The next episode of UTV’s Rare Breed – A Farming Year, filmed in March last year, is filled with new life, as it’s peak calving season and cows are calving on several of our farms.

Rare Breed – A Farming Year continues on Thursday at 8.30pm UTV where we see the first calves being born at the McGoverns farm near Clogher.  Sean and the girls are up at 4am to help a heifer in distress.  It turns out she’s having twins so Sean ensures the second calf is delivered safely. These new bull calves are especially important as the McGoverns lost prize animals the previous year due to the herd testing positive for Bovine TB.  Speaking about the particular heifer, Sean comments, “Four calves in two years is one of the better stories.”

Valentine and Chris Hodges are checking on their bees at Greyabbey.  The unseasonably warm weather is causing problems for the bees. They are out flying but the right flowers aren’t out yet.  Valentine and Chris are having to add special bee food to the hives so the bees don’t run low on energy. We also find out that daffodils are not good for bees.

We then head to Fermanagh to Maguiresbridge for the first time to meet Sean Maquire, a progressive farmer with a suckler herd, and who also breeds bulls up to 16 months.  An only child, he farms with his mum Margaret, who has encouraged him to take on more responsibility on the farm since his dad passed away over 20 years ago, when Sean was just 16. Sean too has a cow in calf, and with the feet already visible, he’s happy to let nature takes its course. He comments, “The least intervention the better, we’ll leave her to it now.”   While the birth went smoothly, when Sean returns to the new born he discovers that the calf is struggling to get its first milk. He points out that time spent now helping it along, saves time and money in the long run.

Meanwhile in Crossgar, Robbie Neill and his vet are scanning sows Clarissa, Martha, Lady and Clare for pregnancies.   Three of the four are pregnant which is great news, and Robbie is hopeful that the fourth sow will soon be pregnant. She’s a rare blood line that he’s bought in from Devon.

Mark McConnell is helping his dad Phillip at his farm on the Belfast Hills near Glengormley. He has 650 acres and they have farmed there for four generations. They are rearing 450 cattle to sell on to other farmers.Mark chats about the market prices for cattle, “Whatever the trade prices are, you have to take what you can get.” His cattle will be calving right into summer. He administers vitamins and mineral to the pregnant cows to help the calves when they are born. He says, “If you do a bit of work now, it pays off as the calves are stronger.”

UTV’s Mark McFadden narrates the series, sponsored by Moy Park.   Rare Breed – A Farming Year continues on Thursday 23rd January at 8.30pm on UTV.

Lough Erne Resort’s award-winning executive head chef, Noel McMeel, who is renowned for his seasonal menus at the prized, Catalina Restaurant has put provenance at the centre of his newest winter menu with a keen focus on fresh produce from Fermanagh, Cavan and Tyrone.

With key ingredients sourced from around Ireland, and most specifically the resort’s home and surrounding counties, the latest five-star menu features several standout winter dishes.

Noel McMeel’s signature dish uses Fermanagh-based Pat O’Doherty’s pork fillet with crispy shoulder, served with hock terrine and rosti, confit belly and tapioca crisp, accompanied with sour cabbage, apple and sage butter, celeriac and maple jus.

Red meat lovers can enjoy the Lisdergan fillet of beef, which is sourced from the Tyrone town of Fintona. The mouth-watering dish is accompanied by a crispy beef cheek, roasted onion, whipped potato, chive puree and red wine jus. Also hailing from the same Tyrone producer, is the seared Lisdergan lamb rump which is served with fermented black garlic, confit leek, cauliflower and kefir puree with port jus.

Meanwhile, Lough Erne Resort’s bordering county of Cavan is the source of the Thornhill roast duck breast, which is complemented by mandarin orange jelly, Noel McMeel’s very own garden honey, sesame caramel, toasted hazelnuts and thyme jus.

Commenting on the latest menu, Noel McMeel said:

“In Ireland, we are so fortunate to have some of the finest, seasonal ingredients at our fingertips. This is so beneficial for our philosophy of sourcing, preparing and serving fresh food which is in season and locally sourced. I am delighted to introduce this winter menu, which aims to share an authentic taste of Fermanagh and the local areas to all our guests.”

Lough Erne Resort’s newest winter menu offers three courses from £56.00 per person and includes tea or coffee and petit fours. For more information on The Catalina Restaurant visit: www.lougherneresort.com/catalina-restaurant.html.

Downpatrick based Finnebrogue Artisan has won a supply deal with Asda to produce four new meat-free lines, which will be available in over 250 stores across the UK as part of the Asda plant-based range.

Due to a growing demand for meat-free products, Asda has released the first own-label mushroom-based vegan range which sees four products hit the shelves for 2020, Plant Based Meat-Free Sausages, Plant Based Meat-Free Mince, Plant Based Meat-Free Burgers and Plant Based Meat-Free Meatballs.

The mushroom-based meat alternatives offer a more sustainable substitute than soya-based products – the new lines are also gluten free, Vegan Society approved and count as one of consumers’ five a day.

Finnebrogue’s relationship with Asda has gone from strength to strength since the family business started supplying the retailer’s Extra Special sausages in 2014, with the recent announcement of the production of ten Extra Special Christmas lines for 2019 including the BBC Good Food & Good Housekeeping award-winning Pigs in Blankets Festive Feast stuffing centre piece.

Produced in the Downpatrick-based veggie factory, Finnebrogue is dedicating to meeting the meat-free demand from Asda customers. Sarah Savage, NPD Manager at Finnebrogue explains,

“As the desire for meat-free products continues to grow, people are becoming not only more health conscious but environmentally conscious too, which is why we moved away from soya. We are delighted to see our relationship with Asda grow in this sector with the exclusive range of four new mushroom-based products.

“We know Asda shoppers will enjoy these plant-based alternatives, which are more nutritious and produced more sustainably than other meat-free products currently on the market.”

Emma Swan, Asda’s Buying Manager for NI Local added,

“At Asda we pride ourselves on offering our customers the best product available, and our new plant-based range is no different. Not only is it a healthy and tasty alternative to meat but the impact on the environment is much less than soy-based products, plus these products will be packaged on monotrays which are fully recyclable.

“Working closely with Finnebrogue, we’re so proud to have developed this high-quality, sustainable meat alternative and are delighted to have the first mushroom-based own-label vegan range.”

Mash Direct, the multi-award winning supplier of vegetable accompaniments and convenience dishes, has named Chilled Supplier of the Year 2019 by Cotswold Fayre, one of the UK’s leading food distributors.

 Cotswold Fayre is a wholesale company based in Berkshire who distribute our range throughout England, from farm shops and food halls to delicatessens and convenience stores.

Based on a family farm at Comber in Co Down, Mash Direct is a multi-award winning producer of convenience foods for customers in the UK, Ireland and further afield..

 The award was presented to Paul Southgate, sales executive at Mash Direct by David Truscott, commercial director at Cotswold Fayre.

Mash Direct, commenting on the award, said: “ It has been an exciting year working with Cotswold Fayre in 2019, and we look forward to continuing this in 2020.

The return of Rare Breed – A Farming Year was the most watched programme in Northern Ireland at 8.30pm last night with almost 140,000 viewers tuning in, equating to a 27% audience share.

Rare Breed – A Farming Year continues on Thursday at 8.30pm UTV where we meet more farming families and see what February has in store for them.   Our families are busy with young animals, be that feeding, competing, or treating.

We meet Crossgar pig breeder Robbie Neill for the first time.  He’s also a fulltime firefighter based in Belfast.  He’s established a herd of outdoor pigs but during the colder months the younger animals and sows come indoors, so it’s an early start for Robbie as every morning they need fed, watered and mucked out before he goes to work. “There’s no gym membership required, this is a good workout in the mornings,” he said.  With two small children and another on the way he comments, “It’s busy in the house and busy outside the house.”  We meet Gloria and her 12 piglets, as well as Big Alistair the boar. We also meet his flock of Suffolk sheep.

Jack Smyth from Newtownsetwart is in Dungannon for the “Stars of the Future” Show and Sale.  He is competing with three of his calves.  . He’s without wing woman Emma today and Jack teases, “She’s selling a wedding dress to some unfortunate cutty.” It’s an exciting and eventful day for the young farmer who won the event last year, so the pressure’s on.

Near Bushmills in Co. Antrim, we meet David Chestnutt who featured in the last series with his Dad Victor.  He is assessing his Texel lambs, in the hope of selling ram lambs in Ballymena or Scotland. He comments it’s more a ‘feeding competition than a breeding competition’ as the breed is such big business, with rams fetching big prices at auction.

We also meet the Stephen Lyons, who is in partnership with his brother John in a contracting business outside Coleraine. They operate mainly in Co Antrim and Derry and with February meaning the start of the slurry season, Stephen is out in the fields near Limavadyspreading slurry using a dribble bar, which he much prefers compared to the traditional method.

The episode ends near Ballyclare in Co.Antrim, where specialist farm vet Diane Beattie starts her day with an unexpected emergency with a sheep. She also diagnoses a sick cow on another farm, explaining the procedure of what to look for.   She says, “I grew up on farm, my dad was a farmer – I like the buzz of going out.”

UTV’s Mark McFadden narrates the series, sponsored by Moy Park, Rare Breed – A Farming Year continues on Thursday 16th January at 8.30pm on UTV.