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Scotch Beef Farm of Year finalists

Graham Cameron.
Graham Cameron.

The four finalists of the Scotch Beef Farm of the Year Award have been named by competition sponsors AgriScot and Quality Meat Scotland (QMS).

The finalists are as follows.

* Glenkilrie, near Blairgowrie, run by David Houstoun and his family.

* West Meikle Pinkerton near Dunbar, run by James Gilchrist along with his father Jim and brother David.

* Wedderlie, Gordon, Berwickshire, run by John and Marion Tilson and their daughter Wanda.

* Wester Bonhard, near Scone run by Graham Cameron, his father Sandy and mother Ann.

The aim of the Scotch Beef Farm of the Year Award is to showcase excellence in the production of cattle in Scotland and raise the profile of the dedication and stock management skills behind the production of Scotch Beef PGI.

The winner, to be announced at Agriscot, will receive a £500 cheque and a £250 voucher to celebrate their success at a Scotch Beef Club restaurant.

John Elliot, representing AgriScot, and Jim McLaren, chairman of QMS, visited the four farms last week.

The West Meikle Pinkerton enterprise includes 140 pure Limousin cows and 30 Limousin cross cows.

Wedderlie Farm in Berwickshire is a 2,500-acre upland unit with 200 pedigree Aberdeen-Angus cows as well as 1,750 ewes.

At Wester Bonhard the Cameron family runs 100 spring-calving suckler cows, which are a mixture of Limousin crosses and Belgium Blue crosses with weaned calves sold as stores at Stirling.

Glenkilrie is a 2,500-acre unit owned by David Houston and run in partnership with wife Morag, who also runs a bed and breakfast from the farmhouse.

They farm 160 suckler cows which are a mix of spring and autumn calvers, as well as 1,050 ewes.

The heifers calve at two years old, and all cows are scanned to check that they are in calf.

They also use EBVs to select bulls and sexed semen to produce replacements.