Finalists line up for AgriScot Arable Farm of the Year award

After months of deliberation and a host of impressive farms to choose from, the finalists for this year’s AgriScot Arable Farm of the Year award have now been announced.

Colin McGregor, McGregor Farms
Colin McGregor of McGregor Farms in Berwickshire took on the daily running of the family business in 1989 at the age of 21 when the farmed area was 300ha and specialised in pre-packed potato production. Over the past 23 years his business has been approached to contract farm nearby neighbouring land and there are now 15 agreements covering a managed area of 3,445ha.

The arable operation predominantly grows winter wheat and oilseed rape, but winter barley, spring barley, spring oats, spring beans, potatoes and vining peas are also grown. Every farm has an individual rotation to suit its soil type, infrastructure and location, with Colin and his team focusing on building fertility and soil health to maximise yield and reduce risk.

The business is a LEAF Farm and all farms they are involved with are participants of environmental schemes. Precision Farming Technology is used extensively and there is regular soil sampling including organic matter testing and organic manures are utilised where possible.

Neil White, Greenknowe Farm
Berwickshire-based farmer Neil White of Greenknowe Farm runs an arable operation over 237ha and the crops grown include winter wheat, winter oilseed rape, winter barley, spring barley, spring beans and spring oats.

Through improving organic matter and workability of the soil, over the past seven years Neil has increased his direct drilling rate to 90% and has recently bought a tracked combine to assist him in looking after his soils from harvest onwards. Introducing cover crops and clover leys have been two recent cropping changes on-farm and since 2014, Neil has been using drones as part of his management to allow for crop checking, drainage maps and establishment checks to be carried out.  

Neil is passionate about spreading positive messages about the role productive farming has to play in conserving Scotland’s countryside and regularly extends invitations to industry stakeholders to come on to farm and writes a regular column for the Direct Driller magazine.

Stuart McNicol, Castleton Farm
Castleton Farm in North Berwick, run by Stuart McNicol, extends over 170ha, Castleton grows winter wheat, spring barley, spring beans and potatoes, with a recent addition to the operation of top fruit. Stuart and his family planted 1950 fruit trees this year, with plans to integrate the trees into the farm overtime for wholesale, juicing and cider.  

Improving soil and future crop health is a top priority, prompting the introduction of cover crops as part of their rotation. This has allowed them to reintroduce sheep back into the operation to increase organic matter in the soil. 

Engaging with the public is a key focus at Castleton and back in 2018, Stuart and his wife Jo opened coastal café, Drift – an upcycled shipping container which welcomes 380k visitors a year. Together they have big plans to increase public engagement on-farm including hosting biodiversity tours to showcase farming’s relationship with nature. 

The winner of the Scottish Arable Farm of the Year 2022 will be announced at AgriScot on 16 November.