The Scotch Beef Farm of the Year award was won by Alistair Foubister’s Netherton Farm on Orkney.
Paying tribute to the contestants as “exemplars of the industry”, Richard Lochhead announced Netherton as the winner out of a strong field of farmers that he said have worked hard to build up the country’s top beef enterprises.
Mr Lochhead presented the award to Alistair and his daughters Joanna and Claire in the main ring at AgriScot.
Alistair, who runs the 340-acre farm at Netherton, Holm, in partnership with wife Anne, took the win ahead of runners-up Calla Farm, near Carnwath in Lanarkshire, run by David Baillie in partnership with son David; and Brownhill Farm at Auchnagatt, Aberdeenshire, run by Thomson Wilson and son Michael.
The Foubisters run 120 mainly Aberdeen-Angus cross suckler cows. Replacements are home-bred with steer calves sold at around a year old, and the remainder sold store or finished at 16-to-18 months old. Some heifers are retained as replacements, with the remainder finished.
One major investment by the business, which is now reaping rewards, was a new building to house the cattle, featuring CCTV cameras to help observation in the calving period. The aim was to improve efficiency, enabling a reduction in labour costs while, at the same time, allowing stock numbers to be increased.
The Foubisters have steadily increased the number of cattle they sell each year, from 79 in 2009 to 106 in last year.