Myles takes the reins at NSA Scotland

The Angus hill sheep farmer succeeds Jen Craig, who resigned from the post earlier in the month, to spend more time on her Lanarkshire sheep farm.

Mr Myles is keen to get stuck into the big issues facing the sector and has singled out getting greater clarity from the Scottish Government on future support for the sheep industry as a priority.

He said: “Firstly I would like to thank Jen for all her hard work over the years and I look forward to continuing her progress. I think we need the sheep industry protected and the advantages of grazing sheep on the hills and uplands to be valued for the benefits to biodiversity and helping hit net zero.

“We need people to understand that sheep play a very important role in the countryside. They are part of the mix, I want to challenge monocultures, particularly large tracts of planted Sitka spruce.”

But despite the challenges facing the sector, Mr Myles is optimistic for the future of sheep in Scotland. He said: “I would like to think it is onwards and upwards and that sheep should have turned a corner. In the east we seemed to have had the beloved rain for autumn grass growth which means ewes should be going into tupping in decent condition.

“One thing I am very pleased with is the number of young people in the industry which is very encouraging. Particularly young women who are enthusiastic and want to be involved, which is good to see.”

Mr Myles’ proven ability to bring people together was one of the key attributes in mind when he was asked to be NSA interim chair. “I was approached to undertake the position and I said I would until someone better than me can take it on.”

Technically Mr Myles only has the chair until February, but he says he would be willing to continue for the meantime, were he elected at the ARMM.

When he was chair of the Perth Ram Society, Mr Myles experienced the need to find compromise, as he oversaw the deliberations following United Auctions moving the mart from Perth to Stirling. “Traditionally we had the sale at Perth and being separate from United Auctions we didn’t necessarily need to move with them. I’ll be honest, it was quite traumatic with strong opinions on both sides. But we managed to get everyone together and establish the sale at Stirling and it has been a great success ever since,” he said

“I see my role at NSA, in a similar light. I want to keep everyone together and helping to make decisive decisions which we can stick to. Everything I have done; I have managed to keep people together.”

A key part of the NSA’s future plans will be the decision on the HighlandSheep event next year, following on from a successful ScotSheep at Over Finlarg Farm, by Dundee. He said: “We are currently in discussions about HighlandSheep event next year but there is a lot of work to be done and time is short.”

There are also hard decisions to be made on the extent to the NSA’s presence at the Highland Show. Mr Myles explained that it was important to be there, but the cost to run the stand over the four days could be considerable, which NSA can scarcely afford. He said: “We made changes this last year, with a new position for the stand which I think is working, and in this, its first year, the stand performed well. But I am nervous how much it is all costing the organisation. Even though I would argue it is essential we are at the show, but again costs are an important factor to our continued support of RHS.”

The finances of the lean organisation are in good health following Scotsheep, but regular events are needed to support the NSA’s work in Scotland and their Regional Coordinator, Grace Reid, who works tirelessly for NSA Scotland. Membership in Scotland has been outperforming other parts of the UK which to a large extent Mr Myles puts down to the hard work of Jen Craig.

Mr Myles was chairman of the South of Scotland Wool Committee from 2011 to 2015. He then went on to represent the South of Scotland on the board of British Wool from 2015 to 2017.

Always looking to foster opportunities for young people, he has hosted British Wool sheep shearing courses on the farm for over 20 years, helping around 150 beginners to learn to clip.

Readers may also have heard his voice as the main ring commentator at the Fettercairn show. Mr Myles is currently one of two Scottish Trustees on the NSA Board.

On the farm with Peter Myles

The new NSA chair Peter Myles is in the process to stepping back from the family hill beef and sheep farm after 42 years, to allow a new generation to take the reins. As a partner of R.C.Myles & son, Dalbog farm in Glenesk in Angus, he has worked with his brother Bob since his late father David Myles was a Conservative MP for Banffshire during the first Thatcher Government.

He said: “The family have been here since the 1930s and we eventually bought the in-bye land in 2003 from the Gannochy estate.”

The 1600-acre hill farm has been home to a flock of Blackfaces for generations. Mr Myles has been keen to improve his Perth-type Blackies and has been performance recording the flock for the last 16 years. Out of 550 Blackface ewes around 130 are lambed a month earlier in April with the lambs individually identified and signet recorded. Mr Myles believes this has improved the flock but says it isn’t easy.

“We want to keep the integrity of the Perthshire type; horns away from the face, the size and the shape, and improve the genetics. It has been a wee bit more work doing all the recording but also very rewarding too. Keeping the maternal traits whilst maintaining the integrity is a balancing act.” Peter is treasurer of the Maternal Sheep group, who all also record, and he finds this group of like-minded people supportive, stimulating and always eager to look outside the box.

There is certainly progress in the flock, with Mr Myles stating the ewes are better mothers and pay more attention to lambs since the farm started recording. He said: “I don’t get that involved much with them at lambing time with the majority of singles, heather born. We don’t have problems with horns during the births and barely have to intervene and if I do, the mother is given a black mark on her record and removed from the maternal flock.”

The farm puts most of the females to a Blackface tup with only around 100 with a black mark going to a terminal sire. The terminal sires have recently been bought from Logie Durno or Incheoch. Blackface tups are bought at Stirling, Northern Ireland or privately with a focus on high index performance.

The best of the females are retained, with the rest of the offspring heading to Kepak through the Tesco sustainability lamb group. Peter is to sell some pedigree tups at the Perth Society ram sale, with six going forward on October 9.

Mr Myles is a founding member of the Ghent lambing and husbandry project. The scheme encourages vet students who are studying in Ghent in Belgium to visit working farms at lambing. Each year we get 8 to 12 Belgian or Dutch students who help with the sheep and sometimes cattle in April. Mr Myles said: “At Ghent, they don’t get much physical contact with sheep until later in their studies. We usually get the students in their third or fourth year and they enjoy working closely with the sheep; vaccinating, dosing, feeding and lambing, they just muck in with the jobs that need done.”

Later this year Mr Myles is heading to Belgium to address the university for the second time. “My French and Flemish is terrible but their English is usually better than mine,” Mr Myles joked. “The students are very engaging and have a great sense of humour which certainly helps. I have found it really rewarding working with them over the years.”