A special awards ceremony will be livestreamed to showcase the latest AgriScot crop of farms of the year and competition award winners.
2021 saw a new award, Diversified Farm of the Year, join the AgriScot portfolio, and the inaugural presentation of this will take place alongside the awards for arable, beef, dairy and sheep farms of the year at the ceremony on 9th February.
Also taking place on the day – which was to be the date of a full-scale AgriScot event, sadly cancelled due to Coronavirus – are the Business Skills Competition, the Silage Competition and the unveiling of the Product Innovation Award winner.
Finalists have been announced across the five farm of the year award categories and representatives from each farm have been invited to attend the presentation ceremony at the Royal Highland Centre. Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Mairi Gougeon will present each farm with a finalist certificate before the announcement of each prestigious title.
The finalists are:
Scottish Arable Farm of the Year – sponsored by SoilEssentials and supported by AHDB
- Milton of Mathers, Montrose. Farmed by Jim Reid and family.
- Prestonhall Farms, Pathhead. Managed by Bill Gray on behalf of the Callander family.
- Tulloch Farms, Laurencekirk. Managed by Iain Wilson on behalf of Martin and Jamie Gilbert.
Scotch Beef Farm of the Year – sponsored by Thorntons Solicitors and supported by QMS
- Adziel Farm, Strichen. Farmed by James, Irene and Gillian Fowlie
- Drumbreddan Farm, Stranraer. Farmed by Daniel and Lamont Hair
- Durie Farms, Leven. Farmed by Douglas Christie
Scottish Dairy Farm of the Year – sponsored by CowAlert from IceRobotics
- East Brackenridge, Strathaven. Farmed by Andrew and Hugh Neilson
- Holehouse Farms, Kilbirnie. Farmed by the Logan Family
- Queenscairn, Kelso. Farmed by Robert Shanks
Scottish Diversified Farm of the Year – sponsored by RBS and supported by SAC Consulting
- Bain Farm, Sandwick. Lara Hourie and family
- Cairns Farm, West Calder. Caroline and Graham Hamilton
- Newton Farm, Forfar. Louise and Graeme Nicoll
Scottish Sheep Farm of the Year – sponsored by Thorntons Solicitors and supported by QMS
- Attonburn, Yetholm. Farmed by Robert and Becca Rennie
- Saughland, Pathhead. Managed by Pete Eccles and Owen Gray on behalf of the Callander family
- Swinside Townfoot, Jedburgh. Farmed by Peter Hedley.
Finalists have also been announced, following two regional heats, in the AgriScot Business Skills Competition. The three finalists will now go on to compete at Ingliston on 9th February for the £1000 prize.
The finalists are
AgriScot Business Skills Competition- sponsored by NFU Mutual and supported by SRUC
- Emily Mosley; a Harper Adams graduate, originally from Derbyshire but now working as a Farm Administrator in Tain.
- Ben McSporran; a 3rd year BSc Agriculture student at SRUC Edinburgh who combines his studies with part time work on farms near his Peeblesshire home farm.
- Stewart Shaw; a partner in his family farming and contracting business in the Scottish Borders. Stewart is also a keen SAYFC member.
The AgriScot Silage Competition, where £5000 of prizes is up for grabs courtesy of Watson Seeds (sponsors and organisers) received a healthy number of entries back in December. The shortlisted entries – based on chemical analysis reports – were then collected, from pits and bale stacks, all over Scotland and the north of England and subsequently frozen. These samples will be defrosted, judged and the winners announced by Hugh McClymont from SAC Crichton Royal Farm as part of the livestream on 9th February.
The livestream will be available on the AgriScot website at www.agriscot.co.uk/video-hub/ from 11:10 on 9th February 2022.
