This Farming Life Season 5: Release Date Set for September 2023 on BBC Two

In Armadale, a hill farmer prepares for one of Europe's biggest sheep sales, while in Haweswater, a couple take on the biggest gamble of their lives by moving to a larger farm 10 miles north. An Aberdeenshire couple who began farming four years ago plan to raise baby ostriches, and a Northumberland shepherd prepares for the National English Sheepdog trials, and new farmers hatch ostriches.

In Shetland, Kirsty tackles her first breach birth. Stevie's favourite pygmy goat Ginger struggles to give birth to twins. Raymond's cows run amok on their way to the fields and the Rodgers take young heifer Nadia to the Balmoral Show.

The Rodgers face a final TB test. Animals arrive at Lynn and Sandra's croft. Raymond is kept guessing by his surrogate sheep and a calving boom starts at Kirsty and Aimee's farm.

A new family, dairy farmers the McLeans, are introduced. Raymond goes the extra mile to save his lambs. Stevie faces buffalo cow number 666, and Kirsty and Aimee take last year's calves to market.

Inspectors arrive to check Raymond and Johnny's subsidy claim. Kirsty and Aimee gather the flock in from St Ninian's Isle. Lynn and Sandra host their first workshop at the croft. The Beast from the East wreaks havoc on Stevie's buffalo farm.

New entrant crofting couple Lynn and Sandra send their first pigs to slaughter. Raymond's best bull Major is injured in a brawl. The Rodgers hopes of Balmoral show hang on a clear TB test and buffalo farmer Stevie goes shopping in Holland.

As the new year begins, we meet three new farming families – father-and-son team Raymond and Johnny Irvine, Shetland sisters Kirsty and Aimee Budge and the Rodgers family in Co Down, Northern Ireland - and buffalo farmer Stevie Mitchell returns.

It is midsummer and, in the final episode of the series, David and Sandra have to shear the sheep and start to train a month-old foal. Dairy farmers Stuart and Aylett Roan take a break from the cows to prepare for piglets, Robin and Penny's hay harvest is threatened by the weather, and Stevie reveals big plans for the future of his buffalo business.

The sun is out and in the south of Scotland dairy farmers the Roans are struck down by silage fever; Janet and Alastair take a road trip to the mainland and find something very unusual in a group of young female sheep; crofters Robin and Penny's hopes for making money rest on sales of meat and pies at the biggest local food event of the year; and Stevie test-drives his new burger grill at Perth Races Ladies' Day.

In Appin, David is beset by pests, and out on the hill his lambs are under threat from predators. In the Highlands, Robin and Penny makes use of the fine weather to cut peat, a cow undergoes open stomach surgery at the Roans' dairy farm, and Stevie decides to give his retired bull 007 a new assignment.

Weaning time at the buffalo farm gives Stevie and his neighbours a sleepless night and a milk fever epidemic puts David and Sandra's cows in peril.

Lambing and calving are in full swing. In Drummuir, Mel tries every trick in the book to help a first-time mum bond with her lambs.

Spring is in the air. On Mull, Highland cow Goldilocks gives Janet and Alastair a fright when a calving goes wrong.

Alone on the farm, Mel must act fast to help a trapped bull, the Holstein Society assessor comes to judge the merits of the Roans' herd, an avian flu scare puts Robin and Penny's hens on lockdown and David is called to the rescue when a cow gets stuck in a bog.

Dairy farmers Steven and Tracey Roan turn to technology to increase their chances of female calves, David and Sandra's hefted sheep go back to their homes on the hill, Janet and Alistair's new purchases prove problematic and Stevie and stockman Eddie go all out to save the life of a buffalo calf.

As winter arrives, Stevie experiments with a radical buffalo feeding idea, David is anxious to find out if his cows are in calf, dairy farmers the Roan family set up a milkshake stand at the Dalbeattie Christmas lights-on event and Robin and Penny's family arrive in the Highlands for the annual festive ceilidh.

On Mull, Janet and Alastair put Owen, their new young virgin tup, to the test. Stevie risks the wrath of the buffalo mums when he ear-tags four newborn calves, early snow on the Western Highlands helps David gather his sheep and Martin, Mel and Erin hope for a windfall at the Carlisle bull sales.

Our old friends newlyweds Mel and Martin Irvine return to the series and introduce their newest member of the family, four-month-old Erin. In Fife, buffalo farmer Stevie must select a new breeding bull from hisherd. Highland crofters Robin and Penny chase a runaway calf and Alastair has to leave Janet alone on Mull while he travels to the mainland to take an important deer-stalking test.

On Mull, new entrant farmers Janet and Alastair take their lambs to auction, inDumfries and Galloway, three generations of the Roan dairy-farming family enter a cow and a young heifer into competition at the South West Scotland Dairy Show, and in Argyll, hill farmers David and Sandra prepare for autumn by gathering in their sheep for a mineral dose and spreading slurry, while in the far north in the Highlands, crofters Robin and Penny's cattle are tested for bovine TB.

This final episode features all the farmers from across the year reflecting on what each season means to them. In autumn the programme revisits sea shepherding with Sandy on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. In the west in Argyll, Sybil and George gather in their sheep from over six square miles of mountainside. As winter descends over Scotland, the farmers reflect on this time of year. It's bitterly cold but this is also a time of new life for the farmers. It's a huge relief when spring arrives. Martin collects semen from his prize bull, and Sandy and Ali welcome two new calves to their croft. As summer arrives, the farmers can finally put their cattle out to the fields. Martin's have been indoors for eight months. Further west, Sybil and George welcome home their cattle from their winter sheds on another farm.

In the east of Scotland, Martin prepares two young bulls for the biggest event of the farming calendar, the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh. First they need their nose rings, an accessory no bull can do without. Martin and Mel's wedding is also looming. Martin goes for his final kilt fitting and Mel meets her dad to discuss their plans. Ahead of the wedding they are 'blackened' by family and friends with feathers, flour and treacle in an old Scottish ritual. Back from their honeymoon, Martin and Mel must shear half their flock of sheep with a team of helpers. Then all the farmers travel to the Royal Highland Show, where Bobby enters a bake off, Sandy and Ali try to sell their mutton, John puts all his faith into his prize bull and Martin gets a surprise result when he enters a young novice bull into the competitions.

In Argyll, Sybil prepares for George's 50th birthday and the arrival of her sister and niece from England. Sybil and George are also looking after a desperately ill cow. Julia K had a traumatic caesarean and is too weak to stand up on her own, so they decide to lift her to her feet twice a day using a sling and a forklift truck to help build her muscles up. East of Inverness, persistent rain means Martin's cattle and young calves are yet to be turned out of their winter sheds into the fields. Sybil's sister and niece arrive and there's tension over the question of who will take on the family farm in the future. In central Scotland near Loch Lomond, Bobby and Anne hold an open day to educate the public about farming. North of Aberdeen, John has to urgently call the vet when one of his heifers gets into difficulty calving. The vet decides on a caesarean but it's a major operation and there's no guarantee she, or her huge calf, will survive.

In central Scotland, Bobby and Anne must gather their pregnant ewes from the hills ready for lambing. Bobby's father's 90th birthday is looming and thoughts turn to who will run the farm when it is time to hand it on to the next generation. In East of Inverness, Mel and Martin move into a caravan in the lambing shed to deal with the imminent arrival of hundreds of lambs. On the Isle of Lewis, Sandy makes tweed curtains for their holiday let and Ali cooks Easter buns.

Summer arrives at last. In the east of Scotland, Martin prepares two young bulls for the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh.

In Argyll, Sybil prepares for George's 50th birthday. Bobby and Anne hold an open day to educate the public about farming.

Bobby's father's 90th birthday is looming and thoughts turn to who will run the farm when it's time to hand it on to the next generation.

Spring arrives for the farmers. In the north, John is expecting more than 6,000 new lambs, so hires in extra staff.

Lambing season is just a month away. Martin tends to their 500 pregnant ewes and gets the lambing sheds ready with dad Stevie.

John Scott and Martin Irvine head to the Stirling bull sales, each hoping to sell four of their best bulls.

As Christmas finally arrives, there are celebrations and a sad discovery in Martin's cattle shed.

It's early winter and, although the weather is getting colder and darker, it's a time of year that brings new life on the farms.

Sandy and his fellow crofters gather in their sheep from the moor and club together to dip them in insecticide before mating time.

In the west of Scotland in Argyll, husband and wife George and Sybil gather in their sheep from over six square miles of rugged mountainside.

It's autumn, the time of year to prepare for the mating season. Sea shepherd Sandy gathers in wild sheep from a remote Scottish island by boat.