Graham Ackerman, a farmer on the remote Stoer Peninsula in the northwest Highlands of Scotland, made a heartbreaking discovery when he found his Aberdeen Angus breeding bull, Ronnie, dead. The loss, which he described as "devastating" and a "complete shock," struck at a critical time for his herd.
Graham and his wife Helen moved from Bedfordshire to their remote Scottish farm more than a decade ago. They keep chickens, a pig, and 31 Highland cattle. Their story was featured in an episode of the BBC's This Farming Life, which originally aired in February 2021.
A devastating and costly loss
"To find a bull dead was devastating," Graham told the cameras in the BBC series. "It was just a complete shock and surprise, and a logistical problem, an emotional problem, a financial problem. Just about every problem rolled into one dead animal."
The cause of death was unknown, and Graham began to question whether he could have saved Ronnie. "You wonder whether it was my fault he died, whether I could have done anything to save him," he admitted. "You have to deal with a lot of things in farming. Things live and things die, you just do your best for them. That's all you can do."
Timing could not have been worse
Losing Ronnie could not have come at a worse time, as the cows needed to become pregnant in the next few months to calve the following year. Following Ronnie's death, Graham and Helen moved the cows to a different pasture, which proved tricky as the route back to their farm passed through a village.
"We are just now guiding them and watching for traffic at the same time," Helen explained. "Once they are on the road, they should just head home." Unfortunately, not all of their cows were familiar with the rules of the road, with one wandering off into a nearby worksite. Luckily, one cow knew the way home and the rest of the herd followed. "I love it, what's nicer than walking a few cows?" Helen laughed.
Financial dilemma ahead
The couple made it home, but with one noticeable absence. "We really thought we'd got ourselves sorted with Ronnie," Helen admitted. "Because he was such a great bull. I mean, you just look at those calves, they are just glorious and they are so lovely. Lovely colours, lovely shapes, they are putting on meat well. We really haven't got our heads round it."
The couple could not afford to replace Ronnie and keep the herd fed through the winter. They had to buy hay and pay to have it transported to their remote farm, a huge expense in itself. "We also can't afford to keep the herd unless they are all in calf," Graham added. "So they have got to be in calf to make it viable. If we keep them through the winter for nothing and they have not got calves next spring, then it has just thrown an awful lot of money away."
"That's the dilemma we face, we will have to deal with it and come up with an answer, but it's tough," he contemplated. The episode aired on BBC iPlayer.
