Tracey keeps Gunn-ing for success

She has since won numerous accolades with both North Country Cheviots and Charolais during her time as stock manager, alongside her husband, Davie, at Balthayock Farm, Perth, which is owned by the Walter family. 

Although she has lived and worked at Balthayock since 2009, Tracey spent time on various farms before that, which has given her the skills and experience required to run one of the oldest Charolais herds in Britain. 

She opened up about her experiences and discussed what it takes to be as successful as she has been in the farming world. 

What livestock do you currently work with? 
We have 100 Charolais cows, 150 commercial cows, and 700 Lleyns sheep. 

Have you been to college? 

I went to college on Orkney and studied agriculture. I strongly advise anyone who wants to get into agriculture to go to college, because it’s a great way to meet people and make friends for life, as well as learning much-needed skills.

When did you start working? 

I worked with my family at home, then moved to Aberdeenshire when I was 22 to work as a shepherd. That was with the late Ian Thomson, at Airdlin, where he fattened 700 cattle and 2000 lambs per year for his well-known butcher's shop in Keith, alongside the Airdlin Charolais herd. 

I spent eight years there before moving to Forfar to work with the Cooper family, at Govals, and they had 150 cross cows. We then started a Charolais herd there and I ended up being there for eight years as well.

How did you end up at Balthayock? 

Davie and I were approached to come here in 2009 and we were both very happy in our old jobs, but we were getting married and we didn’t want to miss out on this opportunity because it was a great herd to come to.

What is it like to work with your husband every day? 

Well, a friend always says that behind every good man is a great woman, and that’s very true. We are paid equally and everything is split down the middle, and I work as many hours as he does, as well as doing the books, so it works really well.

However, I’m not sure that I would advise people to work with their partner unless they are totally sure it will be successful because it’s constant and it’s bloody hard work. But if you put the work in, you can do anything. 

Davie and I argue all the time but we do get on really well and we leave any work arguments at the door. 

Do you encourage young people in agriculture? 

Yes. I love teaching the younger generation and I think it’s so important to encourage them and bring them on. There’s nothing better than watching a young person who has learnt from you go on and do well. It’s a proud moment. 

My biggest concern about the industry is the lack of interest from young people because they don’t want to get up in the middle of the night, or work in bad weather, and they can stack shelves in Tesco for the same money but doing this job has to be about the satisfaction, not money.

I am also concerned about the lack of young vets looking to work with larger animals once they graduate. 

Even though we have excellent vets here for Balthayock, we have had lots of young vet students come here for experience, and I sometimes feel that the colleges should take into consideration the students' backgrounds, for example, if they are from farms, etc, more than just how they interview, or what their grades are like, because some students don't necessarily interview well, or do well in exam situations, but they are actually perfect for a vet job in large animal practice, but I don't feel that those students get enough opportunities to become large animal vets.

What time of year do you consider your holiday? 

The Royal Highland Show is our holiday, but we have six cattle going this year, so it’s not really a holiday. But it’s great because RHS brings all of our friends together. Plus, it’s an advertisement, and a great shop window for the herd, and it’s a fantastic opportunity to meet new people as well.

Although we have won breed championships and inter-breed reserves, in 2015, it is on my bucket list to win the Highland with Northies. 
I have only ever missed one RHS in my life, and that was for my cousin’s wedding. 

Have you ever faced any criticism because you are a woman? 

I once had an older gentleman telling me at a lambing that I was wasting a good job for a man, but I see him often now and I just think to myself, well, I haven’t done all that badly. But, to be honest, my male counterparts have always been great to me and from my early days of coming to the bull sales to help Andrew Reid, when he worked for the Moyness herd, I’ve been accepted by them and treated as one of the boys. That’s the way I like it. 

When we won the February bull sales this year, it was a great feeling and I really appreciated all the kind words of congratulations from my male counterparts.

But, there are some women who show up on the day and show an animal, and then are never seen again. I think that sometimes annoys men, but I am there from the day those animals are mated. Two generations ago, it was very much about the idea of a son and an heir, and that really annoyed me because women are just as capable. 

I have been lucky as I have had a lot of support over the years, although I don’t think we need to spend so much money on women in agriculture, because I think we should spend that on bringing young people into the industry. Our forebears fought for women to have equal rights decades ago, and if you are passionate about something and have the fire in your belly, you will always succeed, and so it doesn’t matter what sex you are. 

Who would you say has inspires you most in farming? 

There are two woman that I was inspired by growing up, the first being Jane Haw.

Jane is a great stalwart of the Charolais breed, and she has bred some terrific cattle. Every one is shown to perfection. She is always there with some wise words, if I need it. The other is my auntie, Isabelle Angus.

She is a woman who doesn’t take fools gladly, has a great work ethic, but is also full of fun. And she knows a bloody good Cheviot when she sees one.

I’ve been extremely lucky to have been born into a very stock-minded family, with my mum, Esther, being a Henderson, and a sister of the well-known Stuart, Dennis and Sandy Henderson, from the Achentoul and Torrish estates. They have all been supportive and encouraging.

My love for Cheviots and Charolais came from my dad, and I love to go home to Caithness to see my family as often as I can. 

The Major (Walter) is also an inspiration, and he’s up here first thing every morning – and that’s at the age of 84. He has a great passion for the industry.

Do you ever do any judging? 

I’ve had the great pleasure of judging lots of shows throughout Scotland and last year I was given the honour of judging the Charolais females at the Irish National Show at Tullamore. Next week, I head back across the water to judge the Charolais at the 150th Balmoral Show, which is a huge honour.

What are your overall thoughts on showing?

It’s getting harder and harder to get a decent turn out for local shows and it can be disappointing when you are the only ones exhibiting in your section. I don’t know what will happen to these smaller shows, they may have to amalgamate, but in the meantime, we need to support them to keep them going. But it is quite a cost. 

We are lucky because we have a great support network of close friends, and we are widely known as Team B, and they all come out and help, and show the livestock, and give us the support we need.

Least favourite thing about your job? 

Nowadays, there’s far too much paperwork involved in farming and you spend hours and hours in the office, and it’s so easy to make a mistake if you are tired after being up all night calving and lambing. I feel sorry for the older generation trying to do it, because it’s all quite confusing for us, so how on earth must they feel?

What are your thoughts about new entrant funding? 

There are lots of people who get new entrant funding but have no farming background or connection, and then there are other hard-working, knowledgeable young farmers, with boundless experience and passion, who can’t get anything at all, which I think is really unfair. The system needs to change to encourage the up and coming and knowledgeable new entrants.

How do you promote yourself? 

Social media is an excellent way of advertising and we’ve sold quite a few bulls through Facebook. I would say Facebook has got a greater following than our website for promoting our livestock and we update it as often as we can to keep the interest there. 

I would also say that social media has changed agriculture in a big way in that it ensures everybody is more connected. We also like to demonstrate that we sell our bulls fit, not fat, and ready to go out and work. 

I think there’s nothing more satisfying than when customers keep returning to purchase bulls.

Has Young Farmers been beneficial to you? 

I made a lot of friends through Young Farmers and I learnt a lot of great skills. I really enjoyed taking part in competitions and there was always a good bit of friendly rivalry between the Caithness clubs, especially when it came to stockjudging and the annual seed and root show – the brown tops scandal will go down in history in Caithness forever more.

I do feel, however, that some of the current YF members have lost the desire to win, compared to 20 years ago, but overall, agriculture can be very lonely, and if it wasn’t for YFC, life would have been quite difficult at times.

What are your thoughts on your future and that of farming in Scotland? 

All going well, I’d like to stay here and help keep Balthayock running for the next generation of the Walter family and I‘d like to improve the herd – there’s a lot more yet to do. The next few years for farming will be rock, and we all have to work together, but it will be an opportunity to streamline our businesses. 

We have to promote the Scotch brand because it’s worth so much to our economy and we need to really push it because you can’t get any better. 

I also feel that schools and hospitals should be incorporating Scottish products into their meals. 

Scottish farming will succeed, though, because hard work, determination and a bit of luck is all you need. Scottish farmers have the hard work and determination ethics and I think we are all due a bit of luck after a dreadful spring.