The hunt is on to find the best dairy farm in Scotland as part of a contest run by winter agri-business event AgriScot.
Organisers of the event, which takes place at Ingliston near Edinburgh on November 17, have opened entries for their Scottish Dairy Farm of the Year award.
AgriScot director and award convenor, Gilmour Lawrie, welcomed the return of the contest, which was cancelled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s not necessarily the farm putting the most milk in the tank or with the fanciest cows – although of course, we do like to see optimum performance and happy animals – essentially, we are looking for farms where the passion for dairying shines, somewhere that everyone involved in the industry can be proud of as Scottish Dairy Farm of the Year,” said Mr Lawrie.
He said Hugh Watson from Laigh Tarbeg, Cumnock, and David McMicken from Ernespie, Castle Douglas – the award winners from 2018 and 2019 – had agreed to act as independent farm assessors for this year’s award.
“We are keen to receive nominations from the wider agricultural community, feed advisors, vets, accountants and so on, of farms they think could be worthy of the 2021 title,” added Mr Lawrie.
“We are also keen to receive entries directly from farmers themselves – do not be shy, these awards are a great way to recognise the dedication of an entire farm team and I would encourage anyone with a passion for what they do on their farm to enter.”
Anyone wishing to nominate a farm or enter themselves for the award, which is sponsored by CowAlert from IceRobotics, is asked to contact the organisers at info@agriscot.co.uk.