Cork farmer Frank Murphy will feature in the ninth episode of UTV Ireland’s highly successful fly-on-the-wall rural series, ‘Rare Breed: A Farming Year’, on Monday, 7th March, 2016 at 8pm.

In this week’s episode, we join Frank in the month of September, where he has travelled to the Kanturk Mart with one of his agents, looking to buy cattle.

Rare Breed provides an in-depth look into the successes and struggles of farming life in Ireland, throughout a calendar year. A total of 18 farming families from across the country are taking part in the series, which gives a unique insight into all aspects of farming life and the people who work our land – from beef, dairy, sheep, pig and poultry farms, to tomato and organic vegetable producers.

Elsewhere in the ninth episode, we join dairy farmer Will Taylor from Kircubbin, who has travelled to Dublin to sell his ice-cream. Near Mountnugent in Cavan, Richard Moeran’s bronze turkeys are ready to move to their new home, while elsewhere in Cavan, Aidan Brady’s chickens have reached their target weight. Hill farmer Colm O’Donnell is busy hosting the 10th annual Tourlestrane Sheep Show at his pub in Sligo.

“Rare Breed has been an international success, with series being watched across the world from Greece to New Zealand and Iran to Australia.”

Near Rush in County Dublin, Matt Foley is preparing his tomatoes for the end of their harvest, while in Athy, County Kildare, tillage farmer Andrew Bergin is busy combining his malting barley and peas. At Dovea near Thurles, a new bull has arrived from Germany – though he must be quarantined and tested before he is allowed to start work. In Corrandulla in Galway, vegetable farmer Kenneth Keavey is battling the September weather to harvest potatoes.

Executive Producer of Rare Breed, Kelda Crawford McCann said:

“Once again, the Rare Breed cameras have been out in all weathers as farmers worked through storms, freezing weather and beaming sun – from Donegal to Cork and everywhere in-between. We were delighted with the success of Rare Breed 2015 and the new series will provide an equally intriguing mix of the highs and lows of farming in Ireland.

“The agri-food industry is responsible for the employment of 300,000 people in Ireland and the level of dedication shown by Ireland’s farming community is inspiring, in what has been a challenging year. Rare Breed has been an international success, with series being watched across the world from Greece to New Zealand and Iran to Australia.”

Rare Breed: A Farming Year, sponsored by Zip Fires, will continue on February 29th at 8pm and will run for 12 consecutive weeks, exclusively on UTV Ireland.

UTV Ireland is available on Sky channel 116, Saorview channel 6, Virgin Media channel 110 and eirVision channel 108. UTV Ireland also offers a live stream and catch-up service on www.utv.ie and on the UTV Player, available to download on smart devices.

For further information, go to www.utv.ie or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.