A Dumfries and Galloway farm has been named as the 2016 Scotch Beef Farm of the Year.
Drumdow farm, near Stranraer, run by Robert Parker and his wife Eileen, was announced as the winner during a presentation at AgriScot.
Drumdow farm runs 170 Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cross cows and calves (otherwise known as Black Baldies) and a further 40 Hereford and Angus cross bulled heifers. All cows and bulls are outwintered on a 52 hectare moor. Cows are home-bred with heifers joining the herd calving as two-year-olds. The farm also has 150 Easycare ewes and gimmers.
Fergus Ewing, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity, said: "Farms like Drumdow are the mainstay of our livestock industry and I whole heartedly congratulate the Parker family on this award. This year’s winner and the other finalists should be commended for their commitment to building sustainable and viable farming businesses. Their success and commitment augurs well for the future of the beef industry in Scotland."
'Really happy'
Representatives from AgriScot and QMS visited all three finalist farms and were particularly impressed with the Parkers’ commitment to continually improving the efficiency of their farm.
"It was a pleasure to visit all of the finalist farms all of which demonstrated high quality beef production systems", said Douglas Bell, Head of Industry Development with QMS.
He added: "What particularly impressed us with Robert’s production system was how he has designed and tailored it to suit the resources available at Drumdow. A ten-year programme of criss-crossing Hereford and Aberdeen Angus, using carefully selected bulls, has produced a high quality herd of ‘Black Baldies’ which, when combined with Robert’s management skills, is achieving high levels of technical and financial performance."
Andrew Moir, Chairman of Agriscot added: "We are delighted that we have a farm dedicated to producing quality meat in an easily managed system and - with climate change and carbon footprint moving to the top of the agenda - a sustainable way."
Robert Parker said he was delighted and astounded to have won: "My thanks go to my wife Eileen and our stockman Jim McCurdy who has been working with the Parker family for 45 years now. I am really happy with the performance of our cows and the balance in the breed now. However, there is always scope for improvement and we’ll keep looking for ways to do that."
