Landward returns to TV screens with a visit to Thainstone Mart

The Landward team return to our screens on April 4 for the new Spring series. They’ll be digging deep into the issues and stories from across the Scottish countryside, celebrating, farming, food, wildlife, environment, and lots more. Presenter Dougie Vipond, is joined by Anne McAlpine, Shahbaz Majeed, Rosie Morton, Arlene Stuart and Cammy Wilson.

In the first episode, Dougie’s at Thainstone Mart in Aberdeenshire attending the first agricultural gathering of the year, the annual Spring Show. Dougie finds out why thousands from the farming community have come along and why it’s such an important point in the calendar after the long winter months. Combining top livestock, machinery and trade stands, it’s a key social gathering that kick starts the farming year. In a packed auction, Dougie sees some top cattle go under the hammer and finds out what a prize-winning champion neep looks like.

Ahead of this year’s lambing, Cammy takes a trip to Arran to scan pregnant sheep. He’s got just one day to scan nearly two thousand ewes, but time is tight and he’s really under pressure make it in time for the last ferry home.

And it’s not just sheep and cattle in this episode, Rosie heads Ayrshire to meet the couple who swapped the heat of the Middle East for the freezing cold of Scotland to set up a deer farm. New to farming, Rosie hears how the Rathore family have adapted to a very different way of life and are now selling venison direct from the farm.

Following the wettest winter on record, Arlene’s in Aberdeenshire meeting the scientists taking a lesson from nature when it comes to tackling flooding. She’s discovering that what you do upstream can have a very big effect downstream and using leaky barriers that slow the fast flow of flood water can make a big difference during extreme weather events.

Also in this spring series of Landward there will be features on how the people of rural Scotland are adapting to our changing climate. Dougie and the team will meet the individuals farming in a climate of change and implementing a nature friendly approach to agriculture. And the team will also be finding out how Scottish farmers and crofters are making positive changes to their businesses to mitigate and adapt to climate change, as well as increasing biodiversity.

Further ahead in the series, wildlife filmmaker and presenter, Libby Penman will be seeking out the wildlife in our cities. She discovers three key species in Aberdeen that have set up home in busy urban sites, including the locally celebrated roundabout rabbits and the famous harbour dolphins.

Landward airs on Thursday, April 4 on BBC Scotland, at 8.30pm.

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