The value of data integrity and trusted networks: Interview with Rory Christie of Dourie Farming Company Ltd and Chairman of SAOS

The Dourie Farming Company Ltd was formed in 1954 by Rory’s grandfather, grown by his father. It is now jointly owned and run by Rory, and his brother Gregor, making them a third-generation farming family. Dourie Farm’s operations are all located close to the small fishing villages of Port William and Monreith, in the Machars of Wigtownshire, an area of low-lying agricultural land near to Newton Stewart in Dumfries and Galloway.

“We currently run a 200-sow pig enterprise, and an 1100cow dairy enterprise. In the business we each have our own specialisations. Gregor looks after the pigs, and I look after the dairy and land related operations. We don’t interfere in each other’s area of specialisation, but we talk, consult and strategise almost every day.

“Our vision is to make our business environmentally and economically fit for the future. In every aspect of our work, we strive to be technically and financially proficient so that the animals and business can flourish. We have a regimented governance process, and all our decisions are based upon those numbers. We use 10+ years of production data, and compare the figures to the previous month, year or ten years to see what is going well and what isn’t.

“About 10 years ago I wanted to understand how much natural capital we had on farm. I always understood that without a baseline you couldn’t measure your improvement (or lack of) in whatever you are doing. It became apparent that it wasn’t possible because there wasn’t the resource or support at the time.

“Over time, we’ve seen many changes in this area. The interest in natural capital has incrementally increased. We have seen the setting of UK-wide and international netzero targets, with no roadmap on how to achieve them. We also witnessed the development of carbon markets. Yet, in some ways, farming seems to have been left behind. There’s a regulated carbon market for forestry, a woodland code and a peatland code, but there’s no soil code.

There’s certainly no market for agricultural carbon, other than the voluntary one, which to me seems like doing business in the Wild West. There’s clearly a need for understanding agricultural carbon better, and there are many challenges with clarity on how farmers can demonstrate measurement and improvement. This is exacerbated by those selling carbon tools, analysis and tech without any integrity or concern for the long-term outcomes.

“Additionally, the way we use data is uncoordinated industry-wide, and there is a lack of legislation to protect the farmer. Farmers are regularly expected to give data to their supply chains. Often in these scenarios, third parties solve the problem for the supplier, by gathering data from farmers, reviewing it and selling the insights. Farmers get no benefit from the data, as they don’t get the chance to see it in full. This practice gives control to someone else to determine ‘how well you’re farming’ and instruct you on what to do next. Without the ability to verify the data, farmers can easily experience a loss of independence, which they should be protected from.

“In looking for a reliable and trusted baseline carbon report, I saw a SAC Consulting webinar on Farm Carbon Storage and got in touch with Seamus Murphy to do a deep dive into the carbon on our farm. The report details my carbon stock and my activities, so I have an accurate carbon footprint with the baseline for 2023, and we know how many tonnes of carbon there are within our farm. We also have a LIDAR data set from the project which supports the report.

Crucially, SAC Consulting gave all the data back to me. So, it’s our data, under our control, and we can use it as we wish in future.

“We recently began a Digital Dairy Chain project with Dr Lorna Cole of SAC Consulting, on biodiversity auditing. The aim is to discover our biodiversity baseline and understand how much nature restoration could be carried out, as well as the associated costs. Measuring biodiversity is hard to achieve and requires specialist skills and resource. I’m sure our project is one of the first commercial biodiversity baseline projects in Scotland.

“I would go so far as to say that Scotland has a great opportunity to become a nation of nature friendly food producers. If we can encourage co-operation and collaboration throughout our supply chains, we will see greater benefits for farmers in terms of demonstrating their worth to society. Luckily, we have great organisations like SAOS, and its many member coops, which will aid and help us on the journey.

“As farmers, we expect consumers to change transport habits, buy local, eat a balanced diet, demand high welfare and environmental standards and stop buying cheap imported food. As farmers we are expected to adapt, read market signals, adjust our behaviour, work together and not just think about how we sustain our planet for future generations, but implement change now that will help to save society from the climate crisis. These two expectations come at a high cost. Therefore, balance that allows both farmer and consumer to adapt to a new future must be sought.

“We can’t hide from the difficult circumstances of the economy and climate change and, as I said, we have a huge opportunity to become a nation of environmentally sustainable food producers. In our case, I believe the opportunity lies in analysing for insight and evidencing that our farming practices have balanced planet sustaining integrity.

“From this discovery we can then market accordingly. Whether it be nature friendly dairy or pork or simply selling our produce to a market that needs to know what it is eating. Whatever way it goes, if we own the data and insight then we give ourselves the best chance of adapting to what is demanded of us. I firmly believe that cooperatives like SAOS and consultants like SAC Consulting will support in solving these problems in future, working as trusted brokers and helping to give the farmer the competitive edge.

“I’ve shared the carbon report with my buyers, as it tells them very clearly what our carbon footprint is, and how it was calculated. In having both the carbon and biodiversity reports, the evidence shows that we are responsible producers. This also signals that we are early adopters determined to push the boundaries of good practice.

“If there are farmers in a similar position in terms of going on this journey, I would say don’t wait for someone else to tell you what to do, move things forward for yourself. In our case, it was all about seeking knowledge that I could trust. To find that, I listen to people around me. If something really lands with me, I will get in touch with them, form a relationship and dig into their knowledge. From that, I now have a large, trusted network which is probably my biggest asset. Find people you can trust and, at the very least, calculate your own farm baseline. Finally, get your data in order and in a format that you can use - make sure that it is accurate, trusted and has integrity.”