Fifers battle for prestigious award

All three finalists in the 2019 Agriscot Scottish Arable Farm of the Year competition hail from Fife, despite farming different types of soil on very different scales.

The winner, chosen from the three top-rated units – which share a focus on soil health, benchmarking and innovation – will be announced at Agriscot on 20 November.

Craig Peddie owns and farms 196 hectares at Cornceres, Anstruther, where he grows winter and spring cereals, oilseed rape and beans and rents land for potatoes.

John Weir owns 300 hectares at Lacesston, Gateside, where the focus is on potatoes, but he also grows cereals and finishes beef cattle.

The 1165-hectare Balbirnie Home Farms at Freuchie, owned by the Balfour family, is managed by David Aglen, who is responsible for all the cereals, vegetables, grass and fodder/cover crops grown on the estate, as well as livestock enterprises.

Precision technology is a key part of all three businesses, with each finding improvements and efficiencies using innovative machinery and technology combined with careful management and attention to detail.

The winner of the prestigious award will receive a precision farming package from competition sponsors Soilessentials. The package will be tailor-made for the business following a site visit to the farm to assess the technology being used and the business requirements.

The candidates will be assessed by the 2018 winner, Donald Ross, of Rhynie, Tain, and AHDB cereals and oilseeds board member Andrew Moir.