Fife farmer reaches Prince’s Fund final

Fife farmer John Bell will go head to head with Dumfries couple Emily Davidson and Semple Kelly as finalists of the Prince’s Countryside Fund Award at the M&S awards.

The award celebrates the efforts of producers in the food supply chain that have gone the “extra mile” to help support their local rural community.

John, who is the second generation of the Bell family to farm at Fairfield, in the East Neuk of Fife, supplies both beef and lamb to M&S through a contract with Scotbeef.

He runs the Fairfield Farms operation, at Colinsburgh, in partnership with son David and wife Liz.

Their agricultural system marries an extensive arable enterprise, producing winter and spring barley, winter wheat and potatoes from around 1,000 acres across the East Neuk, with beef and sheep production and associated fodder growth.

David heads the combinable crop element of the business, while John runs a 400-strong suckler cow herd, including 50 in-calf heifers, all sired by Aberdeen Angus bulls, in tandem with a flock of 220 mule ewes, crossed with Suffolks and Texels.

The Bells’ productive farmland is managed in conjunction with designated SSSI land, adjacent to the coast, requiring a more environmentally focused approach to farming.

Yet, according to the judges, it was not simply John’s “excellent farming practices” that impressed to propel him into the final, but his commitment to supporting the next generation of farmers.

Indeed, as well as carrying out a number of industry roles, including as a director of both the Moredun Institute and the Scottish Beef Cattle Association and advisory committee member for QMS, John is very active in encouraging young people on to his farm.

“We’ve always welcomed people with an interest in farming, especially during lambing time,” John said.

“We have also been farm hosts to a number of pupils from the local Colinsburgh primary school as part of a wider potato project, to help teach the children where their food comes from.

“It gives the pupils first-hand experience of the growth cycle of potatoes and takes them on an education journey from farm to fork through each season of the year.

“I’m thrilled to have been nominated,” John said.

Emily Davidson and Semple Kelly run Airdrie Farm in Kirkbean, Dumfries, managing around 30,000 hens to produce free range eggs that are supplied to M&S through Noble Foods. The couple are committed to improving the local environment and helping to educate the next generation about food and farming.

John Bell runs the Fairfield Farms operation, supplying both beef and lamb to M&S through Scotbeef.