The first Scottish Agriculture Awards saw 13 excellent winners take home a trophy on the night. From Aberdeenshire to Arran, all of Scotland was recognised in the awards with the judges commending the winners for their excellence in front of a packed room of over 450 guests.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The first award of the night was a surprise announcement as former Scottish Farmer editor, Ken Fletcher was given the Lifetime Achievement Award. He said: “It’s taken a lifetime to get this far – but 46 years at the Scottish Farmer would be nothing without the people that have worked for us over the years, and there can be maybe hundreds of them, and this is as much for them as it is for me.
Turning to the Awards themselves he said: “It’s a big thing for the industry because we have to take stock of where we are and what we want to achieve over the next few years. I think this industry is worth shouting about. We should stand up and shout about it from the top of the trees.
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“Attending everything from the Appin Show on the west coast to the Royal Highland Show – the pinnacle of agriculture in Scotland and meeting farmers on their home ground – what’s not to like about that? Because all this journalism gets the truth to the people who need to know.
“And we work for a business-to-business magazine and therefore what we say should be the truth and it didn’t earn the name of the ‘farmer’s bible’ for nothing. Whether you’re a farmer or whether you’re not a farmer, whatever you go to buy in your local supermarket is probably produced by a farmer. Whether it’s local or not, that’s another thing. If you go to your local butcher, it’s more likely to be local, and that’s what I would say – that’s the message, it’s buy local.”
Champion of Champions and Diversified Farm of the Year
The overall winner on the night was the diversified farm of the year from Kenneth and Eleanor Bone and their three children Cameron, Euan, and Hannah from Glenkiln farm on the Isle of Arran. The mixed business was deemed the best diversified farm and also judged to be the supreme entry overall and took home the first-ever Champion of Champions award.
Kenneth said: “I’m ecstatic. We used to be a dairy farm 20 years ago but stopped when we couldn’t make ends meet and were forced to diversify.
“We started off with liveries and added long-term lets after converting farm cottages. We also built new houses for long-term lets, and that gave us enough income to look at a hydro scheme, and then we got the chance to buy the local restaurant and pub. From there, we built an indoor riding arena as our latest venture.
“It’s been difficult, starting off at a low point. Dairying is difficult on an island – my wife used to go on holiday with the kids while I was stuck on the farm, and I knew something had to change at that point, and it’s why we had to look at other things.”
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Fiona Grierson from SAC Consulting, who sponsored the diversification award, said: “Diversifying your income streams, diversifying your approach can actually build good long-term resilience. I think the interest in the farm supporting the economic sustainability of the island with its challenges around accommodation and providing jobs, incomes, and homes for local young people to stay on the island really resonated as having a social impact and how you leverage the natural assets on the farm, and I think this is a lovely example of a business that does the right thing taking the long view – how can you not be inspired by that?”
Arable Farm of the Year
Category winner Andrew Booth, Savock Farms, Aberdeenshire said: “It’s an accumulation of a great team and everything coming together, it’s been fantastic.
“It’s a tremendous industry.”
Soil Essentials, who were sponsoring arable farm of the year, said: “We are delighted for the winner, but also delighted for all the other contenders, and indeed we should take this chance to appreciate all the other arable farmers in Scotland as well.
“We all tend to go home to the farm, put our heads down, and work. Sometimes, especially when we’ve had the bad weather over the past few weeks and so the opportunity to get away from the farm, lift your head up a little bit, have a drink, and eat some fantastic beef is a real ego-booster for the whole farming community – it’s great.”
Dairy Farm of the Year
The Dairy Farm of the Year award went to Coopen Carse Farm in Newton Stewart.
Dairy farmer Alex Robertson said: “I’m over the moon. It’s a great achievement, but not just for me, it’s for the whole farm. It’s a team effort and something we work towards as a team to achieve the highest standards. At the end of it, this is what we aim for, to be the best.
“We need to be able to show off what we can do in agriculture and show the way forward as far as initiative and making the place more automated and make it a nicer place to work.”
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Category sponsors GEA Farm Technologies said: “We are very happy to be involved in this. We are part of a big German engineering company, and they are very proud of the support they give to UK farmers, and they are very proud of innovation and they keep producing new solutions to help farmers farm better, and we are very proud to be a part of it.”
Sheep Farm of the Year
The winner of the Sheep Farm of the Year award was the Baker family at Windshiel Farm, Berwickshire. On receiving the award, Joe Baker said: “I’m just ecstatic. I couldn’t imagine being nominated, let alone winning. It means a great deal to the family. We put a lot into where we are now, and I’m only second generation, so there’s a lot still for the farm to progress to in the future. It’s a big honor for us, and it’s fantastic to be in the room with so many knowledgeable people as well.”
Kenneth MacKay from Thorntons, who sponsored the sheep farm category said: “We got involved in 2015 when Sheep Farm of the Year was introduced. The agriculture sector does not shout enough about what it does, and we at Thorntons Law want to do what we can to help promote the industry within Scotland and further afield.
“We are too concentrated in the central belt in Scotland, and we need to support the rural areas.”
Sustainable Farm of the Year
Taking home the Sustainable Farm of the Year was R Mitchell and Sons, Whitriggs Farm, Hawick. Stuart Mitchell said: “I’m overwhelmed. Very tough competition, and it’s nerve-wracking, but it’s good to get the award at the end of the night.
“For us, it was just getting our business so that we would be here in the future for the next generation and making it exciting for them, and we want the farm to be in the best health it can be and improve it every year. We want to farm, and we want the next generation to be able to farm as well.”
Drew Ratter, from Shetland-based sponsors Polycrub, said: “Polycrub is a community-owned business sustaining the community, plus we use recycled materials, and we are very proud of the business and delighted to be able to sponsor this category.”
Beef Farm of the Year
The Beef Farm of the Year award was taken by Emma, Andrew, and Jill Hodge at Rulesmains Farm in the Scottish Borders. Andrew Hodge said: “Absolutely delighted to pick up the award on behalf of my daughter. We started up in beef farming in 2008, prior to that we were in dairy farming. Because I enjoyed showing so much, we got some pedigree Aberdeen Angus, and now we have almost all pedigrees and just a few commercials left.
“It’s not an easy industry to be in, and they are all winners.”
Category sponsor APB said: “It’s good to get young people involved in the industry.”
Young Farmers Initiative of the Year
The winner of this category was the Scottish Association of Young Farmers and RSABI.
Anna McDiarmid from the SAYFC said: “We are absolutely delighted, I don’t think we saw this coming at all, so it was a really lovely surprise. I think it’s really exciting to be the champion for rural mental health, it’s a really important issue at the moment.
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“We want to share the message to keep talking, to one another, to friends and family.”
Chief executive of RSABI Carol McLaren said: “We are absolutely thrilled that the Thrive app has been recognized in the way it has tonight. There were two other very strong contenders in the category, and congratulations to them as well. The app is very special, we have just finished a year-long pilot, and we are about to do something exciting with it after this trial year.
“We’ve had huge support from the young farmers.”
Supplier of the Year
The first-ever winner of the Supplier of the Year was Neil Redpath of Redpath Tyres, Duns. Neil said: “We were absolutely buzzing when we got nominated, it was brilliant, and even to get to the finals. Dad would have been very, very proud.
It’s a whole team. It’s grown so big it needs a lot of people to help. It’s just fantastic.
“You can’t put it into words – it’s an award for the whole team, and we’ll certainly be celebrating for a while.”
Best Agroforestry Award
The 2023 winner of the Best Agroforestry award was won by W Laird and Son, Netherurd Home Farm, West Linton.
Winner Andrew Adamson said: “I’m overwhelmed. Even just to be nominated and to get through. I didn’t expect to be here tonight, and when the information came through, it was quite a shock and still is.
“This is a generational thing. I’ve taken on the role from my father who is no longer here, but it was his foresight to replant, my foresight to push forward, increase, and a bit more diversification.
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Eddie Cattanach from Field and Forestry Machinery, who sponsored the category, said: “It’s nice to see more diversification from farmers and the benefits from that. A lot of agricultural land is normally neighboured by woodland or there is potential to build woodland. It’s great these guys have been recognized for what they have done.”
Advisor of the Year award
Winning the Advisor of the Year award was Heather Wildman from Saviour Associates. She said: “I’m absolutely delighted. It’s just so nice to be acknowledged by the industry, by my peers, and by my customers and clients.
“Farmers are everything, and to be able to have some good quality advisers that will tell them the truth and challenge them as well as praise them.
The Scottish Farmer publisher, Darren Bruce said: “What a great evening, with all the great and good of Scottish agriculture watching as we kick off the Scottish Agriculture Awards.
The Advisor of the Year category recognises excellence in such an important part of agriculture. Heather is really making a difference to the farms she works with, and I am delighted to have presented Heather with her award, well done.”
Animal Health Provider of the Year
Winning the Health Provider of the Year category was Clyde Vets.
Clinical director Neil Fox said: “It’s such a great thing for all of our team, and I’m really looking forward to going back and sharing it with them all.
“We are delighted to win the award, and I’d like to say well done to the other finalists as well. The area we are in has a lot of good competition, and that has helped push us on to try and get better.”
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“Animal health is one of the most important areas, but the impact animal health can have on the reputation of the industry, and we are trying to encourage more people to get into the industry, whether that be through veterinary or through working on farms.
“The awards are important to celebrate the industry and hopefully inspire others to join the industry.”
Unsung Hero Award
Finally, the Unsung Hero award was won by Orkney Auction Mart’s retired auctioneer and manager John Copland who has dedicated half a century to serving the island’s agricultural community.
Brought up on a beef and sheep farm in Harray, John started as an auctioneer at the mart in 1969. Before taking over the reins as manager from Goron Muir in 1994.
John has not only been involved in the running of the mart in that time but has taken on various committee roles in agricultural and sports organisations, and for more than 40 years was the commentator at both the Dounby and County shows, having been a steward ten years beforehand.
Through his dedication to farming in Orkney, he has become something of a humble authority on all things agriculture on the islands. Despite official retirement in 2015, John remains active at the mart and throughout the farming community on Orkney.
He said: “I’m very humbled and chuffed to win the award. I’m very lucky to have worked for the Orkney farmers for nearly 51 years. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my work and thank you very much for the award.”
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