Ruth takes the stage.

Radio Times: Ruth takes the stage.

Characters: Brian, David, Debbie, Matt Crawford, Ruth

• The day of the conference has arrived and Ruth is very nervous, but her time comes and she’s a proper little start. She very matter of factly talks about Brookfield’s TB problem and then looks to the future, to what farmers can do to bring the public around to the idea of paying top dollar for a top product – no-one else has the incentive to educate the public about the ways and needs of the farmer but the farmer himself. The speech goes down very well.
• In a topical insert they even mention various ovine gene advances, including a passing mention to big buttocks and a Dorset experiment in increasing the amounts of lean meat, an advance that Debbie was interested in. Passing mention also for the agriculture minister Nick Brown, although not mentioning the other reason why he’s been on the radio a bit in the past week.
• Matt Crawford has visited the estate office, meeting with Graham to look over the estate books and, despite Brian protesting that the numbers are down because of the prevailing economic conditions, he not sure that Brian owning Home Farm and just managing the estate land might not be a contributory factor. Brian protests vehemently, but Matt remained unmoved.

Summarised by: Chris Harrison