Charlie Mitchell farms 660ac along with his father and grandfather at Kinpurnie Farm, Newtyle which is situated around 20 minutes outside of Dundee. They run a mixed farming system which consists of pedigree Aberdeen Angus cattle, Blackface sheep and arable land where they grow spring barley and potatoes.

Charlie previously earned a BSc in Agriculture from Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) before returning home to work on the farm. “Currently I take care of most of the tractor and machinery work on the farm – combining, sowing, spraying. If it’s to do with tractors, I’m usually the one doing it,” Charlie said.

“I work with the cattle and sheep also as well as bedding and general husbandry, but it is mainly the machinery.”

The dry year has brought challenges for the Mitchells but Charlie emphasises you must take it day by day. Harvest this year has been earlier than usual for the spring barley crops. Charlie said: “We started harvest this year on 8 August which is particularly early for us.

“It’s just been so dry, everything has been brought forward. We grow potatoes but we don’t irrigate and they have really felt the effects this year. All you can do is keep going, I suppose.”

Future-proofing the business

Like many young farmers the buzz word for Charlie is “diversification”. Exploring all options available to maximise profit from the farm is at the forefront of his plans going forward.

He said: “My goal for the farm is to make it future-proof through diversification. There are definite opportunities on the farm to create variation within the business.

“I want to increase the potential on the farm by having every corner of it working without compromising the efficiency of what we do.”

Charlie envisions more than just the agricultural sector having an impact on the farm as tourism could be a part of his plan to build his business. He added: “There are definite opportunities in the tourism sector that we can take advantage of on the farm. We are surrounded by beautiful scenery and are only 20 minutes from Dundee. We have cottages on the farm that present the opportunity to take advantage of the increased interest in Dundee as a tourist area.”

Young people and farming

Charlie believes there is a healthy interest in farming as a way of life among young people. However, starting as a new entrant is difficult at the moment.

“There are many challenges facing young people entering the agricultural industry, the main one in my opinion is people wanting to get into farming themselves,” Charlie said.

He added: “If you are not part of a farm, buying or renting is incredibly difficult at the moment. The government are only providing opportunities for short-term leases so the risk is just too high for people to start a business. Land price is also very high at the moment.

“Most of my friends in college are eager to go into farming but the opportunities don’t seem to be there. It’s great to see so many young people willing to enter into farming, I don’t think there is enough involved.”

California trip

As one of the 16 young farmers chosen to go on the trip to California, Charlie believes it will be a great opportunity.

“The way they have adapted and diversified their systems is really interesting and there is huge potential to learn a lot from the trip,” he said.

“I have been researching agriculture in California and they are the most productive state in the US. As well as this their biggest commodity is dairy and their biggest challenge is drought. It will be really interesting to see how they produce a high-water requirement product sustainably.”

In his spare time Charlie is a big sports fan and enjoys rugby, cricket and football in particular. He is also a member of Strathmore JFC. “I have been part of the Young Farmers for years and it is the number one way that I socialise and meet people,” said Charlie.

“It provides a great platform to learn and experience new things, like the trip to California. I have been involved in things I would have never tried before joining the young farmers, we recently did a cabaret show and surprisingly it was really fun.”