This Farming Life

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Documentary following the struggles and triumphs of very different farming families.

Documentary series following the struggles and triumphs of very different farming families in beautiful and remote landscapes.

Series 4

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James Thornton

Fiona Wilson

Jo Roe

This Farming Life: Series 4: Episode 7

Episode 7

BBC Two - This Farming Life, Series 4, Episode 7

It’s late winter, and Storm Ciara is wreaking havoc on the farms.

It’s late winter, and Storm Ciara is wreaking havoc for hill farmer Joyce. Frank and Georgia’s water supply is cut off, and Helen and Graham deal with an escapee.

In Armadale, at the northernmost tip of the Scottish mainland, hill farmer Joyce Campbell is checking up on her North Country Cheviot ewes. They live all year round out on 6,000 acres of rough hill ground, where the harsh winter weather is taking is toll. When Storm Ciara hits the farm, bringing with it 60mph winds and torrential rain, Joyce sets out with her trusty team of dogs to bring the ewes in for their pregnancy scan. When one group of ewes takes a wrong turn up a steep, treacherous bank, Joyce’s top dog Jock can’t hear her commands over the noise of the wind and pushes them to close to the edge.

Father and daughter team Frank and Georgia Hunter are also battling the storm on their mixed livestock farm in Cumbria, just as 100 newborn goat kids begin arriving. When the storm ruptures a section of the mains water pipe, the farm's water supply is stopped for five days, leaving Frank and Georgia without clean drinking water for their livestock and facing an urgent predicament.

In the Lake District, 28-year-old Matt and Dani Blair run a traditional hill farm with the help of young shepherd Murray. They recently took on a new, bigger farm, investing more cash and expanding at a time when most other farmers are playing it safe. Today is a red letter day for the new farm, with all 850 ewes being pregnancy scanned. The sheep account for roughly a third of the farm's total income, and when the scan returns disappointing results, it causes concern.

On the remote Stoer peninsula in the North West Highlands, Helen and Graham Acreman are deciding what to do with Minnie, their Highland cow who has tested positive for Johne's, an incurable wasting disease. The rest of the herd has tested clear, but Minnie and her calf must now be moved to a neighbouring croft with a fallow field. When Minnie and her calf go missing just an hour later, it takes some canny detective work to find them.

This Farming Life: Series 4

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

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Following the ups and downs of six farming families in Scotland and the north of England.

Following the ups and downs of six farming families in Scotland and the north of England as they face up to one of the toughest years for farming to date.

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This Farming Life

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Episode 7

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