Strone Farm near Fort William, was revealed today (November 10th 2016) by Quality Meat Scotland and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds, as the first of a tranche of nine new monitor farms being established in Scotland.

The 1,200 hectare hill farm, located in the Great Glen, one of Scotland’s most scenic, but also wettest areas, is run by Chris Cameron in partnership with his father Malcolm and mother Eileen. 

The family, who are tenants of Lochiel and Achnacarry Estate, were inspired to become monitor farmers after attending meetings held on two previous monitor farms on Mull and North Connel, Argyll. 

They have already successfully introduced some changes in response to some of the main challenges the farm faces – including an annual rainfall of 120 inches and a major fox problem at lambing time.

However, they feel there is plenty of scope for the farm business to benefit from further changes and fresh ideas which could improve the efficiency of the business which runs 550 North Country Cheviot ewes and 40 pure Limousin cows.

Chris Cameron, who has three young children with his wife Tina, will be taking over the reins from his father in the months ahead. He is particularly keen to have a very clear understanding of the farm’s performance by carefully benchmarking figures.

Mr Cameron said: “We are far from perfect and we know that there is plenty of scope to make improvements to our business through being part of the monitor farm project.

“We’re also really looking forward to sharing the benefits of having a monitor farm in Lochaber with other farmers in the area. That said, we are also a bit nervous!”

One unusual challenge which the Cameron family face is that most of the farm’s better quality grass, is found on the other side of the Caledonian Canal to the main farm. Access to this grazing land involves going under the Caledonian Canal through a tunnel which isn’t large enough for anything other than a quad bike.

Malcolm Cameron commented: “We are on the edge of agriculture here in many respects. We try our best, but any small improvement we can make as a result of being monitor farmers, will make a big difference to our farms productivity.”

The Cameron family are big fans of the Limousin breed which they feel perform very well for them, and store calves from the herd regularly top the sale prices at Dingwall.

“We originally had hill breeds but the move to Limousins has seen good results. We think the Limousins give us the best confirmation and they work well for us at Strone,” said Chris Cameron.

The new three-year monitor farm programme is being run jointed by Quality Meat Scotland and AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds. It is establishing a group of farms to serve as monitor farms to help improve the profitability, productivity and sustainability of producers through practical demonstrations, the sharing of best practice and the discussion of up-to-date issues.

Preparations are underway to hold the first meeting at the new Lochaber Monitor Farm early in the new year. If anyone is interested in being involved in the project, they should contact the project facilitators, Niall Campbell & Morven MacArthur, SAC Consulting Oban on 01631 563093, or email FBSOban@sac.co.uk
 

A couple who set up their farm business only four years ago and are keen to drive it to a new level, have been announced today (November 21st 2016) as the new Nithsdale monitor farmers.

Clonhie Farm, near Penpont in Dumfries and Galloway, run by Andrew and Aileen Marchant, is the second of nine new monitor farms being established in Scotland as part of a joint initiative by Quality Meat Scotland and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds.

Clonhie Farm is 300 hectares, with 40 hectares of good hill rising to around 800ft and 260 hectares of upland grassland. The couple run the farm without any staff – though they have two willing helpers in their children William (6) and Anna (4).

Before the couple took over the tenancy of Clonhie in March 2012, Andrew Marchant was the manager of a dairy and beef unit in Castle Douglas. The aim, however, was always to run their own farm business.

The Marchants originally leased the 93 hectare Clonhie farm along with the farmhouse and outbuildings from Buccleuch Estates in 2012. Over the past four years they have taken on more land from Buccleuch, and earlier this year took on a neighbouring 134 hectare farm, also owned by the Estate.

The stock numbers on Clonhie have increased significantly since 2012 and show no sign of stopping. Andrew brought his own small flock of 20 ewes with him to Clonhie and bought 180 in-lamb ewes in spring 2012. Clonhie now has 900 breeding ewes and 230 ewe lambs and the couple hope to reach their target of 1,200 ewes by 2020.

They have also established a small herd of eight Luing cows and plan to build the herd up to about 40 in order to sell females and bulls in the future.

The Marchants are ready to embrace any change that the community group may suggest in order to improve the farm’s bottom line.

“So far we have focused on building the business and the number of sheep in particular. Now we need to focus on improving the technical efficiency of the whole farm business, so becoming monitor farmers is perfect timing for us. We also hope many more farmers will share the benefits of what we learn along the way,” said Mr Marchant.

The new three-year monitor farm programme is being run jointed by Quality Meat Scotland and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds. It is establishing a group of farms to serve as monitor farms to help improve the profitability, productivity and sustainability of producers through practical demonstrations, the sharing of best practice and the discussion of up-to-date issues.

The first meeting of the Nithsdale Monitor Farm is expected to take place early in the new year. Those interested in being involved in the project should contact Judith Hutchison, one of the project facilitators, on 07718 919055 or email Judith.agridigm@icloud.com