As part of its competitions weekend, Macra got the opportunity to see large-scale farming in action on a farm walk organised by the Scottish Association of Young Farmers.

Home to pedigree Simmentals, 1,200 acres of malting barley, 600 ewes and 400 sows, the Corskie farm in the Moray district of northeast Scotland employs 40 staff, 24 of whom are lorry drivers for the UK-wide bulk haulage company WJ & J Green. The farm is a partnership between Iain Green and his parents, Jimmy and Nan.

Delegates from each of the five nations were invited to the SAYFC competitions weekend in Elgin. Munster and Leinster vice-presidents Gerard Griffin and Odile Evans represented Macra na Feirme at the event.

Iain Green was keen to emphasise that the size of Corskie farm is only possible because of the dedicated staff they have.

The arable land consists of three blocks of land, with 1,908 acres owned. The main focus of the tillage enterprise is malting barley, which feeds into the legendary Scottish whiskey industry; 172 acres of winter barley are used to feed the pigs, while 214 acres of winter wheat are used for either feed or distillings.

“All land is GPS soil-sampled. Not only are artificial fertiliser and lime applied through variable rate, we also apply slurry by using our soil maps,” said Green. “These maps are compared with our yield maps to see if we can gain maximum yield while controlling the inputs and keeping soil fertility correct.”

The farmer prides himself on the suckler herd, which consists of 160 pedigree Simmental cows and 20 in-calf heifers that are outwintered on dry ground. They are fed silage at one end of the field and stubble turnips at the other. Green said: “If you keep them walking, then they will calve down by themselves.”

“The pedigree herd is used to rear bulls for the suckler industry and has produced many champions,” said Green. “Any bulls which are not good enough for breeding are finished at 12 to 13 months of age.”

Supporting local business is important for the Corskie farm and the family has been involved with the abattoir in arranging farmer-butcher evenings to get closer to the end consumer. “This has been very successful and has seen local pork demand increase by 50%,” said Green, who recently built a pig unit with solar panels on the roof to reduce carbon footprint.

Green encouraged Scottish young farmers to take every opportunity that comes their way.

Macra would like to thank the SAYFC for the invitation to their competitions weekend and look forward to seeing them again soon.