For many, the first foray into owning their own herd can be daunting. For Valerie Orr and James Cameron it came with the added complication of a relocation across the Irish Sea. Two years ago, in January 2016 they, along with 25 animals from Valerie’s home farm in Northern Ireland, travelled 260km to set up in the Vale of Strathmore in Perthshire.

Trainview Livestock is now about to enter its third year of operation and their plan is beginning to take shape. “Our goal,” says Valerie, “is to establish our reputation as breeders of high-quality pedigree stock as well as producers of grass-finished native cattle.” Currently they have a split herd of 15 commercial cows and 20 pedigree cows with a focus on the breeding of Shorthorn and Irish Moiled cattle.

Their decision to set up their business on this side of the Irish Sea was one that was partially motivated by their off-farm employment. “James is a self-employed stockman and has been for all his days. Originally, he moved over to me and my family, but the problem was there wasn’t enough pedigree herds big enough to employ James,” Valerie explains. “I worked for the Department of Agriculture there and I was lucky enough to find a similar job here in Scotland.”

As the couple have no secured land base in either country it made sense to support the initial start up period of their livestock business with off-farm employment. “We’ve always wanted to own our own herd. It’s not a case of doing this as a hobby, we want it to be a commercially viable business,” explains Valerie when outlining their motivation to making such a big move.

Some would question the timing, given its proximity to Brexit and the uncertainty that surrounds agricultural support payments, but this is something they believe might potentially work in their favour. “At the moment the system has a tendency to reward land owners rather than what people are producing off the land,” says Valerie, “and if there’s a change to that system then we wouldn’t be at a major disadvantage. Currently the system isn’t set up to favour new entries.”

Landing on their feet

The move has not come without its complications though. To date the biggest challenge has proved to be securing land on a long-term basis. When Valerie and James first arrived, they had only rented accommodation to house their cattle with all other plans up in the air. “It’s been a case of getting the word out on the ground that we’re looking for a farm,” says Valerie, “and the fact that James has contacts over here has been invaluable.”

To support summer grazing for their animals, they require at least 25 acres and have been lucky enough to secure such a parcel at a local land auction. “We’ve been on the same ground for two years now and it’s close to where we are living and to where we’re working. The problem is that we’ve had to secure it at auctions and we’ve seen the rent double from last year to this year.”

While far from an ideal situation, Valerie says the ability to secure suitable land and accommodation on short-term leases has allowed them a certain degree of flexibility. “Of course, it’s not a situation we hope to be in for too long as it restricts the level of expansion we can achieve. However, at this stage in our development it has been the right step as it gives us time to source the most suitable permanent arrangement we can.”

Legislation and long-term longevity

For Trainview the next step now is to secure a long-term lease on a parcel of land greater than three hectares. This is the magic number that will allow them to access grants and schemes currently unavailable to them due to their classification as landless keepers.

To access supports such as the Young Farmers and New Entrants Start-Up grants there are several pieces of criteria owners must meet. In addition to having relevant agricultural experience or qualifications a person must show they have access to land greater than three hectares in size for more than five years continuously. Valerie and James also find themselves under time pressure as the Young Farmer Scheme has an upper age limit of 41 years that they are close to exceeding.

“Getting access to those supports as well as permanent ground will be a massive step in the next phase of our business. Once we secure them we can begin expanding and planning beyond the short term,” says Valerie.

Their landless keeper status brings further complications.

“As we have no land to tie our herd mark to it means it is attached to our home address. That means every time we move to a new house we must reapply for a herd mark and to date we’ve switched locations three times. The first time we were caught on the hop and it ended with 20 wasted cattle tags as we had to change our mark.”

From established pedigree

Much of Trainview’s stock has come from Valerie’s home pedigree herd, Knowehead in Co Down where the Orr family has farmed for over 400 years. The beef Shorthorn stock has been supplemented by foundation cows from around the UK to give Trainview a solid base on which to build their reputation.

The Irish Moiled cattle that made the journey have found much favour among the local population says Valerie.

“I think we’re one of only three or four herds in all of Scotland. There’s been a lot of interest locally and we’ve even helped to establish a new herd in the Scottish Borders. They’ve been an important part of assisting with cashflow on the farm.”

As the herd has a Shorthorn stock bull used for breeding pedigree animals the couple were keen to maximise his output, so they produce animals for commercial sale through Moiled and Highland crosses.

“There’s a huge demand for the beef produced off the Moiled cattle. They have a reputation for producing marbled meat that’s incredibly well flavoured and we’ve looked to maximise that. When you’re starting out you must be as inventive as possible,” says Valerie.

Valerie and James offered this key advice to new entrants:

1. Make sure to get word out in your locality that you’re a new entrant. It’s helped secure the land we need but in farming it’s always good to surround yourself with supports, and neighbours will always be first to provide that.

2. Don’t be afraid to take the first steps when you feel the time is right. For us, everything wasn’t perfect when we started but those first steps were the hardest. Now that we’re step up short-term we can piece together our next move.

3. Try and set yourself a long-term plan as that gives you a goal to work towards. Our business plan is to be respected pedigree breeders and producers of grass-fed native beef animals. There are no details in that statement but it gives us something to base all our plans off.

4. Read up on the supports that are available to you either as a young farmer or as a new entrant. We are still in the process of gaining access to these schemes and the funding they provide can be a huge boost to a business starting out.

5. Trust in yourself. The last two years haven’t been plain sailing for us and there’s been plenty of complications and stumbling blocks along the way, but we believe in what we’re trying to do and we’re confident we can get there.