Black Isle Growers New East Highland Monitor Farms
UK - Black Isle growers Brian and Caroline Matheson from Ballicherry Farm in Balblair have been selected as the new Arable East Highland Monitor Farm in a new joint venture project between HGCA and Potato Council.
9 September 2013
2 minute read
Joining the Mathesons on the three-year AHDB project is Grant Cuthill, farm manager for John Gordon at neighbouring Rosefarm which rents land from the Mathesons as part of its 3,000 tonne Pre-Basic seed potato enterprise.
The project is being financed by HGCA, with additional funding being made available through the Scotland Rural Development Programme, which is jointly funded by the Scottish Government and the European Union.
Ballicherry Farm is a mixed enterprise of 190 hectares of spring barley grown for certified seed and malting, 42 hectares of winter wheat grown for certified seed and 25 hectares of oilseed rape together with 100 ewes, 100 over-wintered cattle and 25 suckler cows.
The farm also carries out contracting operations, specialising in carrot growing and mobile grain dressing for Scotgrain, as well as a care farming business which is run by Caroline, a Registered Nurse and midwife.
Gavin Dick, HGCA Regional Manager Scotland, said the East Highland Monitor Farm would be supported by a community group to ensure it is ‘run by farmers for farmers’.
“Whilst the focus at Ballicherry is growing malting barley, both for seed and malt, it is nevertheless a relatively complex family farming business, and one of the unique
opportunities of this project will be to get local growers involved in discussing how the different enterprises are integrated, as well as how they contribute to the overall business.
“This will help give the community group the skills and knowledge to look at their own businesses and identify opportunities to improve their own efficiency,” he said.
For Rosefarm farm manager Grant Cuthill, being part of the Arable Monitor Farm project will help the business get a better grip on production costs: “Opening up your business for others to scrutinise is challenging, as you have to be prepared to take the criticism as well as the positives, but hopefully everyone will take away something to help them improve.
“No one gets it right all the time, and like many other growers, we are constantly looking for ways we could reduce the costs of labour, machinery and energy.
Joining the project will help us benchmark the business in terms of our output and profitability – in other words are the potatoes leaving a good enough margin to allow for reinvestment and profitability ? If not, what can we do about it?”
“We would also like to explore how to better cope with the loss of key chemicals which is a headache for the industry as a whole.”
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