A farming family from the Cairngorms National Park will appear on the new series of BBC’s This Farming Life.
Robert Mackenzie and Jenni MacDonell, of Lochbuie Croft in Newtonmore, run one of five Scottish farms taking centre stage in the upcoming series.
Mr Mackenzie is the fourth generation of farmers in his family having taken over the croft from his dad, Donald Mackenzie, five years ago.
His partner grew up just over the hill and has always been involved with farming herself.
They have both seen firsthand how the industry has changed over the years and have experienced the challenges of dealing with inflation and the rising costs of feed and fertiliser.
“We used to be able to just croft the farm but now to do what we love to do we’ve had to do something different and diversify,” he said.
This Farming Life follows their steps to protect the croft’s future with the help of four friendly alpacas – Rocky, Cloud, Kevin and Teddy.
An enjoyable experience
Last year, the family stepped out of their comfort zone by applying to appear on the BBC Scotland series to share the highs and lows of farming life.
Miss MacDonell said: “We thought it would be really good for advertising the business and the diversification.
“We thought we’d just give it a go but never expected to be selected.”
They started filming with the show in September which Mr Mackenzie found quite “daunting” at first.
He said: “It was nerve-wracking having the cameras there and it was a shock how close they had to be.
“But after a week or so we’d just be chatting away and by the end we were really enjoying it.”
Introducing alpacas
The farm in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park opens the first episode of the new series which goes on to follow the farmers gathering their cows back down to the croft for pregnancy testing.
They also invite the audience to behind the scenes of their newest business venture Cairngorm Alpaca Trekking which offers a number of fun activities for all ages.
Visitors can book online to take part in alpaca and miniature donkey walks, as well as meet and greets with Pygmy goats and sheep.
Miss MacDonell said: “We’re happy to change and adapt and think it’s important to show the difficulties.
“We hope being part of the show will help to promote the alpaca diversification and our new business.”
Tune into BBC Scotland
The sixth series of the hit BBC Scotland show will also follow the daily routines at four other farms from across the country.
In episode one, viewers will meet Nikki and Ollie Lake from Thorabella Farm in Dallas, Moray and Carianne, Fraser and Angus MacDonald from Ardbhan Croft in North Uist.
This Farming Life returns to BBC Scotland at 8pm on Monday. Each episode will be repeated the following day at 8pm on BBC Two.
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