The Scottish Farmer

Profile: John Elliot

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Latest articles from John Elliot

John Elliot Ref:RH131217045

Beef needs to up its game with genetics

MY CONCEPT of the ideal beef animal gets constantly stood on its head.

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Time to stop feeding grass out of a bag?

At this time of year, thoughts of grass return.

Farmers View by John Elliot Ref:RH131217045

Heeding the lessons we shouldn't forget

It was a relief that the Stirling Bull Sales went ahead without a hitch – with great credit due to the auctioneering companies.

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Beauty is not always in the eye of the beholder

LIKE MANY, I suppose, I have sometimes pondered over the prices we get for our sheep and cattle and wondered if they give their buyers value for money.

John Elliot Ref:RH131217045

Creating a modern 'Masterpiece'

IN THE late 1980s, the day after judging the Aberdeen-Angus at the Royal Ulster Show, in Belfast, my host Jim Jack drove me round some of the herds in Northern Ireland.

John Elliot

Thiefs in the night and new sheep in the fank

Some 27 years ago, a month after we moved to Roxburgh Mains, a shabby-looking Transit van appeared at the farm – the driver had some tar left over from a previous job etc etc, a tale we have all heard.

John Elliot Ref:RH131217045

Time for pedigrees and DNAs to stack up

AFTER BULLS, rams are our next most important sale product so, when Kelso Ram Sale which is an outdoor event and in the mind of a simple farmer, the least unsafe method of selling sheep, was cancelled I wondered how we would ever market them.
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In search of bovine Two Eyed Jack!

In 1982 I visited Frank Slezina, owner of the Southholm Angus herd, which was at the time the most prominent herd in Canada.

Farm view columnist, John Elliot

Wake up to new ways of selling rams

AFTER AN unbroken spell, starting in 1838, the Kelso Ram Sales have been cancelled three times in 20 years – albeit with a virtual sale in 2007.

John Elliot Ref:RH131217048

Lockdown reading lessons from New Zealand

“One positive of lockdown is that it has given us the most valuable currency of all which is time,” Katie Piper.