Rory Gregor builds up successful sheep unit

“The turning point was when I got my sheep stolen in 2016,” explained Rory. “I needed something closer to home for security. Prior to that it was renting sheds on other people’s farms. But when I lost the majority of the flock, I only had 20 left so had to start again. I was determined to keep going.”

Rory built on the three acre field and put up a triple polytunnel with wind breaks and corrugated iron round the sides. Financially a polytunnel was the only options for Rory as the equivalent cost for a shed would be well over £50,000. Additionally, only outline planning permission was required for the build which only costs a few hundred pounds which is much cheaper than planning for permanent structures.

To further keep costs down Rory decided to buy his tunnel second hand from a garden centre in Oban. The equivalent new polytunnel at the time would have been £10,000, over four times his budget.

Rory said: “The polytunnel is actually three polytunnels next to each other. Because I bought it from a garden centre, the plastic was greenhouse grade so it is 1000 microns thick as opposed to 800 microns thick for livestock tunnels. The plastic is used for greenhouse tunnels is more transparent too so it gets pretty hot in the summer, but the there are no animals in at that time so it isn’t an issue for us.”

The polytunnels were collected by Rory himself with all the metal work and plastic fitting onto a trailer behind his pickup truck.

There wasn’t much choice to where to put the polytunnels in Rory’s field. But for farms which have options for sites Rory recommends putting it up in a sheltered spot.

He said: “Wind is your enemy. It is that and snow which damages your polytunnel. If you think wind is about to blow the tunnel away or snow is going to buckle the frame, don’t be afraid to cut the plastic. It is much cheaper to buy replacement covers for £1000 than to have snow or wind wreck your building and you have to start all over again.”

To put up the three polytunnels Rory hired a mini digger and had someone helping him for the four day build. He drilled two feet deep holes for every leg and concreted in sockets. The concrete was hand mixed and there were around two cubic metres used in total.

After the metal work was slotted into the sockets the plastic sheeting was pulled over.

“Putting the plastic on is the trickiest bit”, explained Rory. “My word of advice is do it on as calm a day as possible. But it is worth doing yourself, as I think you can save between £500 to £800 per polytunnel.

“To keep costs to a minimum I reused the original plastic. This meant there was no excess when you pulled it tight. It was difficult and there was no room for error. But you need to get the plastic as tight as possible, that is the key to getting as long a life as possible out of your polytunnel.”

The tunnels were put up in spring to be ready for lambing but ideally Rory would pull the plastic on during a hot day in summer. Keeping the plastic warm is critical to stretching it over the frame to produce a tight fit.

“You need the heat to expand the plastic,” said Rory. “You can not do it with cold plastic. To get over this we lit some small fires inside the polytunnel to heat up the plastic or you can use a space heat. You need to get the air hot inside which will expand the plastic and help it to fit tight over the frame.

If a polytunnel has any areas which flap in the wind, this is where the plastic will weaken and wear through. The first time he covered the polytunnel he didn’t put it tight enough on one of the corners and that was the place where it ripped in the wind.

The polytunnels were put straight into the top soil in the field. This was partly due to keeping costs down. But it also means that if things change the park can be reverted back to a grass field quite easily.

Rory is keen to point out this is something to remember for new farmers. He said: “You only need to convince a farmer to lend you a corner of a field and you can put up a tunnel. If things change in the future you can take it all down and it returns to a normal field.”

The heat in the tunnels during summer is so strong that it bakes the ground hard. Rory says he can brush the ground like concrete in the heat. But being an earth floor Rory has to ensure a high health approach to minimise disease. This year he is planning a load of lime to keep infections to a minimum. Around the side of the tunnel Rory installed corrugated iron panels to act as walls.

There is water available in the tunnel but there is no electricity. Rory uses a string of lights which are run off a generator during lambing. But he says that he tries to keep working in the tunnels at night to a minimum by feeding his sheep later in the day.

Rory’s top tip to giving your polytunnel a long life is to deal with rips and tears as soon as possible. “Any little flap or tear which the wind can get into will get bigger over time and cause real issues over winter,” he explained. “So sort them as soon as you can and your tunnel will last a lot longer.” Also underneath the cover and between the frame Rory installed high tensile wire to transfer the weight of the snow from the cover onto the main frame.

But is has not all gone smoothly since 2016. Last year the plastic eventually gave out when storm Arwen arrived. The cover flew off and was replaced last week for a cost of £1000. Rory managed to recover the polytunnels in one calm evening and morning with one other person helping.

“I would plan for covers to last a lot longer but the freak storms this winter were too much”, said Rory. “I would hope this cover should last at least five years.”

The tunnels main use is for sheep with Rory lambing half of this 1000 ewes inside. This year the 500 inside lambers will be broken into an early and late lambing group. Rory does contract scanning across the north east and batches his own sheep into singles, twins and triplets. They are kept outside on the three acre field during the day then taken inside at night. There are three big pens for the pregnant ewes and 30 individual pens for those who have recently given birth.

But the tunnels are not just used for Rory’s flock, last year his fiancé Steph convinced him to set up Inverurie’s first pumpkin farm. So after lambing Rory carted in 80t of top soil onto the sheep muck and planted pumpkin seeds for harvesting in autumn.

“It was really Steff’s idea but I am keen to get another revenue stream,” explained Rory. “There wasn’t any pumpkin growing around Inverurie so we went for it and our first year was a great success. We offered the public the chance to come collect their own pumpkin and ended up selling 2000. Because the tunnel was so big customers were able to visit out of the rain and wind which is all too common for the end of October in Aberdeenshire.”

After the pumpkins were lifted at the end of October, Rory was left with a lot of fresh straw which was used to bed and present the pumpkins. So not to let an opportunity go to waste Rory decided to finish lambs.

“I wanted to make use of the straw in the tunnel so took in 200 of my own lambs to finish. But they didn’t thrive as much as I’d like them to, and feed was getting too expensive, so I punted them back out to grass. But in other years where grass is short or feed cheap then the tunnel could finish lambs in it.”

From the lambing, pumpkins and lamb finishing Rory produced 140t of muck and top soil from the polytunnels.

As a first generation farmer Rory has build his business up from lambing 20 in 2016 to 1000 in 2022. Before farming Rory spent nine years as a structural designer in Aberdeen’s oil industry. This allowed Rory to built up capital before he becoming a full time farmer.

“I was lucky,” said Rory. “I was able to retain all the females and grow the flock but doing it now with the costs at the moment, I don’t know if it would be possible. This is the first year I’ll be selling females in any great number as I now have the flock at the size I want it.”

The flock is divided into 100 beltex and beltex cross ewes and 400 suffolk mules. These are all lambed in the tunnel in two batches of 250 sheep, starting on 20 of March. Then Rory lambs 500 hoggs and Shetland cheviots outside in parks in May.

So far all the lambs have been finished on farm, with most going to through auctions.

Over the summer Rory spreads his flock over 220 acres of grass lets from April until October. Then in the winter the flock is divided over a number of winter grazings.

Rory said: “At any one time I am on 10 to 15 farms over winter. Most of the parks need me to run an electric fence and there are different dates for when the sheep have to be off.”

Running such a large flock over temporary grazings is a real challenge. Rory will often finds that landlords will change plans for their fields he rents and he has to constantly look for new places to graze his sheep, particularly in winter. With the rising price of cereals some of Rory’s landlords have been putting fields into crop which is further restricting the land available. To add to the challenge of being a first generation farmer, Rory does not get a single penny of subsidy on the land he rents, it all goes to the land owner.

To help Rory get more winter grazings, last year he bought a drill for establishing grass or fodder crops. Rory is hoping to set up collaborative projects where he sows winter fodder on an arable farmers field. This way the arable farmer gets some organic matter back into their soil from grazing sheep and Rory gets winter grazing for his flock. With his vredo slot seeder machine he plants a mix of vetch, radishes, hybrid kales, fodder rapes and clover straight into bare stubbles.

“I will also use the machine to stich in clover to existing swards on rented ground. Because my lets are so short term don’t have the security which makes it worth ploughing and reseeding the ground. Slot seeding clover and grasses is the only affordable way to improve the sward in the short term.”

As well as running his own flock Rory has a profit share arrangement with a local farmer on a flock of 250 ewes. “I am keen to try different arrangements to get established in farming,” explained Rory. “This is our first year working together but is going good so far.”

Farm facts

Farming: 1000 ewes across 220 acres of summer lets

Selling: All lambs are sold through auction marts liveweight

Pedigree: selling Beltex and Beltex cross texel tups. Been retaining most females to date.

Diversification: growing pumpkins for Halloween

Off farm income: Scanning ewes

On the spot questions

Biggest farming decision: Expanding the ewes the scale I am at to justify a full time job.

Best investment on farm: Rappa electric fencing winder/unwinder for quad.

Where do learn the most about farming: Mainly learn by doing and asking questions

Best moment in farming so far: Selling the best ram lamb I’ve bred last year for 5500 gns