4 minute read
Chairman’s Tour
Magnificent Borders
Sir Walter Scott
“The will to do, the soul to dare”
Sir Walter Scott
Cutting-edge farming efficiency, innovation, Club fellowship and culture characterised a fascinating Club tour to Scotland’s Borders region. Charles Abel reports
THE Scottish Borders region around Kelso provided a stunning backdrop for the 2021 Chairman’s Tour, hosted by Keith and Grace Redpath. It proved to be a very welcome return to more normal Club activity after the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
From some of the most technically progressive farming in the UK to artisanal honey production the Borders Tour was packed with insight, and a host of cultural interludes, including the stunning Floors Castle near Kelso, Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford House near Melrose and a gala dinner in the Victorian Conservatory of the fabulous Schloss Roxburghe Hotel.
Home for our stay was the classically-styled Ednam House Hotel, with a glorious lawn overlooking Kelso’s wonderful River Tweed – perfect for winding-down over a glass of chilled fizz following a busy day investigating the local area. With members joining the tour from all parts of the UK, including several former Club chairmen, the conversation flowed freely as the Borders revealed some of Britain’s best farming and cultural gems.
Farming efficiency
For a glimpse into the future of super-efficient combinable crop production it would be hard to beat Colin McGregor’s Coldstream Mains in the Tweed Valley. Gleaming Quad-Tracs seemed to pop out from behind every hedge, while three huge Claas Lexion combines dominated an immaculate yard ready to get back to barley harvesting duty, while two giant Agrifac Condor self-propelled sprayers demonstrate the latest spraying technology to minimise environmental pressures and boost crop performance.
The ethos is simple – “we’re in a service industry and a professional service is what our clients expect, and it what they get,” said Colin. Harnessing the best technology through a meticulously managed farming operation based around in-house expertise, has seen the business grow to almost 3500ha (8600 acres), with a reputation for superbly managed contract farming agreements (see p8).
Further evidence of the rich innovation agenda in Borders farming was shared by Kelso-native Angus Armstrong, Chief Executive of Produce Investments, which includes major potato packer Greenvale at Craigswalls, Borders, and businesses supplying daffodils, Jersey Royals, and Alzheimerslowing drug galantamine (see p9).
Artisanal excellence
By stark contrast Chain Bridge Honey Farm has pursued an artisanal approach to honey production, giving consumers what supermarkets just can’t – a real passion for the product, great taste, Borders provenance, a short supply chain and an unmatchable day-out experience.
The farm takes its name from Europe’s first ever chain suspension bridge across the River Tweed at Horncliffe, near Berwick-on-Tweed. Currently dismantled for refurbishment the bridge is due to be back up in 2022 – well worth a look.
Wise farm owner Willie Robson has invested prudently in the bee business, including a determined loyalty to “better” native black bees, a diverse range of honey and wax-based products, and a supply network of over 400 retailers. Effervescent daughter Francis is now over-seeing the next phase of investment ready for a post-covid business re-bound.
Tomato triumph
Returning to high-tech innovation Standhill Farm is the unlikely dairy enterprise in a small valley near Hawick with a very big secret. Jim and Kerry Shanks, and Jim’s parents Jim Senior and Annie Shanks, have created a stunning tomato enterprise, using heat and CO2 from an anaerobic digester fed with slurry from the 180-head milking herd to produce methane and electricity for the national grid.
The enterprise was inspired by an article in The Farmers Club Journal describing British Sugar’s ground-breaking tomato enterprise using heat and CO2 from Wissington sugar beet factory, visited during Chairman Paul Heygate’s Norfolk tour in 2012. Trips to the Fens, then a Nuffield Scholarship supported by the Treharne Trust, saw Jim investigate on-farm energy production in Australia and across the EU, leading to the current carefully tuned system (more on p9).
Castles & Culture
Cultural depth was added to the tour at Abbotsford House, a stunning Scots Baronial castle outside Melrose, built for literary genius Sir Walter Scott, born 250 years ago, and author of Ivanhoe, Lady of the Lake and Waverley. Scott oversaw the creation of Abbotsford’s beautiful gardens, had an eye for environmental protection and did much to establish Scottish identity. The house has over 10,000 artefacts, including a cast of Robert the Bruce’s skull.
The Tour’s final night gala dinner at Schloss Roxburghe Hotel celebrated the best of local ingredients, many grown in the hotel’s own kitchen gardens. The group was joined by Barclay Forrest, a former Club Chairman and Chair of Trustees, who lives close by, and Ray Jones, former Chief Executive of the Royal Highland Agricultural Society.
For a grand finale, uniting culture and farming, it was back to Kelso for magnificent Floors Castle, Scotland’s largest inhabited castle, set in a vast landscaped park beside the stunning River Tweed. Built exactly 300 years ago, and now home to 11th Duke of Roxburghe Charles Innes-Ker, the castle’s rooms tell the story of an historic estate made wealthy by wool before embracing the assets of an American banking heiress. Today Floors hosts 30,000 visitors a year and oversees a dynamic 54,000 acre farming estate (see p9).
Driving back from the Tour no participant could have doubted the quality of the farming or the culture, the warmth of the welcomes, or the organisational skills to deliver such a great tour so soon after the rigours of the 2020-2021 pandemic. Thank you Chairman - a true triumph!
