This Farming Life episode 1: Following six farming families in some of Scotland’s most remote locations. Emma and Ewan move to their forever farm on Bute, while cousins Donald and David prepare for a busy lambing season. Emma and Ewan move to their forever farm on the Isle of Bute, while cousins Donald and David prepare for a busy lambing season. Elsewhere, dairy farmer Andy hands over the reins to his daughter Kayleigh, and with his blessing, she plans to maximise the dairy’s earning potential by bringing a large part of the business in house – pasteurising and bottling their own milk
Filmed across a year, this series follows six families in remote and stunning Scotland. It’s early spring as the farmers gear up for lambing, their busiest weeks of the year. In Northumberland, Emma and Ewan are rounding up their cattle and sheep as they prepare to move from Emma’s home for the last ten years to a farm seven times the size, on the Isle of Bute just off Scotland’s west coast. The move means taking on huge financial risk, and when they finally arrive on Bute, the scale of the challenge that lies ahead begins to sink in.
On the outskirts of Stranraer, Andy Love is preparing to hand over the reins of his dairy business to his daughter, Kayleigh. With Andy’s blessing, she plans to maximise the dairy’s earning potential by bringing a large part of the business in house – pasteurising and bottling their own milk. It’s a risky new venture, at a time when she’s also facing huge challenges at home. Husband Rab is undergoing chemo for bowel cancer, and the couple also run an Italian restaurant which has been hit hard by covid restrictions.
In Loch Ness, Cousins Donald Fraser and David Girvan are preparing for the busy spring season ahead. Donald’s partner Joanna is new to farming. This year she’s keen to get as hands on as possible, and push on with ambitious plans to set up a farm shop.
This Farming Life episode 1
Filmed over the course of an entire year, this captivating series takes viewers on an intimate journey with six unique families nestled in the breathtaking landscapes of Scotland. As early spring blossoms, we witness the hustle and bustle of the farmers, especially during their peak lambing season, the most intense and busy weeks of their annual calendar.
In the rugged terrains of Northumberland, the dynamic duo, Emma and Ewan, are diligently rounding up their vast herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. This isn’t just a routine activity; they’re on the brink of a monumental transition. Emma, bidding goodbye to the home that has cradled her for a decade, is teaming up with Ewan to venture into a sprawling farm. This new farm, astonishingly seven times larger than their current one, is located on the enchanting Isle of Bute, just a stone’s throw away from Scotland’s majestic west coast. Such an audacious move isn’t without its fair share of perils. The looming financial burden is palpable. As they set foot on Bute, the magnitude of the challenges awaiting them becomes undeniably clear, and a mix of anticipation and anxiety sets in.
Elsewhere, near the serene town of Stranraer, the seasoned dairyman, Andy Love, is at a pivotal juncture. He’s on the cusp of passing the torch of his cherished dairy business to his passionate daughter, Kayleigh. With the wise guidance and blessings from Andy, Kayleigh harbors big dreams for the dairy. She envisions revolutionizing operations by integrating a major chunk of the business process. Her plan? To pasteurize and bottle their premium milk right on their grounds. While this venture teems with potential, it’s also laden with risks. Compounding this is a storm brewing in her personal life. Her devoted husband, Rab, is grappling with bowel cancer and is in the throes of an intense chemotherapy regimen. On top of this, their beloved Italian restaurant, a testament to their diverse passions, faces unprecedented challenges due to the stringent COVID restrictions.
Over at the mystical shores of Loch Ness, we find the close-knit cousins, Donald Fraser and David Girvan, gearing up for the spring rush. Donald’s vivacious partner, Joanna, might be a novice in the farming world, but her enthusiasm is infectious. This season, she’s not just content being on the sidelines. Joanna is diving deep, eager to learn, contribute, and further their dreams. One such aspiration is her ambitious blueprint to inaugurate a local farm shop, which promises to be a haven for fresh produce and authentic Scottish products.
This Farming Life
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. The history of agriculture began thousands of years ago. After gathering wild grains beginning at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers began to plant them around 11,500 years ago. Pigs, sheep, goats, and cattle were domesticated over 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. Industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture in the twentieth century came to dominate agricultural output, though about 2 billion people still depended on subsistence agriculture.
The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels, and raw materials (such as rubber). Food classes include cereals (grains), vegetables, fruits, oils, meat, milk, eggs, and fungi. Over one-third of the world’s workers are employed in agriculture, second only to the service sector, although in recent decades, the global trend of a decreasing number of agricultural workers continues, especially in developing countries, where smallholding is being overtaken by industrial agriculture and mechanization that brings an enormous crop yield increase.
Modern agronomy, plant breeding, agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers, and technological developments have sharply increased crop yields, but cause ecological and environmental damage. Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry have similarly increased the output of meat but have raised concerns about animal welfare and environmental damage. Environmental issues include contributions to global warming, depletion of aquifers, deforestation, antibiotic resistance, and other agricultural pollution. Agriculture is both a cause of and sensitive to environmental degradation, such as biodiversity loss, desertification, soil degradation, and global warming, all of which can cause decreases in crop yield. Genetically modified organisms are widely used, although some are banned in certain countries.
