Landward episode 16 2024
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🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00This time we're grabbing the bull by the horns because this program is all about these guys.
00:09Welcome to Lambos.
00:16A very warm welcome from me and Patrick the bull, one of the cattle up for sale soon here
00:37at Inchurch Farm near Eylith. It's the perfect place to have this special program celebrating
00:42all that's great and good about cattle in Scotland. We absolutely love cattle with over
00:49one and a half million spread across our countryside.
00:54These animals are an integral part of our farming story. For centuries Scotland's farmers
01:01and crofters have worked with them across our hillsides and pastures. From the time
01:07of the drovers to the first continental imports. And now to the challenges cattle farmers face
01:15as our climate changes.
01:19And here's what's coming up on the program.
01:24Arlene meets the family who saved Aberdeen Angus.
01:29And here's about the struggles faced by Britain's most northerly dairy.
01:34Nobody likes to pour the malt down the drain. That's never a good day.
01:38And Cammie sees the herd that got left behind.
01:41Not what I was imagining, they just look like normal cattle.
01:45They are in some ways but in other ways they're completely wild.
01:54But first, these guys are sitting pretty for a reason. They're up for sale but they're
01:59not going to market the auctions happening right here.
02:06This is the working jeans sale and it's the brainchild of farmer Neil McGowan.
02:12We're going to sell a bull or two today which is quite exciting.
02:16He thinks the genetics of his animals make them the best examples of working bulls.
02:23We put quite a bit of effort into getting the bloodlines right, the breeding behind
02:28the stock just to let people see the bulls in their natural conditions the way that we
02:33would like to bring a bull on and we're showing them in their working clothes.
02:38There's no sprucing up like you'd see before a traditional sale.
02:44There are 14 Simmental, 2 Aberdeen Angus and 3 Ling Bulls looking for a new home today.
02:51But as impressive as these boys are, it's not all about the Y chromosomes.
02:57Our breeding programme here is based on maternal lines really I suppose.
03:01You know a lot of the offspring of these bulls will be the daughters that will be people's
03:05cows in their herds for a long time.
03:08So we're looking for daughters that will calve easily, will milk well, won't cause much hassle,
03:13be good in their feet and locomotion and last a long time.
03:17I saw Patrick earlier on.
03:18Patrick's my favourite.
03:21And Neil is hopeful of a good price for him.
03:24He started selling direct from the farm after his local marts closed down.
03:30Potential buyers are free to walk the fields and inspect Patrick and his chums before they
03:35bid in this silent auction.
03:39You can bid across the day and all lots close at the same time, 4.30.
03:46At a normal livestock auction, the auctioneer basically decides the end of the auction when
03:51the gavel comes down and the final price is reached.
03:53But here you can check throughout the afternoon how the prices are going.
03:58And there's a lot of interest in Patrick.
04:02Actually as I was talking, Patrick's volume is up to £8,600.
04:06So it's all going up and we have less than an hour.
04:14Every time a bid comes in you hear that little ding and now Patrick has just reached £10,000.
04:21But there you can see there's still bids coming in for bulls and I think it's a fantastic
04:26testament to the family here in Edshaw.
04:29Looking good.
04:30It seems to be.
04:31As things are moving so fast at the moment it's hard to keep track of what's happening.
04:3530 seconds to go.
04:37Listen, I'll let you get on and we'll beat you then.
04:40So we're down to 15 seconds.
04:42And as the auction comes to a close, the room gets much quieter.
04:469, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
04:54There you go David, you conclude the bull sale.
05:00It's more like eBay than any livestock auction I've ever been to.
05:05And Patrick has gone for just over £10,000.
05:09Making Neil a very happy man.
05:12It was quite exciting at the end.
05:14We put a base price on the bulls to start off with and if we sold every bull where it
05:19started with, we'd be really happy.
05:21Once there's a few bids come on, it's just really about who gets the bull after that.
05:25And judging by today's results, Neil's farm sales will be continuing.
05:30It's a real kick, a real buzz and just an encouragement to invest in the programme
05:37going forward and to do more of this I think.
05:39Well listen, congratulations.
05:40Great.
05:41Well done that man.
05:42Thank you very much indeed.
05:45Now, cattle on our farms can be traced back to wild herds domesticated 10,000 years ago.
05:53But some places in the world you can still see feral ones and one of those is in the
05:58very north of Scotland.
06:00We sent Cammy to track them down.
06:06Around two miles off the coast of South Ronaldsey in Orkney is the island of Swona.
06:14It's not very big, just a mile long by a mile wide and these days nobody lives there.
06:21But in amongst the ruins and old cultivated land, a small herd of cattle roam and I've
06:27been told they're completely wild.
06:31One man who knows the cattle well is Will Annell.
06:34Hi Will, how you getting on?
06:36Oh hi Cammy.
06:37His family owns Swona and he can tell me what makes these animals very different from their
06:43domesticated cousins.
06:44OK, we'll just pause here as we're getting a bit closer and take it easy.
06:48They're not what I was imagining, they just look like normal cattle really.
06:52What's the story?
06:53Well, yeah, yeah, I mean they are in some ways but in other ways they're completely wild.
06:58You know, they've been here long enough that all their behaviour has changed and adapted.
07:03And what breeds are they?
07:04They're a mixture of Aberdeen Angus and Shorthorn.
07:08That was the types of bull that was here at the time.
07:12And how long have they been just going feral like this?
07:15About 1974, that's when the last inhabitants left.
07:19So 50 years?
07:21Yeah, about 50 years now.
07:23Wow, no human contact at all?
07:25No, not other than just the occasional passerby.
07:29So the behaviour has gone back to nature, different to domesticated animals.
07:36Interesting.
07:37So you have to be very careful when you're here and never go between the cattle.
07:41Because they will try and go back together in a group.
07:44Do you think we could get a wee bit closer than we are just now?
07:46Yeah, we can get a wee bit closer but we'll just be careful as we approach.
07:50And we'll just see how they react to us because, you know, this is their island.
07:56If you lead the way, I'll hide in behind you.
07:58Right, okay.
07:59Sound good?
08:00Yeah, follow me.
08:02You're the man.
08:03You're the man.
08:09Right, I think we'll just take a wee seat here because they've started to pay attention to us.
08:14So we'll just grab a seat.
08:16Definitely picked up their ears there.
08:20Having the right look.
08:22So what is the kind of structure here? There's two outwith the pack?
08:26This large bull here, this red one, I think that is a former dominant bull.
08:32And I think he's been kicked out but he's still hanging around.
08:36Normally they get evicted to the north end of the island to live out their retirement.
08:41Right.
08:42But he's been hanging around for the last few months and I have seen them fighting.
08:46Sometimes it's hard to let go.
08:48Yes, yeah, yeah.
08:50And then there's two black ones that kind of hang about on the outside.
08:53But I don't care which is either the new dominant one in the main herd yet.
08:59I need to figure it out.
09:01It's absolutely fascinating.
09:02And then there's the six calves in there.
09:05Yeah.
09:06The calves would go into the middle of the herd.
09:09And then the older, you know, the coos and the bulls would form a defensive barrier around the outside.
09:17The island's quite small. There's limited resources here.
09:19The island can only support a certain number.
09:22Yeah, and nature just sorts it out?
09:24Yes, yeah.
09:25Low twenties, high teens is a stable number for them.
09:29A good number for swanner.
09:30Yeah.
09:32Is there any plans at any point to take these cattle off the island or what's the future for them?
09:36Oh, no, no, none, none whatsoever.
09:39I mean, the primary thing with the cattle is that they have to be left alone.
09:44Attempts were made to bring some of the animals to the mainland in 1977.
09:50But tidal conditions and a difficult landing spot made it dangerous and stressful for them.
09:56So here they've stayed.
09:59And Swanner has become a designated site of special scientific interest because they're here.
10:07This was one thing with these cattle remaining on the island is they've kept it green and beautiful.
10:13Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
10:14So the islands are triple SI for bonny flowers.
10:18And they wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the grazing of the cattle.
10:23The cattle keep the grass down.
10:26So it allows the plants to kind of come up so they're fertilized by the cattle's manure.
10:31So, I mean, the island would not be the same way without the cattle.
10:35So the two things are totally interlinked now.
10:38The cattle make Swanner what it is.
10:40Yeah, absolutely, yeah.
10:43And you can find out more about why these cattle were here in the first place
10:47and the incredible story of Will's family links to the island
10:51when Cammie pays a return visit to Swanner later in the series.
10:59Now, when it comes to beef, one name globally dominates.
11:04Aberdeen Angus.
11:06The Scottish breed has conquered the world, but our own native bloodlines were in danger of dying out.
11:13Arlene's off to meet the family who are bringing the breed back from the brink.
11:21The Aberdeen Angus.
11:23Developed in the early 19th century,
11:25it only took a few decades for the breed to become an international superstar.
11:31Does this one come from Scotland?
11:33No, his grandfather came from Scotland.
11:35Do you still buy some, in fact, from...
11:37Well, we always go to Scotland and I think my father is going this year back to Perth.
11:43Their formidable reputation for producing top-quality beef
11:47meant they were exported across the globe.
11:52To this day, the Aberdeen Angus is the world's premier beef breed.
11:56There's thought to be over 50 million of them worldwide.
11:59But with that success, the breed has changed.
12:04The original bloodlines have been diluted and sometimes re-imported back into the UK.
12:11But on this farm near Forfar...
12:13Come on, girls.
12:15..Geordie Suitor and his daughter Louise have made it their mission
12:19to protect the origins of this beef icon.
12:23These books are filled with the details,
12:26basically the foundation of the Aberdeen Angus breed.
12:29Now, there's hundreds of names in this book. Is that still the case now?
12:33In the 60s, there would be 98 cow families.
12:36And how many now?
12:38Ten.
12:39Wow.
12:40It has dwindled.
12:42I'll say.
12:43The advent of the Continental cattle in the early 70s
12:48led the craze for bigger cattle
12:50and they had bred the Aberdeen Angus a bit too small.
12:54So they altered the model of the Angus
12:57to compete with these bigger Continental cattle.
13:00And then, of course, over the years, then the pure bloodline starts to dwindle.
13:04Absolutely.
13:06It was only when the Suitors began their own herd in the 1990s
13:10that they realised how much the breed had changed.
13:14We started to try and gather up cattle we knew imported bloodlines in them,
13:19which was a long, long process.
13:23Three decades long.
13:25Welcome to Dunlouise.
13:26Let's go and have a look at some of our native Angus.
13:29Sorry, it's taken me a while, but your dad likes to talk about them.
13:32He does. He did well to escape from the house.
13:34And Geordie's daughter Louise is now carrying the baton.
13:38It's a completely unique herd
13:40in that everything here is 100% native Angus.
13:43So Anguses, you would have seen them in the mid-1800s
13:46when the breed was founded.
13:48You'll even see some red Angus,
13:50thought to be the result of crossing with English Longhorn
13:53early in the development of the breed.
13:56Now, their build is quite unique because they're quite small.
13:59They're built like lead.
14:00A lot of them, they're just as wide as they are deep
14:03and what you're wanting is that big rumen capacity,
14:06so their big stomach, that is basically a big fermentation vat
14:09converting grass into beef.
14:11And it's that great body depth
14:13that is pretty unique to the native Angus.
14:15They're just a powerhouse, aren't they?
14:17They really are.
14:18These are the cattle that went out to all of these areas
14:21like South America, Australia, North America,
14:23and thrived and survived.
14:26Nowadays, the Suitors Farm is the only one in the world
14:30to hold all the remaining original native Angus bloodlines,
14:34an amazing achievement that resulted in Geordie Suitor
14:38receiving an MBE.
14:42And they are now exporting these bloodlines back across the globe.
14:46But live export is a thing of the past.
14:50It's basically like human IVF but it's in vitro flushing,
14:53so you're taking a wee seven-day-old egg,
14:56putting it in a little straw
14:57and then you can freeze it in liquid nitrogen,
14:59send it wherever you want to in the world.
15:01In the last two years, we've sent two consignments to Argentina,
15:05two to Kansas in America and two to Australia.
15:09It seems cattle farmers are looking for a more natural cow
15:13in a move away from feeding grain and back to grass.
15:17It's sort of agriculture coming full circle,
15:20that we went into big carcass sizes and bigger is better
15:24and actually people are looking for this more environmentally sustainable cattle
15:28for something that's really efficient at converting grass into great beef.
15:33So the future of the native breed is rosy by the sounds of things.
15:36At one point there was only 27 native cows left in the UK.
15:39There's more than 27 native cows here,
15:41never mind the hundreds that are elsewhere around the globe.
15:46I think it's about rediscovering what made Angus famous.
15:49It's what people remember Angus as being.
15:52They're rediscovering the benefits of going back to those original genetics.
15:59From beef to dairy.
16:02Anne's in Shetland finding out about the fight
16:05to keep a family's farming business alive.
16:1430 years ago there were 12 dairies in Shetland,
16:18but now it's a very different story.
16:22Today there are just two remaining farms
16:25and just up ahead here is one of those.
16:32This is Setter Farm near Tingwall,
16:35the most northerly dairy farm in Britain
16:39and it's been run by the Irvine family for more than 100 years.
16:47With their 47 Frisian cows producing more than 700,000 cows a year,
16:53more than 700 litres of milk per day,
16:57milking can be a military operation.
17:02Hi Linda, nice to meet you.
17:04It's good to meet you too.
17:05How are you doing today?
17:06I'm doing very well.
17:07It's pretty blowy.
17:08It's a bit windy today.
17:09Overseeing this is ninth generation dairy farmer Linda Irvine,
17:14who is also one part of the two dairy farming families
17:18who make up a cooperative producing milk, butter and cream from these cows,
17:24also known as kai in Shetland dialect.
17:29What's happening on the farm today then, tell me?
17:32Well right now mam is just getting the kai up to come into the buyer for milking.
17:37And how long will that take once you start and get them to work?
17:40About two and a half hours for the park to finish the milking and back out to the park again.
17:45Oh well, plenty to be getting on with then.
17:47Better let them get to work, shall we?
17:50All this work needs everyone to muck in,
17:53and it's definitely a family affair,
17:56with Linda's mum Vivian and dog Rocky moving the herd,
18:00while inside the buyer her cousin, brother, niece and dad are all part of the team.
18:09Get to work.
18:10Even I'm chipping in.
18:12And are they always here or have they come out because the telly's here?
18:14They've come out because the telly's here.
18:18Well that all went quite smoothly.
18:21Now we'll start taking the milking machines down the buyer and the buckets
18:26and we'll start cleaning the kai.
18:32And you might have noticed this isn't your typical milking parlour.
18:39They're moving down the line from one kai to the next,
18:42just as Linda's family would have done for generations.
18:47Tell me about dairy farming when you were growing up, what was it like?
18:51There was a lot more dairy farms when I was growing up.
18:54I came out there being 12.
18:56Once I started working there was seven, but now there's only two.
19:00That's a big change in a relatively short space of time.
19:04Why is that?
19:05A lot of the problems is the cost of the milk coming into the aisle.
19:11It can be half-priced.
19:13It's very difficult to compete with the cost of milk for sooth.
19:16Mainland milk can undercut Linda because island life means her costs are higher.
19:22Everything that has to come up into the aisle,
19:24from feeding hay straight to bottles and machinery for the dairy,
19:30it all has to be shipped up which means it's all more expensive.
19:34Huge issue for here.
19:36The long and short of it is just the sheer expense.
19:39Everything in rules and regulations that's coming in new
19:43is unfortunately pushing out a lot more farmers.
19:47Would Shetland be able to produce enough milk to supply Shetland itself
19:51without the need for milk coming in from the mainland, for example?
19:55Unfortunately not new.
19:5730 years ago you could have done,
19:59but there's too many dairy farms gone out new that we couldn't make enough milk.
20:07For the next generation of Irvins, a future in dairy is uncertain.
20:12It's quite a shame to not be able to have that legacy to pass on to my bairns.
20:21They enjoy working on the farm,
20:23but I've unfortunately encouraged my bairns to go and to get a trade
20:27so that they've got a backup.
20:29Either it's just the farming because it's just unfortunately so unpredictable.
20:36Come on, off you go.
20:38Despite that uncertainty, the cows still need to be milked.
20:43There we go, job done.
20:45Job done for another day.
20:46And sometimes the unreliable market means Linda's work goes to waste.
20:52The cows are producing milk every day.
20:54Does all the milk go to use?
20:56Are there times when that doesn't work out?
20:58There is unfortunately times where we end up having to dump milk
21:03because for some reason there's just waves when there's no locals buying.
21:07That must be a hard thing to do when you put so much time and effort into all of this work.
21:13Nobody likes to pour the milk down the drain.
21:15That's never a good day.
21:17I hope it can still continue.
21:19To be able to get more grants and subsidies to help us grow as a dairy would be ideal,
21:28but just to be able to continue farming would be the best.
21:34That old saying, use it or lose it, seems to be especially true here in Tingwell.
21:42I feel very proud to be a dairy farmer in Shetland
21:45and to be the most northerly one in Britain is quite a good title to be able to hold.
21:50But for how long, I have no idea.
21:54The longer the better though.
21:59Now, in Scotland we love a bit of dark crime fiction,
22:10but what in heaven's name does that have to do with cattle?
22:14We sent Rosie to investigate the mystery.
22:28There's definitely something eerie going on around here today,
22:32which makes it the perfect place to get stuck into a gritty Edinburgh crime novel.
22:41The city's dark underbelly has inspired generations of writers.
22:47And a world away in the Fife countryside, not far from Cooper,
22:51James Oswald is part of that long tradition.
22:55He's the best-selling author behind the Inspector Maclean books,
22:59the series following the detective as he pursues dangerous criminals through our nation's capital.
23:06But James is leading a double life, because he's not always behind his keyboard.
23:12Hello, hello.
23:13Hello.
23:14You must be James.
23:15I am.
23:16What have you got down in your field?
23:17I've got down there my fold of Highland cattle.
23:19Fantastic.
23:20Would you like to have a look at them?
23:22The Oswald family once reared commercial cattle on this land,
23:27but when James took on the farm 13 years ago,
23:30he wanted a breed a bit more suited to rough grazing.
23:34Today, James combines his writing life with rearing a pedigree fold of 50 Highland cows,
23:41including 10 calves born earlier this year.
23:47Shall we say hello?
23:49Say hello.
23:50Aren't they gorgeous?
23:52They're just like little fluffy teddy bears, aren't they?
23:54They are.
23:55Well, the calves will probably run away from you because they're a little bit wary still.
23:59They're only three months, four months old.
24:01They're so beautiful.
24:03In this field, we've got 10 cows who are going to the bull this year.
24:07I'm the bull.
24:08I mean, I am very aware that we are in the field with said bull.
24:11Is he okay to be around?
24:13He is. He's just over there.
24:15He's a big softy, really.
24:16In fact, that's one of the reasons why I chose him,
24:18because I want animals to be placid and easy to handle,
24:22and Highland cattle are, by nature, very placid.
24:24He actually really likes to be brushed.
24:27Would you like to go and give him a brush?
24:29All right.
24:30Isn't he beautiful?
24:32Hello.
24:33This is Duke.
24:34Duke Booyah.
24:35Craig Lusca, to give his full name.
24:38Have they ever appeared in your books, these beautiful beasts?
24:42I did put them in book four in the Inspector McLean series.
24:47Inspector McLean needed to clear his head,
24:50so he went for a walk up a nearby hill,
24:52and he was so deep in thought thinking about this horrible crime,
24:55and then he suddenly realised he was surrounded by Highland cows.
24:58Aw.
24:59And I put that scene in,
25:01fully thinking that my editor would make me take it out,
25:03but he let me keep it.
25:05It was only in there so I could have my Highland cows in my books.
25:10He's just a sucker for constant attention.
25:13If you stop, then he'll start poking you and say,
25:16no, carry on, carry on.
25:18And being with the cattle is also a useful way for James,
25:22the writer, to find inspiration.
25:25They don't really need brushing.
25:27If I'm stuck with one of my books and I can't work out a plot point,
25:32I can come up here, particularly when the weather's nice,
25:35get the brush out, just start brushing them
25:38and let my mind wander.
25:40The only problem I find is that if I do it for a while,
25:43I end up with a queue of them.
25:45James has also found that writing and farming work together
25:49more than most of us might think.
25:52They're both quite solitary jobs,
25:54particularly the kind of farming that I do.
25:56But there are differences as well,
25:59and they kind of complement each other in some ways.
26:02Most of the farming work takes place during the day,
26:05and I tend to write at night.
26:08So it's a really nice balance for you then?
26:10Yeah, I don't have much of a social life.
26:13I don't watch any television, but, you know,
26:16except for Landlord, of course.
26:19I'm a bit of an occluse,
26:21so being here, pretty much the middle of nowhere,
26:24suits me just fine.
26:26Just working with these lovely, gentle, placid beasts.
26:29So I've got the best of both worlds.
26:38If you'd like to watch this programme again
26:40or catch up with any of our previous episodes,
26:42go to the BBC iPlayer and search for Landlord.
26:46Here, the bull sales are finished,
26:48and that brings us to the end of the programme.
26:50Here's what's coming up next time.
26:55Shabazz is in hiding.
26:57I can hear the drone.
26:59I don't know why I'm whispering.
27:01The new crop aiming to give barley a run for its money.
27:05It's a lot cheaper than growing barley,
27:07and it yields twice as much.
27:09And Anne meets the Shetland chef.
27:12It's very therapeutic doing this.
27:14You know, it connects me to memories back home.
27:18Please join us for that and much, much more if you can.
27:21In the meantime, from all the Labrador teams around the country
27:24celebrating Scottish cattle,
27:26thank you so much for your company.
27:28Bye for now.
27:35.