A Blairgowrie man has achieved his dream of becoming a full-time sheep farmer after securing a tenancy on Scottish Water-owned land in Glen Isla.
The 150 acre farm ‘starter unit’ at Newton, near Loch of Lintrathen, was made available via the Scottish Government’s Farming Opportunities for New Entrants (FONE) scheme, designed to increase opportunities for people to enter the industry.
Kevin Cuthbertson (30) first became interested in farming as a teenager through helping a neighbour, Keith Webster, with his sheep.
“I asked if I could help him move the sheep and that was it,” Kevin said. “Every day Keith would come past, and I would go and help him, then when I was a bit older, I would help before and after school every day. I got so much experience from him over those years.”
Kevin went on to buy his own flock of 50 sheep. His ambition of owning an even bigger herd and dedicating himself to his own farm full-time was hampered, however, by a lack of long- term security around land rental.
“I have been wanting to set up on my own since I was 16, but I just haven’t had the security of the land to do it,” he explained.
“You need a lot of money to set up on your own and be able to buy a farm – it is not easy to cover the mortgage just from sheep farming.
“The FONE scheme has given me the security that I need and it allows me to plan ahead and develop the farm, which is really exciting.
“I now have around 370 sheep, including some north-type Blackface sheep which I have wanted to get for a long time as it is a breed I’m very interested in.”
Scottish Water, along with organisations such as Forestry and Land Scotland and some local authorities, works with the Scottish Government through the FONE initiative to identify and release more public land for new farmers to encourage a new, younger generation of farmers.
Since 2017 the scheme is said to have helped 70 new entrants to the industry by providing over 100 land opportunities across 7000 hectares of land.
Archie Macgregor, Scottish Water’s land and property development manager, said: “We’re delighted to be able to help Kevin realise his ambitions of developing his flock and to offer him the security he needs on his land tenancy to be able to do that.
“This is the fourth starter farm that we have been involved in leasing and we are proud to help enable more people to make a start in the farming industry as part of the FONE initiative.”
