PRESTONHALL FARMS and Saughland Farm are jointly to be the seventh of nine new monitor farms being established in Scotland.

Although separate businesses, the neighbouring farms have maintained close links since the estate was divided into three 20 years ago, and it is hoped that their partnership will strengthen as they work together as a joint monitor farm.

Prestonhall Farms is an arable enterprise of 660ha, growing cereals and oilseeds on a five year rotation while Saughland Farm comprises of 320ha with 70ha arable, 1900 breeding sheep and 55 suckler cows, where all progeny is sold finished or retained for breeding.

The project will be hosted jointly by their respective farm managers Bill Gray and Peter Eccles. Their situation is unlike any of the other monitor farms, and will create the opportunity to develop collaboration, and demonstrate the opportunities for other farmers in working together to spread costs and ensure resources are efficiently utilised.

Mr Gray said: “At the moment we do share some resources, for example contract work on land and occasionally staff, on an ad hoc basis. However, I hope that through this programme we will develop those links further and with more structure.

“I feel very comfortable going into this as a joint project as Peter and I have similar philosophies in terms of what we are trying to do, and I think the farms will benefit from both closer working and the wider monitor farm project.

“The monitor farm programme gives you a chance to challenge yourself, get out of your comfort zone and put your head above the parapet. I’m looking forward to getting a better handle on how we are currently performing, listening to the ideas of others in the community and making changes to ensure a robust and sustainable business for the future. I believe that this is imperative given the challenges that we face given the current uncertainty.”

Mr Eccles is of the same mind: “I applied to become a monitor farmer because I wanted to ensure Saughland is moving in the right direction in creating a financially and environmentally sustainable business for the future. I am focused on analysing our performance to make better informed decisions. Working with Bill will allow us to develop our current collaboration into something more structured, drawing on each other’s expertise and sharing resources efficiently.”

Peter joined Saughland Farm three years ago, having previously worked with SAC Consulting as an agricultural consultant, and now hopes the monitor farm programme will help him develop a number of areas on farm. For example; making better use of EID, increase kilos of liveweight produced per hectare and improved marketing of their grass-finished produce. The outdoor lambs are also not without their challenges.

“Next year is the first year all the ewes will lamb outside,” he explained, “and while moving to outdoor has saved us £13 per lamb, we do have to think about how to safeguard our system as we scale it up. We don’t have the use of sheds so wintering a large flock is a challenge. It is questions such as these I hope the monitor farm programme will help answer.”

The new three-year monitor farm programme is being run jointly by QMS and AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds. The first meeting of the new Lothians monitor farm will be on Thursday, February 9, more details will follow in the New Year.