Produce.

We like to keep a mixed rotation on the farm to ensure soil health and biodiversity as well as having a variety of produce to market.

Barley

All the barley grown on the farm is spring barley for malting. We grow 3 different varieties. Laureate and Concerto are both newer varieties. We also grow Golden Promise which is a much older variety. All of the straw from the barley fields is baled and used predominantly for our own animal bedding with the remainder being sold.

Wheat

All of the wheat grown on the farm is for feed. All of the wheat straw is chopped and incorporated back into the ground to improve soil organic matter.

Potatoes

We grow roughly 80ha of potatoes on our own ground with some rented in. This is split 50:50 between seed and ware. Most of the seed is exported to Asia and the Middle East with the remainder being for the home market. All of our ware is sold to Branston at Perth. We occasionally have some seed for sale privately.

Oil Seed Rape

We also grow OSR on the farm. This is a very good break crop and all the crop is marketed through the local cooperative, Angus Cereals.

Eggs

The most recent venture for the farm is free-range eggs. A building housing 32,000 layers was recently erected. The lion’s share of the eggs will go to a Scottish processor (Glenrath) with some XL eggs being sold locally.

Beef

As part of our mixed system we also finish cattle. The cattle are bought in as stores all year round, hence we sell cattle every week of the year. Most of the cattle is sold through Forfar Market to local butchers with the remainder going to local abattoirs. The dung from the cattle courts is incorporated back into the soil. Having cattle also means we have grass in the rotation which is a good break crop.