne
37:16To make them easier to work with as adults
37:18Sandy and Ali start to handle them when they're young
37:21They were taken from their mothers
37:23Probably not quite a week ago
37:26We'd like to put them in here when they're weaned
37:28And the mothers come and go outside the
37:30Just by the outside the bars
37:33So it's quite a
37:35It's a gentler sort of weaning
37:38Every morning
37:39They harness up their two ten-month-old calves
37:41To take them for a walk outside
37:44This is Caitlin
37:46And that's Christian
37:49They don't come and call by name
37:53Go on, let's get this on nicely
37:54She's actually better
37:56She's better than a halter
37:57He tends to be a bit wild
37:58That's why Sandy's got him
38:00When you first put their halter on over their neck
38:03It's like a rodeo
38:04They just go wild
38:06They're climbing the walls and their eyes are rolling
38:09They throw themselves to the ground
38:11They like just getting little bits of food in their mouths
38:14They can be persuaded to quite get to like people
38:25By the time the calves go back out into the world
38:30They'll eat from your hand and they'll walk on a halter
38:34Without this training
38:36There can be painful consequences
38:38I broke a rib last week
38:40In a bit of a cattle crush in a gateway
38:47That sort of thing happens much less often
38:50When you've got nice tame cattle like these
38:53Well you're a couple of good calves really aren't you
38:55Not such bad calves at all
39:00This routine is a world away from their old life down south
39:05Like Sandy, Ali was a lawyer
39:09And when the youngest of their two sons went off to university
39:12They decided to make a change
39:15We were just coming up to 50 then
39:17So if we were going to do something different
39:20It had to be then
39:21Before we got too old
39:23And we've always loved coming here
39:26There's always been a sort of call from the far north
39:29There's something about this place
39:31It's very beautiful
39:32And we just thought this was just the chance for us to come here and be crofters
39:40Come on old fella
39:42We had a phone call one night from a cousin who lived in the village
39:45To tell us that this crofter and its house were for sale
39:49Well we bought the place over the telephone that night
39:56They sold their family home
39:57Moved up to Lewis
39:59And reinvented themselves as crofters
40:02I think a lot of people thought it was really an exciting thing to do
40:05Some people thought they were completely mad
40:06Others including my father
40:09Were disappointed
40:11He felt that I was
40:14Throwing away a valuable career
40:18Sometimes it's hard
40:19But it's always exciting
40:21And it's a very satisfying way to spend your life
40:25I think you have to make a change now and again
40:27If you've only got one life
40:28It's a shame to spend it doing only one thing
40:32After a few laps around the yard
40:34Sandy and Ali bring the calves in
40:37When they've grown up
40:38Great big cows with big horns
40:41They're really
40:45Always gentle and easy
40:47There we are
40:49Leading in the winner
41:02On the mainland near Inverness
41:05It's the start of the world sheepdog trials
41:08On John Scott's farm
41:11Over the next four days
41:13213 competitors
41:15And their dogs
41:16From around the globe
41:17Will fight it out
41:18To be the sheepdog trial champion
41:20Of the world
41:21We're registering all the handlers and dogs
41:24For the trial
41:25And I think the furthest away
41:26Is probably Brazil
41:28Obviously lots of European competitors
41:30And obviously their home nations as well
41:32So we're just getting them to sign in
41:34And say which dog that they're running
41:39All of the guys here will be really good
41:40You know they've qualified to get here
41:42They've had to go through competitions at home
41:43To get here
41:44Now they're here
41:45They're here to win
41:45They're not here to make up numbers
41:5025 countries are taking part
41:52We are from Norway
41:54Yes
41:55North of Norway
41:57North of Norway
41:58And we was coming with plane
41:59I'm from a little village in Vermont
42:02In New England
42:03We come from Holland
42:04Yeah
42:06It's the second time
42:07We've been competing in the world
42:10There's also a large Scottish contingent of 17
42:14Including local
42:15And close family friend of the Scots
42:17Michael Shearer
42:18He's one of the favourites
42:20And lived next door to John's late father-in-law
42:23He's got me encouraged
42:25Me to start trailing
42:27So that's how he got going
42:29He was just a neighbour along the road
42:30And it was handy
42:31For when practising
42:32He could put sheep root for me
42:33And I could put sheep root for him
42:34So it's easier than trying to do it yourself
42:39Really keeping our fingers crossed for him
42:40He was a good friend
42:41Of my late father-in-law
42:42And I'd just be delighted
42:43If he can just pull something off here
42:49The first two days are the qualifying rounds
42:54All the competitors and their dogs
42:57Must navigate a flock of five sheep
43:00Around a specially designed obstacle course
43:02Through gates
43:04And into pens
43:05In just 15 minutes
43:10Two judges mark each round
43:12They assess the quality of the working relationship
43:15Between man and dog
43:19And how skilfully they herd the flock
43:25But even for the best in the world
43:27It's not always easy
43:29And that's time-up
43:30For you handing off
43:34Our next competitors
43:35Michael Shearer
43:36From Scotland
43:39Michael and his dog Bob
43:41Did well in the qualifying rounds
43:43And have now made it into the semi-finals
43:49He has to make his way round the same course
43:52And follow the same rules as before
43:58But only the highest 16 scores
44:01Will make it through to the final
44:11It's been a good round
44:13He's made very few mistakes
44:16And for the first time in his career
44:18Michael wins a place in the finals
44:21Of an international competition
44:32Further south
44:36Bull breeder Martin
44:38Has torn himself away from his herd
44:40And is in a race to harvest his barley
44:46I was at about half past six this morning
44:49Getting the combine ready
44:51My conditions are ready
44:52You go for it
44:54Every year he plants 50 acres of crops
44:56To help feed his cattle
44:57And give the fields a break from grazing
45:01He needs to harvest the barley
45:02While the sun is shining
45:04The weather is due to break tomorrow
45:07It's forecast rain for another five days
45:09So this is probably as dry a chance
45:12If we're going to get a combine in this field
45:14I mean there's work to be done you do and that's it
45:17It could be 24 hours a day
45:19It could be four days solid
45:21During harvest season
45:22You don't get much sleep
45:28It's 12 o'clock
45:29And they have another 27 acres to get through
45:32So brother Darren and dad Stevie are lending a hand
45:38In their newly acquired combine
45:40That separates the barley seeds from the straw
45:43They're hoping to get it all done by sunset at eight
45:46So it's a new toy for us
45:49It's a very capable machine
45:50You can make money with a combine
45:53Martin and Stevie decided to invest in this second-hand combine
45:57To do their own fields
45:59And also bring in extra income
46:01Doing contract work for other farms
46:03They got it cheap for £23,000
46:07New models can cost around six times that
46:16But sometimes
46:19Bargains come at a cost
46:26They quickly identify the problem
46:29There's a wee washer in here
46:31It's bent
46:32So we have to take this bolt off
46:34Drop this bar
46:35Take a washer out
46:36Strain it off
46:37And hopefully put it back in
46:40It's fixed
46:44Stevie has to use all his mechanical know-how to take it apart
47:04And having fixed it
47:05They need to put it back together
47:08OK
47:12There you go
47:13Job done
47:14See if it works now
47:16OK
47:20The breakdown has cost them an hour
47:25It's now after two
47:27And they've still got most of the work to get through
47:53Martin stands to make nearly £6,000
47:56Selling his barley as animal feed to other farmers
47:59And the straw will save him a fortune on bedding and food for his cattle over the winter
48:05But if he doesn't beat the rain
48:07The lion's share of his harvest could be wiped out
48:12This barley's ready to be cut now
48:15If we had to wait another week
48:16The rain could damage it
48:18Heads would start falling off
48:19So you start losing yield
48:20Start losing quality
48:25Two hours later
48:27The rain arrives early
48:29And they have to stop
48:33Wet barley is difficult to harvest in the combine
48:36We've just finished that field there
48:38We were hoping to go on and start a 90-acre field in there
48:42But the weather's beat us
48:43It was forecast to come in
48:44In the early hours of the morning
48:45But there's a light shower and rain come across us
48:48Hopefully this rain shower will pass by
48:49It's not heavy
48:51It's just a pest really
48:55It passes in half an hour
48:56And Martin's straight back in the saddle
49:01It's going to get real noisy
49:08But the rain has had an impact
49:12And the combine is struggling
49:20I think it's too damp
49:22It's choking on one side
49:24The way it is
49:25It's going underneath the combine
49:26He's tramping it
49:27And he cannot cut it
49:28So he's dragging it
49:29Dragging the barley
49:33So you can see as we come across here
49:36It's flat like this
49:37It just makes the job harder
49:38To lift it off the ground
49:39It's liable to jamming, choking a knife
49:43Martin plows on
49:49But just ten acres
49:50And over three painful hours later
49:57Come on
50:01Come on, come on, come on
50:07With this new combine
50:11The diesel gauge is a bit wonky
50:13So I was telling me I had quarter of a tank
50:14But obviously I hasn't got quarter of a tank
50:16So running out of diesel is not the best thing to do at this time of night
50:20But hopefully we'll bleed air and she'll get going in the next five minutes
50:24If that
50:28Dad, he's in the case right now
50:31You're right, Dad?
50:34Once again, it's Stevie to the rescue
50:38It's frustrating just because you know there's only maybe another hour and a half left in the night
50:42But we haven't got it started yet
50:44I haven't got it started yet though
50:4730 minutes later
50:49And topped up with diesel
50:51It's time to try again
50:57Here it goes
51:03I should only tease this
51:06But now they're losing the light
51:10They have eight acres to go
51:15It's eight o'clock
51:16And with the sun down
51:19Conditions are getting worse
51:22The dew will start coming down pretty shortly
51:25The grass is starting to get a bit of damp
51:26It starts getting sticky
51:28It doesn't flow the same through the combine
51:30The combine will start telling you
51:32She'll start making noises
51:34And she'll grumble and groan
51:35And it can change
51:36And no matter of 15 minutes
51:37It can go to everybody in perfect conditions
51:41Time to stop and go home
51:48It's a risk to keep going
51:50They can't afford to damage such an expensive bit of machinery
51:59The combine is telling me
52:01It's time to stop
52:02All that grumbling and groaning
52:04It's just a bit sore on her
52:08Well, yeah
52:09She's telling me
52:09She's grumbling and groaning
52:12Just stick her in the shed
52:17Martin must admit defeat
52:22We'll wait and see what the weather does
52:23For the next couple of days
52:24Hopefully less rain
52:25Only it'll linger too long
52:26It'll get worse
52:27It's my dry weather
52:29The environment depends on the weather so much
52:32It's just no fun when the weather's no right
52:35But at least he's made it home
52:37With 80% of his harvest
52:39Oh well, that's a run in bed for the night
52:41And that's me going away for a cup of tea
52:54North of Inverness
52:58On John Scott's farm
53:00It's the final day of the world's sheepdog trials
53:04How are you doing?
53:06How are you doing?
53:06How are you doing?
53:06How are you doing today?
53:07Are you busy?
53:08I'm exhausted
53:10We're at the culmination of the event
53:12It'll be the final day
53:13And we'll announce the winner
53:15Really looking forward to seeing who that'll be
53:17Fingers crossed it's a Scotsman
53:20Out of 213 entrants
53:22And 240 dogs
53:24They're down to the last 16 finalists
53:27And today
53:28They'll battle it out
53:30To decide who will be
53:31The sheepdog champion of the world
53:33The event is being broadcast
53:35On Gaelic TV
53:36Across Scotland
53:37And in addition to the kudos of the title
53:40The winner will also get
53:42A £3,000 cash prize
53:46The Scots family friend
53:48Michael Shearer
53:49Is one of the front runners
53:51In the last 16
53:52You must be tremendously proud
53:53Of that achievement
53:54Oh yes
53:54Oh yes
53:55To getting through to the finals
53:56I've got to
53:57Maybe semi-finals a couple of times
53:58But it's the first time
54:00I've made it in the finals
54:01How will you feel
54:02If you walk off
54:03With that world trial?
54:05Oh, I'd be delighted
54:05But so would every other
54:07Yeah
54:07And they'll all be trying for it
54:09Our next competitor
54:10C64
54:11Michael Shearer
54:16Michael and nine-year-old Bob
54:18Are first up
54:23At this stage
54:24They're in third place
54:25Five points behind the leader
54:27Kevin Evans from Wales
54:35The finalists face a more complex
54:37And difficult course
54:38Than in the qualifying rounds
54:40And semi-finals
54:45This time
54:46They must herd
54:47Two flocks of ten sheep
54:49Around an area
54:49Twice the size
54:50And instead of two judges
54:53To impress
54:53This time
54:55There are five
54:59Points are deducted
55:00For mistakes
55:04If Michael's to overtake the leader
55:06He can't afford
55:08To make too many
55:12The trickiest section
55:14Is separating
55:15Or shedding
55:16Five sheep
55:17With red collars
55:17From the rest of the flock
55:26And then the final test
55:28Is herding these five
55:30Into the pen
55:38Michael finishes within time
55:40And with a high score
55:42Of 691
55:43Out of 850
55:45Which pushes him into the lead
55:47Oh, I'm delighted
55:48Yeah, yeah
55:49She's really happy at the time
55:50But there's a lot of good dogs to come
55:52So at the moment
55:53It's looking good
55:54But we'll wait and see
55:57Now it's the turn of Michael's biggest rival
56:00Kevin Evans from Wales
56:01And his dog
56:03Greg
56:09He's been performing consistently well
56:11And if he has a good run
56:13Michael won't stand a chance
56:30The sheep have hesitated
56:31And have cost his rival
56:33Ten points
56:35But will it be enough
56:36For Michael to hold on
56:57To the lead
56:57For John and his wife Fiona
56:59It's the culmination of two years hard work
57:02And Michael's win
57:04A poignant reminder
57:05Of John's father-in-law
57:11Brilliant
57:12Just fantastic
57:14I'm just wrapped
57:15Just
57:17Yeah
57:19Well done
57:20Very happy
57:24Very happy
57:25Holding back the tears
57:27Killed us crying for me
57:28Congratulations
57:29Well done
57:30It was just
57:32The icing on the cake
57:34When Michael won
57:36Dad would have been
57:37Probably in tears as well
57:40Would have meant
57:41A huge amount
57:42To him
57:44These memories
57:45That we have from today
57:46Will live with me
57:47For a long time
57:47Forever
57:50Means an awful lot to us
57:52An awful lot
57:58Next time
58:01Martin and Mel
58:02Put their new tups to the test
58:04He knows what he's doing
58:05The only thing that they need to do
58:07Is to stay alive
58:09And make babies
58:10Sandy heads south
58:11To hand deliver his prized mutton
58:14We always give a warning
58:16Danger
58:17Eating this meat
58:18Could spoil your palate
58:20For the ordinary stuff
58:22And John
58:23Attends the Oscars
58:25Of the farming world
58:26The winner of the sheep farm of the year
58:28Is
58:32The winner of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the
58:36sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the
58:41sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the
58:45sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the
58:47sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the
58:47sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the
58:47sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the
58:47sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the
58:47sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the
58:49sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the
58:51sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the sheep farm of the
58:59sheep