Blairgowrie man Kevin Cuthbertson has achieved his dream of becoming a full-time sheep farmer thanks to a 'starter farm' tenancy on Scottish Water-owned land in Glen Isla.

The 150 acre unit at Newton, near Loch of Lintrathen, was made available via the Scottish Government’s Farming Opportunities for New Entrants (FONE) scheme, which is intended to increase opportunities for new entrants to agriculture.

Mr Cuthbertson said: “I have been wanting to set up on my own since I was 16, but I just haven’t had the security of the land to do it. You need a lot of money to set up on your own and be able to buy a farm – it is not easy to cover the mortgage just from sheep farming.

“The FONE scheme has given me the security that I need and it allows me to plan ahead and develop the farm, which is really exciting. I now have around 370 sheep including some north type Blackface sheep which I have wanted to get for a long time as it is a breed I’m very interested in.”

Since 2017, the FONE scheme has helped around 70 new entrants into the industry by providing over 100 land opportunities across 7000 hectares of land, including other properties from Scottish Water, Forestry and Land Scotland and some local authorities.

Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon, who visited Newton to see how the scheme had helped Mr Cuthbertson, said: “It is fantastic to see what Kevin has achieved since he secured this starter unit through the FONE group. I want to thank him for taking the time to show us around and highlight a great example of the Group in action. I’d also like to thank Scottish Water for their involvement in making this land available for Kevin and for their continued work in identifying and making public land available for new farmers.

“We recognise there are considerable challenges to entering the sector including access to land. We set up the Farming Opportunities for New Entrants group in late 2016 to provide a co-ordinated approach to developing opportunities for new entrants and over the last five years we’ve helped around 70 new entrants, including Kevin, into the agricultural sector.”

Mr Cuthbertson's interest in farming was sparked by his getting involved in helping his neighbour Keith Webster with the sheep after his family moved house when he was 13: “I asked if I could help him move the sheep and that was it. Every day Keith would come past, and I would go and help him; then when I was a bit older, I would help before and after school every day. I got so much experience from him over those years.

“It was actually Keith that encouraged me to submit the application to the FONE scheme. I didn’t think there was any point applying as it would be so popular but he told me to. It was a great feeling when I got the call to say I had been successful and was getting the farm.”