Taking control of each step in the farm to table process, focusing on quality and not having to rely on others, is the key ambition for the Niven family of Gloagburn Farm Shop, situated in Tibbermore, Perth.
Aiming to be as self-sufficient as possible and reducing food miles, the enterprise is now run by the fourth generation – Crawford and Fergus along with their parents Ian and Alison. The farm shop and restaurant was established in the early 2000s and the family have continued to add to the business year on year.
The butcher’s unit was introduced five years ago to as the next logical step to producing high quality meat to their customers, which enabled the Nivens to put all of their own cattle through it.
Check out more of these photos in our Photo Sales section here
Having previously purchased store cattle in to fatten, when Crawford came home to work he wanted to start breeding his own cattle, so four years ago the family invested in Simmental cross cows for calving.
“It was the logical next step to add when selling our own meat – we want it to be a good story to tell. “We favoured Simmental crosses as they are nice, easy, milky cows which are well natured and easy calved,” said Crawford.
Ian added: “The herd is managed year to year with any bad temperament cows not being put to the bull the following year. The calves get up and sook themselves and so far, they do seem to suit our system well.”
All spring calving, the cows will be housed in a new 200ft x 100ft shed, all of which is straw-bedded courts with a scraper and centre passage for feeding.
The shed features a lean-to which measures 90ft x 30ft with a new handling system and three bull pens.
Check out more of these photos in our Photo Sales section here
“The new set-up is a significant improvement from our outdated previous system. It is a lot more time-efficient and safer,” said Crawford, who recently installed a new Te Pari Lenta cattle crush along with a new race and pens.
“The new handling system has been a game changer for us – we needed something to push us forward and we wanted something a bit more technical to ensure we could record our own data,” he said, adding that cattle average 1.7-1.8kg daily live weight gain, weighed through the crush.
All calves born now are being tagged with EID ear tags, which will be automatically read when going through the crush while another key benefit, Crawford finds from the latest investment, has been the automatic dosing system. When the cattle are put into the crush they will be weighed and the correct usage for dosing will be filled up in the gun.
“It ensures all cattle are getting the correct dosage according to their weight as opposed to all of them getting the same. There is less potential for resistance as we are not under-dosing any cattle,” he said.
“Overall, it has been a substantial investment. However, the benefits of having a specially designed space for optimal management of cows and calves has had an impact on day-to-day operation.
“It is safe and easy to use, and any one person can operate it on their own,” he added.
In the three bull pens there is one Aberdeen Angus and two Simmentals, which are put to the cows. All calves are currently fattened at an average of 16 months at 700kg to 730kg.
Check out more of these photos in our Photo Sales section here
Currently, no heifer calves are being retained as the family are trying to build their herd up to 100 cows. However, once they reach that target, they are hoping to go down this route.
The team is currently oversupplying the butcher’s shop, so about 20 cattle will be finished through ABP at Perth.
The fat cattle are fed a diet of bruised barley, a one-to-six ration of rapeseed meal, ad lib, barley straw and minerals from Harbro. Everything is mixed by themselves with a bruiser coming in every other week.
“We want to be as self-sufficient as we can be by growing all our own crop to go into the diet of the cattle,” said Crawford.
“The next project is focusing on producing high-quality silage for the cows, which are currently fed bales of silage which has had no fertiliser and is perhaps not the best of quality.
Check out more of these photos in our Photo Sales section here
He said that 1000 acres of cereals are planted every year consisting of seed winter barley, seed spring barley, seed spring oats, winter wheat, oilseed rape, malting barley and feed barley. Of this 100 tonnes of wheat is used for hen feed and a further 200 tonnes for cattle feed, while all remaining crop is sold and used externally to the farm.
On the arable front all work is carried ou in-house between Ian, Crawford, one full-time tractorman and a part-time worker.
Any excess of crop will be sold locally or where possible through the farm shop. The oilseed rape is pressed locally and the by-product is fed to the cattle as a protein source while the oil is used and sold through the shop.
The family have been dealing with Dods of Haddington for more than 35 years for selling their seed, while malt barley is targeted anywhere in Scotland. Wheat can travel across the UK and the feed barley is sold off farm, although they will be using 20% of it themselves between the cattle and hens.
If the cattle don’t keep the family busy enough, they also have 4500 hens which are producing 3800 eggs per day. These are used in the café and farm shop, with the other half delivered locally. One full-time member of staff runs this operation which has been ongoing for 17 years.
Meanwhile, in a completely different venture, Crawford has his own YouTube channel, Crawfordsfarm, which is a great addition to the enterprise. He has been doing this for three years now and has gained an impressive 25,000 subscribers.
“It is beneficial for both the farm and the shop,” he said. “It lets me put out the message of what we are doing and hopefully attract more custom. It is also helpful if I have any questions or advice I need – I can put up a video asking something and the next day there will be comments hopefully resolving my problem,” he added.
Check out more of these photos in our Photo Sales section here
Crawford tries to do five videos a week which will be around eight to 15 minutes long. He said: “I do enjoy being creative – it is the editing that is the time-consuming part. I have built up my followers gradually and hope that it will continue to go in that direction.
Crawford also created his own beer, Bandit, in the run-up to Christmas. Having sold 7000 in 19 days through the YouTube channel and the farm shop website, this refreshing lager was brewed with malted barley grown at Gloagburn.
“I wanted to do something different for my channel. I have a lot of my own merchandise but wanted something unique,” said Crawford.
This also ties in nicely with the popular steak night that’s on offer in the restaurant. Steak nights take place six times a year, in an attempt to offer something a little different and attract more custom. Crawford is hoping to make another batch of his beer for this.
The farm shop, restaurant and butchery unit at Gloagburn works hand in hand with the farm.
The shop was established in 2003 and can now seat 130 people, serving homemade soups, sandwiches and home baking. Everything is made on the premises, from the pastry to the jam, which ensures quality, consistency and freshness.
Check out more of these photos in our Photo Sales section here
The Nivens ensure that the farm shop sells the finest Scottish food along with their own produce from the farm and kitchen. “It began to generate extra income and support for the farm and has grown organically from there,” explained Fergus. “The main motto of the restaurant is serving fresh food as fast as we can.”
Fergus added that the butchery has expanded in the last five years to help focus on food miles through the infrastructure of chillers and storage.
“The butchery works well as we can get people through the door for our farm shop and restaurant, and if there is anything not selling in the butchery we can try to push it in the restaurant so there is very little waste,” he added.
“The butchery was a slow burner to start with but once we got people coming and we kept the quality up, they would return.
“We witnessed a massive spike in this part of the business during Covid as everyone wanted to support local produce,” Fergus added, explaining that the main focus was beef from the farm and the eggs.
To grow a wider customer base, the family will buy on average three lambs a week through United Auctions Mart in Stirling.
Check out more of these photos in our Photo Sales section here
“Margins on lamb are very slim and prices of lamb at the moment are exceptionally high.
“We wouldn’t normally increase our price but this year we have had to because it was just not justifying itself for the run-up to Easter,” said Fergus, who also tries to add venison and pheasant to the menu when in season.
“The farm shop and butchery are seen as a premium, but it is a premium product producing the cattle on farm and all of the inputs that go into them, too.”
Crawford and Fergus concluded: “That is our driving force and what we need to communicate to our customers locally where possible.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here