Scottish young farmers have benefited from a trio of funding deals worth around £3 million, allowing them to buy farms and invest.
William Mathers and Sons purchased their 537-acre farm from the Tillypronie Estate in Aberdeenshire, at a significant tenants’ discount with a seven-figure loan from HSBC UK.
Succession is a key issue facing farming communities throughout the UK.
One generation of the Mathers family is approaching retirement, and the next is keen take on ownership.
The bank's support also provided a cash pay-out to the retiring partners to exit the partnership.
In addition, Morayshire brothers Craig and Jack Hendry, who are well-known in the young farming community, have purchased Craibstone Farm near Deskford using a six-figure loan.
Keen to establish their own farming business, the farm purchase follows a successful application for a New Entrants Grant from the Scottish Government in 2017.
The brothers have since established a suckler cow herd on the farm, in addition to growing malting barley.
Meanwhile, Stuart Munro and his partner Louise Joiner have also been supported by HSBC, in their purchase of Mossend Farm near Peterhead, with a six-figure loan.
Along with a successful New Entrants Grant, it has allowed the couple to establish a herd of stabiliser cattle, with the couple now looking to build new shed facilities on the farm.
