All language subtitles for Wild Shepherdess with Kate Humble 3of3 Australia

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'In the most remote places on Earth,

'people depend on their animals
for survival.

'A few years ago,
I moved to a farm in the Welsh hills

'I've become fascinated by the bond
between shepherd and flock.

'In Afghanistan and Peru,
I explored this relationship's
ancient origins.'

I could have been standing here
500 years ago and witnessed

exactly that same scene.

'Now I want to look
at the future of herding.'

There's some here Bob,
just on the right.

'In Australia, animals are raised
on an epic scale.'

They seem quite keen
to get off the truck.

'Sheep are a global commodity.

'And scientists are fast becoming
the new shepherds.'

In my mind animal husbandry
should be something that's done

as naturally as possible,

with really as little
intervention as possible.

'Can the close connection between
herder and herded

'survive in the modern world?'

I'm about 700 or 800 kilometres
north of Perth,

heading out into the bush.

It is a harsh landscape.

It's quite alien.

It's so dry, it's rocky,
it's dusty, it's hot.

There are snakes everywhere,
there are spiders that can put

you in hospital, or in the morgue,
and it just doesn't look like

a land that could support human
life, sheep, anything really.

But somehow it does.

Despite this barren landscape,

Australia has become one of the
biggest sheep producers in the world

I want to understand how,
against the odds,

shepherds can thrive in a land
so different to my farm back home.

I'm on my way to Meka, one of the
largest sheep stations in Australia.

It covers nearly a million acres,
that's about the size of Kent,

and is more than 200 miles
from the nearest big town.

This promises to be shepherding on
a scale beyond anything I've seen,

but something seems to be missing.

What's extraordinary is we
have been on the farm property,

we've crossed over
30 kilometres back

and I haven't seen
a single sheep yet.

Men in caps and shorts,
it's all looking very promising.

Good afternoon, nice to see you.
Kerry Wark.

Hi, Kerry,
nice to see you.

Thanks for rustling up
some sunshine for us,

it was getting pretty cold in the UK
when we left.

Plenty of that. We were hoping
is wasn't going to be too severe,

we've had a couple
of 42s this last week.

Yeah, we could probably manage
without that.

The station is run by manager
Bob Grinham,

a West Australian stockman

who's spent his whole
working life in the bush.

And it's owned by businessman
Kerry Wark.

Incredibly, the huge property is
run by a team of just five people,

looking after up to 25,000 sheep.

It's going to be a fascinating
five days or so.

I think it will be,
going to be interesting.

I'm going to be learning a lot,
I can feel it.

Stations like Meka are part

of Australia's long
shepherding history.

The British brought sheep to the
country more than 200 years ago.

Wool was the perfect export from
such a remote colony.

It wouldn't perish on the long
journey back to the heart of Empire.

Early pioneers began to push inland,

driving their flocks
into the wild outback.

Meka's wool clothed imperial
soldiers in two world wars.

And the peak of the industry
came in the 1950s, with the massive

demand for wool from America
at outbreak of the Korean War.

Everybody went to war
in a cold country

and they needed woollen uniforms,

and the price of wool here
went to £1 a pound,

and that was three to four times what
it had ever been before and if you

were in the wool business in 1951/2
that's when fortunes were made.

We're talking a property like this
could have netted,

in today's money terms,
something like 10 million a year.

Nobody could believe it,

and the community was all full
of imported new cars, Cadillacs,

Rollers were all over the place.
It was just...

Australia had a boost like
you'd never believe in '51.

But after the boom times
came the crash.

In the 1970s and '80s, we started
swapping our woolly jumpers

for polyester fleeces,
and the price of wool plummeted.

Many stations had to
adapt to survive.

Meka has been forced to
switch from wool to meat.

I've come at a busy time of year.

There's a few thousand sheep

to be gathered
and processed for export.

So everything we have driven across

since we left the homestead is
the farm, basically.

It's all part of this sheep station.

You can drive for 100Ks to
the north or the northeast

and you're still on
the stations, and 30k south.

It's just unimaginable.

Meka is divided into 40 paddocks,

vast fenced areas that hold
up to 2,000 sheep.

At the corner of each paddock is
a smaller field, called a trap,

with drinking troughs that Bob
uses to corral the sheep.

This morning we'll shake the traps

and see what number of sheep
come in.

It may be nothing or not many,
or they could all be there. Right.

Bob only rounds up
his sheep about twice a year,

so this is a rare chance
to get a good look at them.

I was beginning to wonder whether
there were any sheep on this station

I think that's the thing about
being in an area that is so huge

with quite thick, impenetrable bush.

And here's the proof, there
are hundreds of these animals here,

thousands of these animals here

but they managed to keep themselves
hidden for most of the day.

Where do you want this one.
On there?

On this one here. Oh, sorry.

It's always really eye-opening
to come to another person's farm

and see their set-up,

and it's one of those very
difficult things where

you always feel in the way, because
everyone has such a good system,

and if you don't know that system
you're just sort of standing there

holding a big hurdle and going,
"I don't know what to do with this."

Are these an Australian
breed of sheep?

No, they're originally
from South Africa. Right.

They're so different from our little
sort of woolly Welsh mountains.

Yeah. That's right, yeah.

These sheep are Damaras,
a desert breed

that thrives in the arid scrubland
of the Australian outback.

To survive in these dry landscapes,
the Damara has developed
an unusual feature.

You can see very quickly that
Damara have got these fat tails,

and look at that,
that's just a big fat store.

Very similar fat
to what's in a camel's hump.

It supplements their...

They sustain their well-being
with that fat in their tail.

With most of their fat
stored in one place,

the Damaras' meat is very lean,
unlike our sheep back home

that store fat all over their body,

giving us the fatty meat
that we love.

They seem quite keen
to get off the truck!

Compared to my little Welsh mountain
sheep, these are like wild animals.

This helps them to cope
with such a harsh environment.

But it makes them
an absolute nightmare to handle.

Go on!

Go on! Go on!

I've never known sheep
so willing to go backwards.

Come on, girls, it's only a gate.

Bob divides the flock,

separating off the male lambs
that will be going to market.

I don't even dare talk to Bob,

because you've got to concentrate
every second.

Once they're sorted, all the animals
are treated for parasites and worms,

a process known as drenching.

If we didn't do this by the time
we muster next year in April,

half these ewes could be gone.
Really?

Steady, big boy.

Just give him two shots, that one.

Two shots?
Yeah, because of his weight.

'With so many sheep to deal with,
Bob has had to innovate.'

I know a few people back at home
who would love one of these
hydraulic conveyor belts.

They're great, aren't they?
It actually takes the hard work out

cos these sheep will injure you
in a race. Right.

If you get hit from behind
by a 100 kilo ram,

it's not very pleasant if it gets
you between the shoulder blades. No.

Although this still feels pretty
traditional, shepherding is now

a billion dollar industry,
run by entrepreneurs like Kerry.

He made his fortune
in the oil business,

but had always dreamed of
owning a sheep station.

After the price of wool collapsed,
Meka was struggling,

so Kerry bought it
and took on Bob as his manager.

Together, they've restocked Meka
with Damara sheep,

and now supply the growing
meat market in the Middle East.

It's big business.

The Middle East has become
quite wealthy with oil money,

they've had expanding
numbers of people

and they don't have the ability,
due to lack of pasture

or range lands, to increase
the numbers of sheep,

fat tails, in that area.

So we saw the opportunity
to take a breed of fat tail

and to export it to the Middle East.

The fat tails were
fetching a premium,

so if we could produce them in a
low-cost operating environment

then we would have a winning formula,
and we did take a risk.

I'm getting the feeling,
even at this very early stage,

that we're at a kind of crossroads.

A country that used to make all
its money from wool

is now clearly not able
to do that any more

and I suppose the more
mobile-minded farmers,

instead of thinking that
their livelihood is over,

they are thinking about
how they can make this land work

and what breeds of sheep
will allow them to do that,

keeping this great
Australian tradition

of sheep and sheep stations.

It's Day Two.

I want to learn about the challenges
Bob and his team face

raising livestock in one of
the toughest environments on Earth.

In this parched landscape,
water is everything.

At the corner of each paddock
is a windmill that pumps water

from deep underground
into stone drinking troughs.

Twice a week, Bob and his team
drive the length and breadth

of the property to check
everything is working properly.

Today, I'm helping out.

There is nothing easy about farming
in this land, is there?

No, not really. Everything is
sort of quite physical.

It is hot, it's dusty and I guess
you can't take anything for granted?

No, that's right, yeah.

Nearly there.
It's quite warm in the wind,

but it's not unpleasant,
you could work all day today.

When it's 43 degrees at
eight o'clock in the morning,

you know you've got to be home
by lunchtime otherwise

your feet will start to burn
through the soles of your boots.

That's usually time to go home.

We always say if we can work
with the land, you're OK,

but if you disrespect the country,

it tends to teach you a lesson
and puts you back in your place.

We're only a speck
on the whole landscape,

so we get put in your spot
pretty smartly.

Generally the rule of thumb is,
if anybody asks you,

"Do you think it's clean enough?"

I say taste the water and if
they say, "I can't drink that",

I say, "Well, keep cleaning."

Happy with that? I'd drink that.
Yeah, right-oh. It's very good.

If I was a sheep,
I'd drink that water.

Good.
HE LAUGHS

This land is in an endless cycle of
drought, flash flood and wildfire.

The last drought was
the most severe for a century

and lasted for ten years.

Thousands of farmers
gave up in despair,

and those that stuck with it
saw their incomes more than halved.

The stress proved too great
for some.

Suicide in pastoral farming areas
is not uncommon,

where it just gets too much.

A lot of these places have been
four generations,

and when you see people losing
everything they've worked for

in their life,
and everything they believe in,

it would be very depressing,
I imagine, for a lot of people.

Given these enormous challenges,
what is it that keeps you here?

Just tell me what it is
that is so entrancing

about this place
and this way of life?

I think it's just the open spaces.

It's the freedom, I suppose, you're
away from all the stuff in town.

Nobody judges you out here.

It wouldn't matter
if you were an alcoholic,

or you smoke a bit of mull,
or you did this, or you did that,

as long as you're honest
and you work hard.

People just accept you for who
you are, generally, out in the bush.

A big storm blows
through in the night,

soaking the land
with much-needed rain.

Is this broken there,
or is it right down?

'One of the windmills
has stopped pumping.

'Without water,
the sheep will only last a few days.

'So Bob and one of his team
get to work.'

Ron's exceptionally handy
with the mechanical side of it.

Much as he hates to admit it,
he's good at it.

I'm a little bit big
to climb too high.

Oh, Ron.

Only maybe in a high wind.

Well, you can see where he's climbed
up here, all the bent rails.

LAUGHTER

The more time I spend here,

the more I'm growing to like
Bob and the other guys.

I really respect their passion
for this way of life.

And I've nothing but
admiration for the way they cope

with working in such a remote place.

They have to be able to do
everything because I suppose

you can't just phone a plumber or
someone to fix a windmill and say,

"Could you just nip out?", because
there is no nipping, you know?

They're 100 miles from the nearest
anywhere and, you know,

there's something I think sort of,
as I say, very admirable

about people who are
that capable.

Who can know their livestock,
and look after them,

and produce great sheep, but also
understand how the weather works,

understand what to do with
their land when it's flooding
or when there's drought.

But also just be able to
fix an electric fence

or re-put a battery in a car
if it's gone flat.

These are proper multi-taskers,
and people say men can't multi-task,

these ones can,
and they're quite good at it.

But despite all their
resourcefulness, there's one problem

that is threatening to overwhelm
everything at Meka.

A plague of feral dogs
is savaging the flock.

I just hate seeing our animals
being decimated like that.

It's generally just the younger
dogs, one to three-year olds.

They're like a fox on steroids,
they just kill and eat anything.

We've actually found a ewe weener
with its liver removed,

and it was obviously alive
while it was happening,

with the amount of blood
that was on the ground.

They'd pulled the liver out and
eaten that and just left the sheep.

How much stock do you think
you lose through dogs?

It could be up to 40%
out of a paddy.

I mean, 40%, that's got to
be your profit margin plus, gone.

And loss of production too.

Those ewe lambs that are gone
won't have lambs,

and the ewes that are gone
won't make any more lambs.

You've got to replace
those ewes again,

so it's not just a loss
of your sale,

it's the actual replacement
of your sheep.

Bob is trying to fight back
using a poison called 1080,

which is derived from
a native plant.

Indigenous wildlife
has a natural immunity,

but it is lethal to introduced
species like these feral dogs.

Nobody really enjoys killing things,
I don't think. I don't anyway.

It's only more for the protection
of the animals.

You feel a lot of anger
and hatred towards the dogs

when you see your sheep
torn to shreds and still alive.

But then you can feel
a little bit for the dog,

because it's not really
his fault either, you know?

It's just where we're at, I suppose.
It's just life.

And if you don't do it,
what's the reality?

If we don't get on top
of this dog problem,

in the next 12 months
we'll be finished here.

Bob and his team throw out
35,000 poison baits a year

but the dogs are still winning.

It's estimated that feral dogs
cause £45 million worth of damage

to livestock a year in Australia.

The numbers are just shocking.

With losses on this scale,

Meka will struggle to survive
in the cut-throat global market.

It's the morning of the big muster,

a day I've been
really looking forward to.

Bob needs to round up 1,000
sheep from one of his paddocks

to get them ready for export.

A plane will help us to spot them
from the air. Bob briefs the team.

OK, what's happening today, we're
doing a paddy called Wargon Paddy.

We'll probably fly about 10Ks
to the east and there's a windmill
there called Evans.

We'll have the two Kerrys and Ron
on the north side of the river

and Trish and Cass,
Neil on the south side of the river.

That's where we'll start.

It's sort of extraordinary
that you need six bikes

and an aeroplane just to gather
sheep from one paddock,

but when the paddock
is ten kilometres long

by four kilometres wide,

that's why you need all this
machinery and man power.

Bob and I take to the air.

We fly back and forth
across the paddock,

looking for mobs of sheep so we can
direct the bikes to round them up.

So before people had
planes and motorbikes,

how on earth did you start
mustering sheep on land this size?

Yeah, on horseback,
they would spread out with quite
a number of horses

and work in the same direction
we are, probably yelling

and hawing or whatever just to get
the sheep to move on down.

Unimaginable how it must have been
done with horses.

It must have taken months and months
and months to cover this land.

A constant team of people
out on horses looking for sheep.

Riding the bikes through
this terrain is a skilled
and dangerous business.

If you come off, it's a long way
to the nearest casualty department.

And there are stories of deadly
snakes getting caught up
in the wheels.

For once, I feel safer in the air!

We've done about four or five
flights over the top end
of the paddock.

I've seen two kangaroos.
No sheep yet.

Finally, I spot some of the flock.

Some here, Bob, just on the right,
just below us.

Just off our right wing now,
probably 200 or 300 metres.

I may just need to swing it round
to the left a little bit there.

RADIO: 'All right.'

Do you think they've got them all?

I think we've pretty well
got most of them now.

You can see the homestead
in the distance there, Kate,

that's where we've got to
go back to.

Yeah, it's quite a way.

With the sheep gathered into one
large group, the plane's job
is done.

The next stage happens
on the ground.

Now the plan is to move them
back about a 10 kilometre run

and the idea is just to persuade
them slowly down the road

to one of the paddocks
right by the homestead.

This is a pretty magnificent
feeling, I have to say,

being out in the Australian bush.

It's got to be 35 degrees.
Sheep, quad bike, dog,

you're not going to get
a happier girl than that!

And there's something just lovely
about being behind a herd of sheep.

It's great, yeah. It is for us
when you see all the lambs here.

When you're bringing them
in and there's no lambs, you know,

like the dogs have killed them...

Well, also because you see
your sheep so rarely,

it must be quite a good sight
to know that they're out there.

Yeah, and producing good lambs.
Yeah.

It's a very well worked out system,
this, and clearly this is a team

that have been working together
for a long time.

They almost seem to work
telepathically.

So although everyone's got radios,
everyone knows the sheep so well

and reads them and knows exactly
where to go when.

But managing this sheer number
of sheep takes an extraordinary
expertise.

I'm in awe, really.

The new Middle Eastern market
for fat-tailed Damaras has offered

stations like Meka a lifeline.

But it's come with a catch
live export.

Buyers in the Middle East prefer
to slaughter their own animals.

So all these sheep will be sent
live across the Indian Ocean

in specially-designed ships.

It's a controversial business.

Many people believe it's cruel
and want it banned.

There is no doubt, that 25, 30 years
ago when this trade started,

it was not conducted very well.

The first ships that took sheep
to the Middle East were very poor.

Water wasn't provided adequately,
feed was spasmodic,

there were problems with crowding
and smothering of sheep,

ventilation was inadequate,
and so on.

But what's happened
is the Australian government

recognised those problems,
they introduced a shipping protocol

and a whole new breed
of vessels has come out.

All the pens are a regulation size.

There's a minimum size,
there's a maximum size.

The stock have water all the time
through special feeders

and they have pellet feed
the whole time.

And they have forced ventilation
to all corners of the ship,

so the whole situation's changed.

Where in those days
they might have seen three,

and in some very bad cases
up to 10% losses,

today we're looking at
0.2, 0.3% losses.

So do you feel comfortable
about the business you're in?

I feel comfortable about
the shipping that we're going to.

One of the problems that exists,
and I don't know how you combat it,

is that they do sell out
to a domestic market

where residents of major cities,
Cairo or wherever,

take sheep and they take them home
for ceremonial purposes

where they kill the sheep at home
and barbecue them

for the gathered family and they
just don't do it very well.

They're not sheep people.

And the fact that some sheep
get sold into that market,

yes, I am concerned.

I mean, do the animal
activists have a point,

that there's surely better ways
of supplying the Middle East

with meat, sending them
as carcasses?

The market doesn't want carcasses,
so that's not an option yet.

Will it take carcasses?

We believe it will one day,
but it doesn't take them today

in the quantities of the meat
that's going into that country.

They prefer live meat over
carcasses at this point in time.

'The future of Meka
may be uncertain, but Bob and Kerry

'are determined to overcome
the latest challenge to face

'the sheep-herding business
in Western Australia.'

So do you feel relatively optimistic
about the future,

even though there are all the issues
with the live meat trade?

Yeah, I think so,

if you think positive
and just keep pushing forward,

you know, one door closes
and generally another one opens.

But if you go negative, you tend
to stall and flounder a bit.

Yeah, I know it's hard to stay
optimistic in this industry,

but, yeah, you've got to!

THEY LAUGH

Positive!
The power of positive thinking.

It's just kind of overwhelming
and awe-inspiring at the same time

just to handle this number
of sheep in this size of land.

One of life's moments really, where
you sort of get a flash of insight

into why people like Bob and Ron and
Kerry just love this land so much.

There is something
just extraordinarily exhilarating

about being out in all this space.
And it feels so untamed,

and yet there you are trying
somehow to be part of it

and it's really compelling.

And you can see why Bob
says he'll go sometimes to town

and after four or five days he's
just desperate to get back here.

And I get that. I mean, it's hot,
it's dusty, it's inhospitable,

and this is an exhausting life
and I've done five days of it,

Bob's done 40 years.

But I can see why he loves it.

As I drive back to Perth,

I learn that live export
is in the news again.

NEWS REPORT: 'Australia's live export
trade is facing yet another crisis

'with thousands of sheep exported
to the Middle East

'apparently clubbed,
stabbed and buried alive.'

Footage of Australian sheep and
cattle being inhumanely slaughtered

in foreign abattoirs has been
broadcast on Australian TV

and the animal rights groups
are renewing their calls

for a complete ban.

I want to find out more about
this business for myself,

so after days of phone calls, we've
got permission to film at one of

Western Australia's biggest live
sheep exporters, Emanuel Exports.

Livestock manager Mike Curnick
shows me where the sheep are kept

before being shipped abroad.

On a normal day we'd probably
receive 25, 30,000 sheep.

Just the numbers here,
that's the thing
I can't get my head around.

It's just the sheer numbers
that everyone is dealing with.

If the boats take
60 or 70,000 sheep.

The idea is to get the sheep in here
and acclimatize them to the boats

and the pallets
and the conditions onboard.

There's a requirement
that they've got to be here

for six or seven days
before they can be loaded.

And it also gives us a chance
to put them into their lines

and their weights and their types and
prepare them for travel, basically.

'The sheep will be checked
by a government vet

'before making the two to three week
journey to the Middle East.'

To the uninitiated eye,
this looks like a very crowded shed.

It may look crowded,
but to us it looks un-crowded.

Like here, they're quite content,
there's a lot of room.

If you actually walk through there,
there'd be a lot of room in there.

They're continually fed pellets,

that's done automatically
through these augers.

So they've got feed and water
24 hours a day, seven days a week.

'I wasn't too sure what to expect
here, but the sheep look relaxed

'and well-treated.'

There is a battle going on currently
between the live export trade

and local animal rights activists.

What would you say to them?

You're a livestock man, do you feel
comfortable about what you do?

I feel very comfortable
about what I do.

From time to time, things may not
go according to plan,

but that happens in human life
and all walks of life.

Everybody's got their opinion.

I think the more you know about it,
the more you try and learn

about it and understand it.

And if you do have a different point
of view, that's fine.

But I think sometimes you've got to
come up with some alternatives

as well to solve the problems
that you perceive are there.

You know, nothing pleases us more
than to see the sheep walk out

of here in 100% healthy order
and condition.

'In 2012, Australia exported nearly
2.5 million live sheep

'worth almost
a quarter of billion pounds.

'Farmers say it's become
the backbone of the rural economy.'

If something did happen
to the live sheep trade,

it would be the end
of the sheep farming industry,

particularly in Western Australia
where we've got a small population

and a high sheep population.

But I think that while
we continue to improve it,

I think there's a chance
it'll keep going for a long time.

I'm in a bit of a quandary.

My gut tells me that I would
rather not see the live export
of any animal.

You know, in an ideal world, sheep,
cattle would be dispatched

in local, small abattoirs
close to farms.

But, you know, we don't live
in an ideal world

and it seems that in Australia
that really isn't an option.

Maybe the answer is that
if there is a market in places

like the Middle East and
other countries for live animals,

it's better that they come
from places like Australia

where welfare standards are high,
where regulations are tight
and in place.

Because if they
don't come from here,

presumably they're going to look
elsewhere to other countries

who can produce live animals,
but perhaps not with the same

high standards that they produce
in countries like Australia.

If it were banned here, perhaps
that would be doing a worse job

for animal welfare
than by not banning it.

There doesn't seem to be
any simple answer, really.

The Middle East isn't the only place
with a growing demand for sheep.

Across the developing world,
rising standards of living

mean more people are eating meat.

What was once an occasional treat
is becoming an everyday meal.

And global population as a whole
is growing fast.

It's predicted that by 2050,

there will be two billion
more mouths to feed.

Australia,
with its huge empty spaces,

is well-placed to supply
these new markets.

But if it's going to keep pace
with demand,

it's going to have to innovate.

I'm travelling to South Australia,

the country's agricultural
heartland, to a breeding centre

120 miles south east of Adelaide.

I'm going to meet a farmer who is
pioneering genetic technology

that could keep Australia at
the vanguard of the sheep industry.

I do feel slightly
uncomfortable with this.

Like any of these sort
of techniques,

we tend to think of in
a very negative way

and I'm afraid I would join
that camp.

So I need to really keep an open
mind because I don't know enough
about them.

I don't know enough
about these techniques,

I don't know really
what the plus sides are,
as well as the disadvantages.

So it's going to be a kind of
interesting, but I suspect quite
challenging few days.

'This is Andrew Michael.

'He's on a mission to create
a flock of super sheep.'

So is it all happening in here?

Yeah, it is, it's underway
and going beautifully.

It's an unnerving scene
inside the shed.

I've never seen sheep
being handled like this before.

This is a cutting-edge technique
called embryo transfer.

These sedated ewes are the pick
of Andrew's flock.

Two weeks ago, they were given
natural hormones

to make them release multiple eggs.

Then they were artificially
inseminated with semen
from Andrew's top rams.

Now they're about
to have their eggs removed.

Those ewes will have thousands and
thousands of eggs in their lifetime.

What we're doing is just making
one little period where we maximise

the number of eggs released
and we're actually fertilizing those
at one time.

So our best genetics,
the best sheep available,

could instead of giving us
eight lambs, could give us 100 lambs.

So, financially, that makes sense.

Yes, and it gives us a bigger pool
of genetics to select from.

We do our breeding
on a pyramid system.

So we're trying to maximise
the group of sheep at the top.

So the more that we can advance
our genetics, the more everyone wins.

'In a neighbouring shed,
semen is being collected

'for the next round
of artificial insemination.

'Just like the alpaca I saw in Peru,
an artificial vagina

'will trick the male into thinking
he's mating with a female.'

So the semen will basically be
collected in that glass receptacle?

The ram will ejaculate into there
and it will all fall down into that.

OK, so the rams will come in,
see four pretty girls,

get a whiff of the right sort
of pheromones...

The right hormones and all that,
yeah.

"I know what my job is
and I'm about to do it!"

THEY LAUGH

And then you'll just
interrupt proceedings
at the exact right moment.

The exact right moment!

OK, Helen, I'll let you
get on with it.

He obviously likes
the look of those girls.

He just can't decide which one!

Maybe he doesn't like an audience.

That was it? So he's ejaculated
into that. Yes. Really?

Once he works, it's quite quick.

Suddenly all the men in my life
are feeling really
good about themselves!

THEY LAUGH

So you can see the ejaculation.

He's given about a mil,
about 0.8 of a mil there.

So that's got to be kept
in the temperature obviously

and out of daylight.
So that's him done.

That's him done. There's not a lot
of romance in it, is there?!

No, not a lot of sweet talk.

'Back with the ewes next door,
veterinary surgeon Margie Trowbridge

'is removing their eggs using
a process known as flushing.'

So this is the uterus
coming out now?

This is her uterus coming out.
Two horns of the uterus.

She's an adult ewe, she's lambed
before, so it's a nice robust size.

What we're going to do is push fluid
from the top in down through there,

through this catheter into a dish.

So we now aim to put this
specialised flushing solution...

So any eggs will come out with that
solution into the Petri dish? Yes.

So now I understand the term
flushing. Flushing, exactly.

It is literally that. It is.

Is there any resistance
to this sort of procedure,

are there people
that are against it?

A lot of people don't understand it.

I guess there'd be people
who would think a ewe

shouldn't be subjected to surgery.

It is progress and you can't stop it.

And I guess there would be some that
would not approve of what we do,

even collecting ram semen
or inseminating ewes.

They think it's unnatural
and it shouldn't be done.

But it's the human condition,
isn't it?

To keep progressing and survive.

And the ewes, once they've
had this procedure,

can they then carry on with
an entirely natural breeding life?

Absolutely. Absolutely.
These girls will...

Andrew will probably join them
again very soon,

and they'll have a lamb
within their normal breeding time.

Probably within the same season
as they would without having
undergone this procedure.

So you're happy? That went well?
Yes, I'm happy.

She's started to recover from her
anaesthetic. Yeah, so she's good.

She's good? She's good to go.

So the eggs that have been
flushed from that ewe

into the Petri dish
are now in this lab with Bill.

So there's an embryo there
that's fertilized.

Can I have a peep? Yeah, sure.

Wow. That's extraordinary!

So I am looking at the very, very,
very early development of a lamb?

Yes. That's right, that's a lamb.

I'm just going to take it out.

How many eggs is sort of
the average that you might find

that are fertilised?

I think you'd say six or seven
per ewe on average,

but there's a great variation.

You can see we've had a 16

and we've had one ewe that gave us
four unfertilized.

So it's not a failsafe method.
It won't work sometimes?

Yeah. It's nature, you know.
It's what happens.

But, you know,
with proper care and management

and a bit of adjustment
to programmes,

you can get a cost-effective result
for your client.

But nature always has the last say.

Next morning, at Andrew's farm,
the fertilized eggs are implanted

into surrogate mothers,
genetically lower quality ewes that,

in five months' time, will give
birth to top quality lambs.

Hup! Hup!

Round you go.

Andrew has the conviction of a man
who has seen the future.

He's creating the ultimate,
off-the-shelf designer sheep

and revolutionizing
the sheep-breeding industry.

If we can identify a sheep in here
that's got the genes

that are going to be the best
in the world,

the difference that can make
to the industry is just so important.

For many years, Andrew has been
measuring and recording

the vital statistics of his sheep,
creating a detailed database.

Which ones have the leanest meat,
the healthiest fats,

produce the best wool.

Thing is, I can see the surface
on this ram has got the right
wool structures.

If you run your finger on that, Kate,
and feel how soft it is.

KATE GASPS
I'd wear that right now.

That would do into a beautiful
yarn for any sort of fabric.

We could do knickers and bras
in this, it's that good!

KATE LAUGHS

You can do the knitting!

'DNA testing has moved things on
significantly.

'Andrew is now able to guarantee
clients that by buying semen

'or fertilized embryos
from his animals,

'they're getting exactly the genes
needed to improve their flock.'

All they need to be able to tell you
everything, from how quickly

the sheep might grow, what the
wool might be that it produces,

whether it's got omega-3s in the
meat, its zinc levels, everything.

It'll tell us 51 different traits.
That's extraordinary.

So from that blood,

I'll be able to tell you how much
fleece it will have

and what micron it will be.
Everything. Without even shearing it.

God, it is cutting edge, isn't it?

I mean, it has the potential
to totally change the whole flock
in Australia.

Yeah.

Using embryo transfer,
this does seem to be a quick

and effective way of producing
sheep with the best meat and wool.

Incredibly, Andrew's also breeding
animals which have
more efficient stomachs.

Food conversion is the one untapped
thing within our industry.

Food conversion is basically
the amount of food in,

for the production of meat.

The variations are as big
as 22 kilograms of food in,

to one kilogram of meat.

The average is seven to nine
kilograms but there's been animals

tested down to 2.8 kilograms of food
in for one kilogram of meat.

So that has two advantages, one
is that we produce a lot more meat,

but we eat a lot less feed,
so we can then utilise our pastures

and our environment better
but produce more meat.

It's really the way of the future.

Food conversion is the key challenge
facing the global meat industry.

Compared to vegetable proteins,
like soya and lentils,

producing meat requires
a huge amount of land, food,

energy and water, all of which
are already in short supply.

Get around, get right around.

But if we can breed animals
that use food more efficiently,

then perhaps there is
a more sustainable future
for meat production.

I wasn't sure what to expect
from these last couple of days.

I don't know whether it was going
to be something that made me

feel uncomfortable because, in my
mind, animal husbandry should be

something that's done
as naturally as possible

with really as little intervention
as possible

and actually what I've learnt
is that what Andrew

and breeders like him are doing
is working with nature.

They're speeding the process up

by using things like artificial
insemination and embryo transfer

but the process is still natural,
they're still looking at animals

and saying that's a good one
and if we put it

with another good one,
we're going to get good offspring

and that's what I do and much
smaller scale farmers do

to ensure that we have
better animals.

They're just doing it in a way
that's more scientific

and more provable.

It's really impressive
and it does feel like

if there is to be a future in
farming and a future

in food production that is going
to be meaningful

for the world population,

this is the sort of thing that we
have to think about

adopting on a much bigger scale.

This might just be the start
of what we have to do

to meet demand for food.

Scientists are pushing the
boundaries of what's possible
in agriculture,

and shaping the way
we'll farm in the future.

Using genetic modification,
scientists are able to create

new strains of plants and animals
that will grow more quickly,

produce more food, in tougher
conditions, using fewer resources.

It's up to us to decide
whether we go down this path,

or choose another way.

My travels among herders
are nearly over.

But before I leave Australia,

there's one last place
I want to visit,

a farm where they have
a very different approach

to the rearing of animals.

Hello, hi. Good morning.

Hello, nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, I'm Kate.

Nice to meet you, Kate, I'm Michelle.

This is Phil and Michelle Lally.

What a beautiful farm.
Your garden is amazing.

Oh, thank you. And it's a very
beautiful part of Australia.

Thank you, we love it here.

Their company, Savannah Lambs,

works almost 2,000 acres of mixed
farm in the Clare Valley

and it regularly wins prizes

for producing some of
the finest meat in Australia.

Phil trained as a winemaker

and spent years travelling the world
making fine Pinot Noirs,

before returning home to take over
the family farm.

But he has an unusual approach
to human-sheep interaction.

If we walk gently towards them,
you go two or three metres.

Then they'll probably
think about turning around.

One's turned here,
you stick an arm out this way

and the rest of them
will turn around.

They like their space,

they also know that if you
maintain that distance

and we maintain that distance
then everybody's happy.

It's a nice quiet process
and they're willing to oblige.

It's making sure that that process
of handling those animals

is as stress free and as calm
and as quiet as possible.

We don't use motorbikes
and we don't use dogs

and we don't use any sort of
electric prod or any way

of moving an animal
or forcing an animal at all.

It's about providing them
with an exit point

and standing in the right place
at the right time

and when an animal feels
comfortable it's not stressed.

You seem, even at this very
early stage of meeting you,

to be a strange mix of thinking
about trying to produce

the very best product you can,
but also if I may say it,

being kind of slightly hippy dippy
about things as well.

Yeah, I guess now we've
come to understand and realise

that taking that
hippy dippy approach

is commercially a benefit for us

and it's something we realised years
ago that why not let the animals

do what they want to do
and work that into our system,

rather than forcing.

It was a big changing moment for us

in the way we handle our animals.

A lot of hungry mouths to feed.
I know.

When we have our normal 40 in here,
it's so loud.

Key to their philosophy
is hand rearing lambs

that have become separated
from their mothers in the field,

something that doesn't often happen
on vast Australian farms.

Touch and care and love
and noises that their mums make,

we make back to them.

Right. So we've sat and observed
the girls out in the paddock

and they sort of do a bit of
a "mmm mmm" noise

and we do that with them
and they instantly calm down.

Sometimes they get born
and mum might get scared or flighty

and run off or they'll get separated
and this little fellow

might have been out there
screaming his lungs out all night.

So the first thing
he wants is just a cuddle,

because he's just a little kid
really, he's just like a baby.

And do you find it hard
when you hand rear them,

particularly in that
very hands-on way

that they find it difficult to
integrate back into the flock,

to effectively go and be
a real sheep again?

I think that these guys
have got their own character

because they've been
allowed to be independent,

so they haven't had mum explaining
to them what they have to do.

When they go out into the paddock
with the others,

they become born leaders.

They help us teaching
the other lambs,

through what we call
their sheep speak, that we're OK,

we're not going to hurt them.

Cuddling is important here.

The Lallys are convinced that sheep
respond to human contact,

but there is sound
business sense too.

A happy lamb will give you a tenderer
and more juicy product

so we make sure that in their natural
environments we look after them

like we do and at the end of the day
from a commercial point of view,

the product's better,
people get a better product.

They might pay a little bit more

but we're certainly not triple
the price or anything like that.

Underpinning everything
is good animal husbandry.

They're not as hippy dippy
as they might look.

They buy in the very best stock,

and have invested heavily
in state-of-the-art
farm infrastructure.

Also, they take great care over
what they feed their flock.

At key stages in their development,

these sheep are given
a specially blended food

that allows their stomach lining
to develop a larger surface area.

This creates highly efficient sheep
that can convert food into meat

and wool at an extraordinary rate.

We look at it like an elite athlete,

where to perform
at the highest level

you need to have the right intake,
the right ingredients,

the right food to sustain
high energy.

With a lamb and our sheep,
they're ruminant animals,

so they have four stomachs

and they have the ability for those
stomachs to be developed and become

more efficient at food conversion
which means when they get fed

a kilo of food, rather than half of
that food going out the back

in the form of waste, we've now been
able to get rates of absorption

to around 90-95%
into the animal's system

which then increases
their growth rates.

They grow more wool
and they mature at a younger age

and grow a lot faster.

We think sort of super
sheep of the future.

Every day, Phil spends some quality
time communing with his flock.

Tell me about this sheep,
that seems very friendly indeed.

Nudge was special,
he was a premature lamb

and was so small he couldn't
reach mum to drink.

Normally in the past, he would have
been left in the paddock to die,

so we identified him early and
picked him up and hand raised him

and he's never ever forgotten
that ability or that process

of being hand fed from a young age
where he would come up

and nudge you to get a bottle.

He is now the matriarch
of our entire sheep flock.

He's a leader and he's a character

and he's a beautiful,
beautiful animal

that would have never survived
unless we'd intervened.

But now he's paid us back in kind
year after year after year

where when we have to move the lambs
in to weigh them,

which is just part of the process
for selecting lambs to go to market

and place that product,
Nudge will walk to the gates

and everything follows because
he is the leader of the flock

which looks up to him
for directions.

His contribution has been fantastic

and we hope he's around
for many more years yet.

But the young lambs that
we've been feeding today,

are they the sort of Nudges
of the future?

Absolutely they are. Yeah, they are.

I wasn't entirely sure how practical
they were going to be.

I did think that this might be
a sort of slightly utopian style

of farming that was lovely and it
worked for them but that it wouldn't

be something that could be kind
of more widely commercially viable,

but these guys are very practical.
They have to make a living.

They're doing a lot of things
that other farmers do.

They're choosing animals
based on the right genetics,

they're making
very conscious decisions,

but it's just very interesting
that they're clearly getting

extremely good results and therefore
high prices for the product

that they're producing,

but managing them in a way
that feels frankly kind of lovely.

This looks absolutely fantastic.

Thank you. OK, we need to eat this
meat. OK. I want to hear your....

My opinion. Your opinion.

Let's put it to the test.

That really is delicious.

So full of flavour, but has
a really nice texture as well,

sort of soft and it's delicious.

The Lallys believe that their
low-stress method produces

more tender and tasty meat,

and clients all over Australia
are more than happy

to pay a premium for it.

As I leave Savannah Lamb,

I feel a surge of optimism
about the future of herding.

While I don't think Phil
and Michelle have the solution

to the global food crisis, I do
think they have something else.

They're forging a great business
by blending old and new,

combining scientific research with
good old-fashioned shepherding.

And in a world where farmers are
having to scale up just to get by,

Phil and Michelle are staying small
and focusing on quality,

and that gives me hope
for the future.

It's been a long
eye-opening journey

from the mountain shepherds
in Afghanistan

to the huge-scale farms
in Australia,

and along the way I've felt
both elated and enlightened

and sometimes just failed to see
that there can be any future at all

for the ancient tradition
of herding.

In Afghanistan, I saw the origins
of shepherding -

proud people struggling to survive,
utterly dependent on their animals,

as their ancestors have been
for thousands of years.

The alpaca herders of the high Andes
were at a crossroads,

an ancient people entering
the modern world,

having to choose between
tradition and progress.

And the Australian shepherds,
with their vast farms
and hi tech methods,

are the face of herding's future.

With all the challenges of the next
few decades, it feels inevitable

that we will have to embrace new
technologies and industrial farming,

with all the ethical
and moral dilemmas they bring.

I suspect, like it or not,

scientists will become
the new farmers,

but I hope that there may also be
a place for a more traditional way

of raising livestock
and producing meat

and I also hope that in
our insatiable desire

for plentiful, cheap food,

we won't lose that ancient bond
between animal and herder

that has sustained the human race
for over 10,000 years.

By looking to our past,

perhaps we can solve
some of the problems of our future.

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