Derek and his wife Glynis farm 200ac of owned land and 100ac of seasonal lets just outside Kirkwall, the main town on the mainland of Orkney. They have 80 continental cross breeding cows and are representative of the average Orcadian farmer. Derek is one of the many people that have returned to Orkney after a period away. “I didn’t want to leave Orkney,” he laughs, “it has everything you could want.”

“We’re the fifth generation to farm here, although I think we’re facing into a problem that is going to get bigger in Orkney as time goes on and that is succession,” say Derek and Glynis. The limited number of young farmers entering the industry is a growing concern around all of Scotland and it is no different here.

The cows at Campston Farm are Simmental or Limousin Angus cross cows. The farm used to keep a number of sheep, but Derek says that it was easier to look after a higher number of cattle than cattle and sheep. That has been the wider trend and the sheep population in Orkney has been declining in recent years down to 43,000 breeding ewes from 55,000.

“Our cows are about 650kg. Lighter cows can make all the difference here as being housed on slats for seven months of the years can be hard on cows’ feet, so we have had to look at ways of reducing that burden. Along with slatted courts we house a number of cows on cubicles that are scraped out. We try to minimise the amount of slurry we produce because storage space can come under pressure if we have a long winter.”

The last three years in particular in Orkney have been challenging weather-wise, with many farms under pressure as a result. “We’ve moved to using an umbilical system in recent years which has been a huge success. Not having the heavy tanker along with the tractor out on the ground really reduces the amount of compaction,” Derek says enthusiastically.

Somewhat unusual to the average Orcadian farmer, 75% of all the stock on the farm are brought through to finish with only 25% sold as stores. For most, the store trade is the main route to market as it reduces the number of animals that need to be housed for prolonged periods. It also reduces the need for bought in concentrates with most farmers unable to grow their own barley. “We used to finish all stock,” Derek explains, “but it’s very hard to compete with the store trade at the moment.”