The hugely popular and successful TV series, ‘Rare Breed – A Farming Year’, continues on Thursday night at 8.30pm on UTV, with the Egertons from Rosslea appearing in tonight’s episode.

‘Rare Breed – A Farming Year’ is the ground-breaking year-in-the-life observational documentary series charting the reality of farming in 21st Century Northern Ireland (NI) for 12 families, giving a unique insight into one of NI’s largest and oldest industries.

In this episode, it’s March, and spring is on the way, and near Rosslea, John Egerton and his three sons run an award-winning farm.

They produce beef cattle and this month they’re busy with calving season.

John says that the calving is going well, with 32 cows calved and 15 to go, including a set of twins. He and the boys get to work tagging the cattle as soon as they are born.

The Egertons are also part of a group trying to do their bit to tackle climate change and cut their carbon footprint, and in March they’re planting trees.

They’ve been planting hedges for about 12 years, and in this episode we hear how they are planting rowans, birch and oak and learn what special properties each has.

Saying that “farmers are custodians of the countryside”, John is aiming to get as close to net zero carbon emissions as he can without reducing his output.

UTV’s Mark McFadden narrates the series. Sponsored by Dromona, ‘Rare Breed – A Farming Year’ airs at 8.30pm tonight, Thursday, on UTV.