Lockdown on the farm – online

With many kids cooped up at home, a new online video diary series has been set up to connect country kids with their city counterparts – and to support home schooling during lockdown.

Spanning topics from calving to cropping and lambing to planting, the videos, hosted by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), will observe life through the eyes of under-16s living on farms across Scotland.

The organisers said that the initiative was aimed at connecting children with where their food came from and those who produce it.

The series, which can be viewed on QMS’S social media channels, will run throughout April and young people keen to tell their own farming story have been encouraged to get involved by filming their own story using the #Farmkiddiaries hashtag and tagging @Qualitymeatscotland on Facebook or @qmscotland on Twitter and Instagram.

Lesleycameron,director of Marketing and Communicationsatqmssaid: “We have launched the diaries to communicate what happens on Scotland’s farms, how animals are reared and to provide fun videos for parents to use with their families.

“With the younger generation increasingly more aware of where their food comes from, this video series will help bridge the urban rural divide and champion the high animal welfare and environmental credentials we have in Scotland.”

The first episode features Millie and Ellie Ritchie, aged nine and seven, who live on Montalt Farm in Perthshire with their parents Alix and John. There are also special guest appearances from Bill, the agility dog, Helen the hen, and pet calf Tipper.