It's the final episode in this series of UTV's 'Rare Breed - A Farming Year'

While it’s the end for this series, there’s good news for fans of Rare Breed, with filming already underway for the next series which is due to air early 2024.

Thursday night’s final episode begins in Auchnacloy with the Beatty family who are attending the final sheep sale of the year.

Paul and son Charlie enjoy their day out at the sale.

Tim Morrow at Streamvale, just outside Belfast, is marking the end of milking season, as his herd will calve at the same time. He’s passionate about cow welfare, soil health and protecting the environment.

In Silverbridge in Armagh, Kathleen and Margaret Finnegan are making firebricks out of whin bushes. It’s a manual process but they have lots of help.

They are keen to keep innovating and thinking of new uses for much of the vegetation on their land. They also host a Christmas wreath making workshop, which goes down well with all the participants.

In Ballinamallard, the Byers are in full breeding season. They are using the results of the genomics testing they had done earlier in the year to match the best combinations of bulls and cows. Vicki loves how the science works.

In the second part of the programme, we are in Rosslea with the Egertons.

There has been a particularly frosty spell and they are all out defrosting water pipes so the animals can get plenty to drink. John points out how resilient farmers have to be, no matter what the weather throws up.

Finally, the series ends appropriately at Gilpin’s in Loughgall, where over six million Brussel sprouts are being harvested and bagged up for Christmas. They are really up against the clock and are running a 24/7 operation to ensure that carrots, parsnips and sprouts are all delivered in time for the big day.

UTV’s Mark McFadden narrates this final episode. Sponsored by Dale Farm, ‘Rare Breed – A Farming Year’ finishes on Thursday 27 April at 8.30pm on UTV.