THERE WAS a definite atmosphere of confidence and optimism at the annual conference of the Fellows and Associates of the Royal Agricultural Societies. The Ingliston event heard from three prominent farmers from across the country, all of whom have spotted opportunities at a time of rapid change.

Keith Redpath, who farms 3000 acres from Spylaw, Kelso, told the delegates that when he was invited to speak, wheat was still £100 per tonne and he was looking closely at controlling costs on his all-arable unit.

The solution which has evolved is a radical one. He is to set up a joint venture company with fellow Berwickshire farmer Colin McGregor, Coldstream Mains, who already handles 4500 acres of land under a variety of rental and contract farming agreements.

The plan is that the joint venture company will own and operate all the equipment needed to grow oilseed rape and cereals over 7500 acres. Mr Redpath was previously growing 1500 acres of wheat, 750 acres of oilseed rape and had 750 acres of set-aside. He had two permanent staff and himself, two large tractors, one sprayer and one combine.

“The trigger for the change was the end of set-aside. It meant that there would be an extra 750 acres of crop to handle and I felt we were already too pushed for much of the time,” he said.

Although he already had £500,000 invested in equipment he could see that this would have to be increased as would staff numbers. Additionally Mr Redpath has just opened a privately operated AI bull stud which will take up much of his time.

“All round it made sense for Colin and I to work together. It should allow both businesses to become more efficient and allow us to grow crops on all of our acres. We are lucky that all the land is in quite a compact area, ” he said.

It will certainly be farming on a grand scale. Crops will be established using minimum tillage techniques with two 500 horsepower rubber tracked Challenger tractors as prime movers. Three new Class Lexion combines rated at 90 tonnes per hour each will be used by the partnership to harvest their crops.

Over on the other side of the country Kenneth Campbell, Slagnaw, Castle Douglas, is at the forefront of a dairying expansion which is sweeping the Stewartry area. He farms 520 acres in a family partnership and when he joined the business in 1992 they were milking 140 cows. After a series of expansions they now milk 510.

“It is easy to expand in hard times partly because breeding stock is cheaper. We have always tried to spread our fixed costs and have operated an all-year- round calving system,” he said.

In an effort to have the unit efficiently staffed he has established a system where one very experienced stockman supervises a team of semi-skilled assistants. “It is important that we all communicate well and have regular meetings. Everyone has to work sensible hours and have time for family life. Also the unit has to be fit for purpose.”

Mr Campbell, who is a board member of DairyCo, the new levy-raising organisation for the industry, referred to the 8p per litre increase in milk prices over the last 12 months.

“If the price is better where is the extra milk? It hasn’t appeared because of the lack of cows,” he said. “We are not breeding enough replacement heifers to allow for expansion and bought in Holstein heifers are now costing £1800. Forage this year has also been poor after a wet summer.

“Costs have risen dramatically and now the biggest margins are coming from low input New Zealand-type grass-based systems with spring calving. We are going to have to see much higher seasonality payments to encourage all year round milk production.”

Former top-flight dairy farmer Jim Brown, Gaindykehead, Airdrie, told the conference, “We stopped milking our 170 cows 18 months ago and it has been heaven ever since!”

His all-grass north Lanarkshire farm now produces 2000-2300 finished cattle per year from bought-in stores. He is specialising in 340kg carcase heifers for local and London butchers and carcases of 360kg and more for Morrisons supermarket.

“If I was 40 again I would double the operation,” he said. “We are uniquely placed here. Along with grass and silage we feed a lot of potatoes and these come from one of the largest packhouses in the country which is only two miles from the farm. The cattle are all bedded on sawdust which is again sourced locally.”

The family also operate a corporate catering company with a payroll of 16. The choice for the future will concern which arm of the business to develop. “We will need to decide how much further we want to go down the food chain,” said Mr Brown.