AN ANGUS farm has been announced as the ninth and final new monitor farm being established in Scotland.

Mill of Inverarity Farm, run by husband and wife team Rob and Alison Stodart, covers 358 hectares (152 owned, 206 rented) on two separate units, where the pair farm cereals, suckler cows and sheep.

Talking about the venture, Alison said: “We really want to make sure we have something to pass on to our children. We love farming, it really is a way of life for us, but it needs to be a sustainable business as well. That’s a big part of the reason we wanted to be part of the monitor farm project, to help us become more productive and efficient long-term.”

Rob and Alison have three children, Vicky (23), Rory (21) and Tom (18), all of whom still live on the farm, with both boys working at home full time. Like many of the younger generation they are full of ideas and, luckily for them, their parents are very open to doing things differently.

“I have always farmed a certain way,” Rob explained, “but over recent years the boys have been telling me I need to try new things. We’re really happy to listen to their suggestions as well as other farmers who might visit the farm as part of the project.”

Currently Mill of Inverarity devotes 130 hectares to spring barley, 30 hectares to winter barley, 25 hectares to oilseed rape and 40 hectares to winter wheat. However that is all currently under review.

Rob said: “We are considering reducing the area of spring barley planted for malting, largely because the premium is not very good these days. We could instead look at increasing the fertiliser input so we get a higher nitrogen content and sell it as feed instead. We have also experienced a fair bit of grain skinning over the last couple of seasons which has made growing for malt sector a challenge.”

The Stodarts are also considering some changes to their livestock enterprises. They have just doubled the size of the main flock to 440 Texel and Texel Beltex cross breeding ewes and also buy in approximately 300 store lambs to finish. There are also 200 suckler cows, with 150 stores and 150 finishers.

“We have been grazing the cattle out and about at extra cost,” said Rob, “and we want to keep them on farm in future. However, that would mean giving over arable land to pasture and we’re not sure that’s the best idea. Do we reduce livestock or reduce cereals? It’s all up for discussion.”

Those interested in being involved in the Angus monitor project should contact David Ross on 01569 762 305, or at david.ross@sac.co.uk.