Farmers in Fife, Aberdeenshire and Stranraer have been revealed as the finalists in the AgriScot Beef Farm of the Year competition.
They are Douglas Christie, of Durie Farms, Fife, James, Irene and Gillian Fowlie from Adziel in Aberdeenshire, and Daniel and Lamont Hair of Drumbreddan Farm in Galloway.
Mr Christie runs a predominantly grass-fed system for his 104 cows on 198ha near Leven, which has been certified organic since 2006.
The Fowlies at Strichen finish 500 cattle which are mostly Aberdeen Angus. They also run pedigree Suffolk ewes and followers.
And Lamont and Daniel Hair have a herd of 360 cows including Angus , Limousin, Hereford and Belgian Blues on 1320 acres.
Meanwhile, the finalists in the top sheep farm competition are Peter Hedley, Swinside, Townfoot Jedburgh, farm manager, Peter Eccles and flock manager Owen Gray of Saughland Farm at Pathhead, and Robert and Becca Rennie, Attonburn Farm, Yetholm.
At Saughland farm Peter Eccles and Owen Gray run a 325ha mixed upland livestock and arable unit with 1550 breeding ewes and gimmers and a further 450 homebred ewe lambs.
The flock breed is a “maternal composite” which has been derived from crossing Aberfield, Romney and Cheviot genetics. A new Saughland flock of pedigree Suffolks was established in 2020.
All ewes are lambed inside as part of the high input/high output and breeding recording systems.
At Townfoot, Peter Hedley keeps 1000 North Country Cheviot park ewes on 423 acres which are owned, and an additional 250 acres on a grazing agreement. All sheep are run in a closed flock other than buying in Cheviot and a Blue Faced Leicester stock tups.
Becca and Robert Rennie run 2100 Cheviot ewes, 350 Romney ewes, 70 Texel ewes and 100 head of cattle on 2500 acres which rise to a height of 1847ft. All the ewes are lambed inside as part of their high input/high output and breeding recording systems.
AgriScot chairman, Robert Neill, said: “It is important that AgriScot showcases and rewards quality beef and sheep production in Scotland, and celebrates the people behind it, and we are delighted to recognise these finalists.”
Teams of judges, who include past winners of the titles , have visited the finalists’ farms to learn more about each business. They looked for uptake of new ideas to improve efficiency and profitability as well as high levels of technical and financial performance.
As well as receiving the title, the recipients will receive a £500 cheque and a £250 voucher to celebrate their success at a Scotch Beef Club restaurant which has around 150 members who committed to serving top quality Scotch beef.
AgriScot has been cancelled, but an awards ceremony will be streamed live on the event website on February 9.