Lothians Monitor Farm launch meeting

More than 90 people attended the Lothians Monitor Farm launch meeting on Thursday 9 February 2017.

It is one of nine new Monitor Farms being established in Scotland as part of a joint initiative by QMS and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds.

The Scottish Monitor Farms programme is funded by £1.25million secured from the Scottish Government and European Union’s Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund.

The Lothians Monitor Farm is hosted by two farms: Prestonhall and Saughland, near Pathhead. The farms used to be run as one mixed unit and although they are now separate businesses, with Prestonhall focussing on arable and Saughland on livestock, they still work together sharing resources across the arable and livestock enterprises.

Bill Gray, manager of the arable operation at Prestonhalls, said:

"I wanted to be involved because there are many challenges and uncertainties ahead. I wanted to take a fresh look at the business and benefit from the knowledge within the group. With the Monitor Farm we’ve got the opportunity to have a structured approach to business improvement. I want to know how well we are doing now and what we can do better.

"I’d like to not be at the mercy of the harvest market. It would be ideal to be able to dry and store everything we produce but that may not be possible."

Peter Eccles runs the livestock enterprise, situated a few miles away from Prestonhall.

He said:

"I want us to be the best we can be. We aim to build a sustainable business model we can be proud of. Enjoyment is a big factor of what we do too. I’m excited about the future, and feel confident we can overcome the challenges we face. The Monitor Farm process will help us all to find new ways to make our businesses succeed.

 "One of my fears is what the weather can bring at lambing time. At the end of April last year a 4-5 hour spell of high winds and heavy snow cost us 30 lambs."

Through the Monitor Farm programme, Peter hopes to look at whether he can sell stores or finishing, as he is now lambing later than the farm used to do. He also plans to investigate finishing lambs at Prestonhall.

Those interested in being involved in the project should Colin MacPhail, one of the project facilitators, on 07747 046 461 or at colin@macphailconsulting.co.uk.

You can view interviews with Peter Eccles and Bill Gray taken from the event below.