Recipient of this year’s Royal Northern and Aberdeen and Northern Marts award for outstanding service to the north-east farming community is Moray farmer David Brown.
David and his wife, Fiona, now live in Elgin but he can be found most days working on the family farm of Burnside of Dipple, Fochabers, which is now run by his son, Iain.
He continues to buy most of the store stock for the family’s beef enterprise and his pride and joy is the seven miles of hedges around the farm which, with the grass verges, he takes great pleasure in maintaining in immaculate condition.
While David is widely recognised for his farming expertise, it is for his huge contribution to the north-east farming community in so many different roles over the last 50 years, and to his local Inchberry community at Fochabers, that the award is being made.
As the citation supporting his nomination states: “Many people have benefitted from his wise counsel and advice but he remains very humble and modest about his achievements and never looks for any recognition.”
Mearns-born David has built up an extensive farming business covering 2,000 acres since moving from a smallholding at Fettercairn 40 years ago to Burnside.
The main enterprises today are the finishing of 600 beef cattle, all of which are marketed to Scotbeef Inverurie, 900 acres of malting barley to WN Lindsay and 100 acres of beetroot grown on contract for Baxters of Fochabers.
The farm used to grow carrots, iceberg lettuce, cauliflower, peas and other vegetables but David is glad not to be dealing with supermarkets these day after his salutary experience as chairman of the vegetable marketing co-op, Moray Growers. A second income stream for the farm is the letting of holiday cottages with many visitors returning year-after-year for fishing on the Spey or simply for a break.
While successfully building up his farming business, David has found time to carry out a multiplicity of roles over the years – national chairman of the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs, chairman of Moray Coast Growers, vice-chairman of ANM Group, president of the Lower Speyside, Moray and Strathspey NFU, Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies and a vice-president of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland in 2013 being among the most prominent.
He is also a former director of both Moray Enterprise Trust and Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise, helping to attract new businesses to the area, and continues as Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Moray.
It is as much for his quiet work behind the scenes as his public work that he is being recognised. His success in building up his farming business from modest beginnings is a remarkable achievement.
