R me, says beef farmer

helps with the buying, particularly at Thainstone, along with one other employee.

Margaret undertakes the vital job of ensuring passports are in place and John’s wife, Janice, does all the computer work on a part-time basis, including inputting all buying and selling prices to keep a close watch on margins,

In addition to Scotbeef, the Emslies have a market for two Aberdeen-Angus cattle a week to a local butcher, Bannermans of Inverbervie, which is proving a great success.

Ian said: “Bannermans like Aberdeen-Angus heifers because it is the best beef in the world for eating quality. It is worth the journey to Inverbervie to try it.”

He would like to see the present system of grading carcases in the UK, which is based on the EUROP grid as a measure of conformation and fatness, changed to the American system which measures the size of rib eye and marbling which, Mr Emslie found on a study tour to the US last year, is a far better measure of eating quality.

He would also like to see more suckler herds using Aberdeen-Angus sires to meet the demand for Aberdeen-Angus cross cattle but suggests pedigree breeders need to put more emphasis on further improving conformation rather than concentrating on size.

Ian added: “The ability of the breed to thrive and grow on a low-cost feeding regime and command an attractive premium, makes the Aberdeen-Angus the ideal commercial beef animal.”

The Emslie family finish more than 2,000 Aberdeen-Angus cattle a year at Little Barras

Ian Emslie looks after the buying, spending much of his week at marts