Summer 2010
Summer has crept up on me at some speed this year. It is not often I hope for a late harvest but this year is definitely one. The reason being I have spent most my time preparing for the new coffee shop. Thankfully I can say it is open and in full swing. I am looking forward to piece time (coffee time) during harvest, Latte and a rocky road!
Luckily with technology today I will not spill the coffee due to the fact that one of our tractors drives on it own! It takes it instruction from satellites and is accurate to 2cm, this allows many things for us as farmers. Firstly it allows more efficiency as the tractor or implement does not cover the same ground twice allowing savings both in time and any inputs used. Also one of the advantages is that the driver can work longer hours and does not spill his coffee.
We have had a number of school visits to the farm this year; I always find them very useful and educational for myself. We had great fun finding out what our different crops produce, making sausages (even the teachers had a go) and we finished off with some ice cream. Not a bad way to spend a morning.
As ever we always welcome visitors to the farm, whether you are an individual or group. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to speed with the goings on on The Farm.
The Farmer



On The Farm
Considering we were not on the land between October and March the volume of work carried out over the last month has been amazing. Partly due to Brian who works tirelessly on the farm and partly due to George (Father, Grandfather, Pensioner) even at his ripe age we can get high levels of productivity from him.
Lambing happened in February and March. Thanks go to Ian and David for making that happen smoothly – shall we treble the number next year?
The lambs can now be seen jumping about the fields and soon the cattle will be joining them after their warm winter inside.
We have passed our farm audit again with flying colours. This is carried out by Quality meat Scotland and Scottish Quality Cereals to allow us to sell our livestock and stock in confidence

Spring has sprung!!
Dependent on the type of weather we are having when you are reading this you may be experiencing any one our seasons on that given hour.
At this time of year we are planting spring crops such as barley and oats that will be harvested in August and September. Part of the winter work on the farm is to plough the land to allow the frost to help improve the soil conditions in time for planting. Due to the fact we have not been on the land since October and we have been unable to plough this will bring a different set challenges to us this year. The grain we grow is mainly for animal feed with a small proportion going for Whisky production. The oats on the other hand are sold locally for milling and may end up in a porridge bowl near you.
Traditionally lambing takes place in the spring but most of our lambing happened in February this year, there will still be plenty lambs to see around the farm if you decide to come and visit us in the coming months. There is not a greater sight than a group of lambs running round as if it was the sheep grand national.
As there was plenty time during the winter to look at other projects we are planning to increase our environmental areas around the farm with increased hedgerows and woodland alongside beetle-banks, water margins and unharvested crops which are ideal habitats for wildlife . These areas are vital and a key part to the farm while still being managed within the day to day farming operations.
Christmas was again busy at the farm shop although we did think we might have to do deliveries with the tractors if the snow did not stop!! I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers in 2009, and hope to see you all new or old customers in 2010. Keep an eye on the website for events we will be hosting and attending throughout the year, from festivals to butchery classes. If you are not on our mailing list for offers and events please join now at www.thestorecompany.co.uk. As ever our farm is open for you all to see and learn, if anybody wishes to visit us wether it is a group, school or family please drop us a line and we can arrange it.
The Farmer


Do Farmers Enjoy Christmas?

I am your ultimate Bah Humbug. I have never really been into Christmas, I don't know if it was because Christmas morning entailed feeding the animals then open our presents. They (the animals) don't know its Christmas; they still get the same for their dinner on the 25th December as they got on the 24th and will get on the 26th.
Change days now, with a 3 year old and a 1 year old and a wife who is totally into the festive spirit (from September onwards!) I now enjoy Christmas. Yes we farmers still have to go out and feed the animals but that is part and parcel of the job we do. Nobody ever said farming was Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. We certainly don't do it for the pay!
Christmas is now very different not only because of the children but at The Store it is like harvest time on the farm. There is a small window where we have to get all the Christmas Orders and Hampers out before the 24th December. We are offering our full range of festive foodie options and our 2009 Christmas Brochure is out now visit the website or call for more info
The farm is much quieter now after a hectic harvest. After a deluge of rain mid way through the summer the ground recovered very quickly and we were able to continue and plant next year's crops without a break in the weather. Although we finished nearly a month ahead of last year it did not feel any different. Cattle are inside in the courts for the winter feeding on silage and barley grown on the farm unless anybody has any ideas what we could feed them for Christmas Dinner, email me your suggestions.
You may have seen The Store on BB2's Hairy Bikers. We were delighted to be chosen to be featured on their Food Tour of Britain. Somebody did mention the three of us looked like the front row of The Store's rugby Team?
Have a very Merry Christmas
The Farmer
Answer
Yes Farmers do enjoy Christmas.




Harvest 09

By the time you read this Harvest will be started which is always an exciting time of the year. What is not exciting is the price, currently it is trading at 30% less than harvest last year. These prices cannot continue or there will be a food security problem as there will be no food being produced in the UK.
We often take on a harvest student and this year is no different, Sandy is studying civil engineering at Glasgow, but for the next few months he will be studying the inside of a tractor as we get through the heavy work load.
The lambs seem to be growing faster this year; there is also a noticeable difference in the grass paddocks with a huge sole of clover plants. Clover is a farmer's friend in that it is a legume and fixates nitrogen allowing us to use less. Clover is not so good for your lawn because you will spend more time mowing it!
We have had a busy show season again after attending Taste of Edinburgh and Grampian, Turriff Show, Fyvie Homecoming and the Royal Highland Show.
This year the RHS was supported by 3 royals including the Queen. We were honoured and thrilled that she took the time to stop and have a chat at The Store stand. We had more in common than I thought as we both have farm shops, I have visited the Royal Windsor Farm Shop, I did suggest that we could provide the finest Aberdeen Angus Beef from The Store.


Summer Chat

Firstly may I say hi to all my faithful readers out there? I wouldn't quite say I have been stopped in the street by adoring fans but I have had many kind compliments - thank you and I will try to carry on informing and entertaining
What's been happening?
Lambing has been successful and the weather was definitely on our side. This great spell of weather has also helped with the spring sowing of the crops. With an uncertain market out there for grain I wonder why we continue to do what we do. We plant the grains look after them for months then reap the rewards. The last bit is the uncertainty, but that is the same for most industries, farming is no different and with the world population increasing alongside consumption people still need to eat. There is definitely a future in food production. OK that's my sermon over with; I shall step off my soapbox.
The Aberdeen Angus are mostly outside in the lush fields of grass, except for the ones we need for our busy spell during June at shows up and down the country. We start our show season at TASTE Edinburgh on the 29th-30th May, the following weekend is equally as busy when we will be making our annual appearance at the tenth Taste of Grampian on the 6th June at Thainstone Inverurie. Not content with one event a weekend we will again be supporting LEAF (Linking Environment & Farming) Open Farm Sunday on 7th June. We would be delighted to see you all there check out our website for more details www.thestorecompany.co.uk.
At the end of June we will be at The Royal Highland Show (25th-28th June) Aberdeen City & Shire are hosting the food hall this year and we will be there alongside other fine Aberdeenshire producers.
We hope to see you at some point over the summer period remember Open Farm Sunday on 7th June come and see the animals and machinery on a working farm
The Farmer

Happy New Year
December was obviously taken over by the excitement of Christmas and the whirlwind that follows it. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for you're custom in 2008 and look forward to satisfying your palette again in 2009. Unfortunately I cannot take all the glory we have a great team behind us from the farm to the butchery, kitchen office and shops both in Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
The farm has been quieter we have less stock about us probably because the butchery is requiring more and more all the time. We will have to replenish our stocks from our selected suppliers. The Aberdeen Angus breeders tend to keep the stock until there are 12-14months old (store animals) this is when we purchase them to finish them over the next 10-12months to our chosen specification. Lamb - we are self sufficient for 7-8 months from our home bred stock. We then source from a one fellow farmer to supply The Store for the balance of the year.
By the time I write the next piece we will be in the throws of lambing ' oh joy!
We will also be starting to prepare the land for Spring sown cereals such as Malting barley and Milling Oats. As the back end of 08 was so wet it will be a push to get the land in a good state of order. We did question how much we should plant as the price quoted for harvest is not very appealing, in fact it is below the cost of production. With a weakening pound and a optimistic farmer I dare say we will be planting a similar acreage.

Any way back to cleaning my office

The Farmer


POST HARVEST

What a harvest! It took us 9 long weeks - yes a whole 9 weeks! This was
nearly one of the latest finish dates I have known, and lots of older and
wiser farmers around me agreed that this was one of the longest and
difficult harvest's Aberdeenshire has seen in a long time. With the new high
capacity combine harvester which arrived in the spring, we should have
finished in a little over 21 days. However, we can count ourselves as lucky,
as we did not have the worst of the weather compared to some other parts of
the country.
Grain quality was good; most of the oats are heading for your breakfast
table, the oilseed rape is off to be bottled for cooking oil, wheat is going
for pig feed and the malting barley is heading for the distilleries to be
made into some of Scotland's finest whisky!
We have sown the next year's crops in reasonable conditions - it was a
bit wet but we managed not to get stuck in the muddy fields. At this stage
of the year they look good going into the winter despite the surprising snow
we had in late October.
The cattle have now all been housed for the winter (except for 3 heifers
which are refusing to come out of the field! Hopefully they will be in by
the time this goes print as they night's are getting colder.) They are being
fed silage and barley. We will be lambing early this year, somewhere between
New Year and our early spring break. There are a few extra ewes in lamb than
we had expected, I am not sure how that has happened, but the more the
merrier!
I hope you all have a great Christmas. Just remember that at The Store we
can provide you with your Christmas turkey with all the trimmings, visit the
website for more info.
And ..violins at the ready... just remember as you are all getting up on
Christmas morning the farmers (me included) will still be working, feeding
the cattle and checking the sheep. Enough of the sympathy. Wishing you all
a great Christmas dinner and New Year's feast!
Christmas Brochure 2008
The Farmer




Pre Harvest 08

Hello again.
You may ask what has been happening on the farm. Brian our now married (sorry ladies) lad on the farm would ask the same question as he reckons I am like a squirrel as I hibernate throughout the winter and come out in the summer. Also known as a fair weather farmer. In my defence the reason for my absence is fully justified. We have had a busy time attending food shows both in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, then just when you think you can leave the desk you get the phone call. 'Hello it is the man from SFQC here I would like to come for your annual inspection'. At this inspection we are checked on all the important stuff like what is our local doctors phone number is and has the dog been wormed. These are important on the grand scale, compliance in record keeping is paramount and the welfare of animals obviously. By passing our audit for another year we are now able to sell our grain and cattle and sheep. Our grain production follows the strict guidelines of Scottish Quality Cereals and the cattle and sheep are assessed under Quality Meat Scotland guidelines. I may jest but these audits are vital for animal welfare and food safety.
Now we have this over with we can get on with harvest. We hope to rolling by the beginning of August. There is a new baby on the farm and I am not talking about the latest addition to the family, yes ' we have got a brand new combine harvester'. This will improve productivity and give me more family time as we should be finished earlier!!
The sheep have been growing like mushrooms recently on the lush grass we have on the farm just now. We weaned the lambs recently (split them from their mothers). This is a noisy 12 hours, lambs must be like fish as they forget and carry on eating. The cattle are also enjoying the grass, we also made silage recently which is fermented grass which we will feed to the cattle during the winter.
I will keep you up to speed on harvest as we progress.
The Farmer


Summer Chat 2008

Summer!! Where did Spring go. We were fortunate enough to have relatively kind weather during our lambing unlike many of my farmer friends who had daily battles with the elements.
Spring sowing started slightly later than normal until the weather broke again and we were nearly 3 weeks until we returned to the land. But the old boys out there (namely my father) will tell you we will be harvesting at the same time as we do every year.
Enough weather chat- we have planted a larger acreage of oats this year after their success last year. They will mainly be heading for breakfast cereals including porridge for Hamlyns. A small acreage of malting barley has also been grown to make the finest whisky!
We should be combining the crops by the beginning of August. We are delighted for people to come and see the process, we also plan to do a farm walk in July, keep a eye on the website for the date.
The cattle went out to grass on the 7th May, the second latest we have put them to grass. It is a wonderful sight seeing them kick their heels and running the full length of the field and hopefully remembering to stop. The ewes will be getting their annual haircut around the middle of June. Any willing helpers are always welcome.
I hope everyone has a good summer holiday, as I said we are always delighted to show people around. Please call and ask for Helen or Andrew.

The Farmer

Autumn/Winter 2007/08

The rams have had there first visit with the ladies and will be venturing out to pastures new very soon. The ewes are in need of a pedicur which is a back breaking job when there are nearly 1000 feet to do! The cattle are all in exept Mardge & Matilda the Highlanders who will be outside all winter.
Wildlife on the farm is interesting just now with amazing aerobatic Starling displays. We also are home to thousands of migrating Geese at the moment, this can be an amazing site at times but they can also do fierce damage to crops in a short space of time.
Keeping you posted
The Farmer


Autumn Chat 07

Harvest started at the beginning of August later than anticipated. I should have kept quiet after my last chat as the rain came but forgot to stop. The quality of the grain has been poorer because of the lack of sunshine although the end price is good. The media have been talking a great deal about the price increases in our food. This may be the case but as inputs keep increasing, commodity prices cannot stay at the current level.

The cattle have faired well over the summer but will probably be inside for the winter by the time you read this. The rams will be out into new pastures with their "lady friends" which means we will be lambing in February. (There goes the skiing holiday). Year on year we are noticing more and more wildlife, especially at harvest time. I have seen loads of buzzards and Roe deer and their young.

The Farmer


Summer Chat 07

It all becomes unusually quiet after Spring around the farm. The sheep have all lambed the cattle are outside and don't require the same amount of time. The crops are growing very well, dare I say we might need some rain!. June and July is the time of year when farm maintenance is usually high priority but with our Farm Open Day in June it is all happening much sooner this year. maintaing the machinery for harvest is very important as it will be working long hours when it gets underway in August. Must remember to take holiday myself before then!

The Farmer