Preparations for Balmoral are underway in the next episode of UTV's Rare Breed

In this episode, they visit farms in Limavady, Maghera, Loughgall, Fermanagh, and the Belfast Hills.

‘Rare Breed – A Farming Year’ is the ground-breaking year-in-the-life documentary series charting the agricultural year.

Filmed during 2023, each episode captures the highs and lows of each month of the year, as the families deal with economic and environmental challenges.

All the families featured reflect the diversity and innovation in Northern Ireland’s agri-food sector. Be they big or small, traditional beef, sheep, dairy, pig or arable, farm shops or even tourism, the passion and commitment shines through in every episode.

In this, the fourth episode, it’s April and the episode begins in Limavady, where arable farmer Jonny Kelly is watching the weather and the clock.

He needs the ground to dry up so the machinery can get to work. It’s been a tricky month and he has to be patient. He is conscious of deepening tram lines with the tractor, which then gather more water when it rains. He says: “Every track you make, when the rain comes it gets wetter and wetter.”

Near Maghera, Leanne and Trevor Hutchinson are first time farmers. In February, they bought their first pedigree pig – a sow called Val. They’ve big plans as Val is making her debut at Balmoral next month.

Trying to train her to walk in the ring is a tricky job and Leanne is wondering why they have entered her in the show!

Luckily the school of Youtube and some Amercian farmers are on hand for top showing tips. Trevor spots a good one, laughing, “how to train your show pig!”

April is the start of the farming year for Jack Wilson and granddad, William, who produce honey near Loughgall in Armagh.

They supply hives to local farmers to help pollinate crops. They are using age old methods to get the bees and hives in the best condition for the busy year ahead.

Jack says: “We would call this time of year Spring cleaning.” They also get new frames for the bees.

On down the road at Mullygarry farm deep in Fermanagh, Rodney Balfour is enjoying a sunny weekend.

He’s inspecting and washing his prize pedigree rams.

Donny the ram is getting his ‘weekly spa’ and Rodney talks about Donny’s personality.

There’s plenty of shampoo and shower gel on the go, and while Rodney works away, he also talks about his and wife Emma’s jobs outside farming, in the health sector. “I can speak to sheep and they don’t talk back to me,” he jokes.

In the Belfast hills, young farmer Dan McCaffrey’s skills as a mechanic are being tested. He’s keen to get ploughing but first he has some repairs to do.

He’s waiting for a new plough to be delivered and has borrowed one in the meantime but is struggling to get it to work.

He laughs: “Apparently things do run smoothly, they just must happen when I’m not here!”

The episode ends near Garvagh in Derry, where the Diamonds breed pedigree cattle and sheep. They have a select herd that they’ve worked hard to establish.

Their prize cow is Jewel, and one of her sons, Pointhouse Paul, sold for £42,000 in 2021. “She’s just a big pet,” says 18-year-old Kile, who’s already thinking of the bull sales in October.

It’s a long road, from the planning of the breeding of each calf, the training, the showing of the animals to market them, and then the actual sale ring. It’s an aspect of farming he really enjoys.

UTV’s Mark McFadden and Rita Fitzgerald narrate this series.

Sponsored by NIE Networks, ‘Rare Breed – A Farming Year’ continues on Thursday 15 February at 8.30pm on UTV.

You can catch up afterwards on ITVX. Simply select ‘Categories, then News, select UTV as your region from the box and scroll across to find the episode.