Five years on from hosting Montrose farmer Willie Officer has altered farm practices to see yields improve and input costs reduce.
The project, run by SAC Consulting, experimented different regenerative methods from floatation tyres to solar energy to see how they would improve the soil, crop quality and profit margins.
Mr Officer farms 900 acres of arable, including potatoes and daffodils bulbs over a mix of owned, rented and contracted land.
He said: “We’ve always been proactive at Ardoch of Gallery with trials and seeing how we can progress the farm. As a traditional Angus family farm, we need to be constantly looking at ways to make the business more profitable.
“I was curious about this more regenerative approach, both for improving the business now but as much, especially as my children grow up and my son is showing aspirations to take over for the next generation.
“We took livestock out of the rotation when we had to sell the cattle during the BSE years and I wanted to see if there were other ways we could be doing a better job to boost the soil and wider environment.”
The farm has high energy use when running cold stores for bulbs in the summer and potatoes during the winter.
Through the FFBC programme, the Officers looked at various renewable options and decided solar panels was the best fit for their system.
Since 2017, these have outperformed the predictive figures, helped by some good summers in recent years, which has been very welcome with the recent increase in energy costs.
There’s still reliance on the main grid over the winter but demand is largely covered by the panels in the summer.
During the three year project, soil was a key focus and Willie has seen significant improvements.
By using more detailed soil sampling, satellite imagery and a fertiliser spreader with variable rate capability, the family is now able to feed the crop the appropriate nutrition.
The Officers introduced floatation tyres and run the combine on tracks which has resulted in better root structure as well as yields.
A straw for dung arrangement with a neighbour has increased the number of bugs, worms and insect life in the soil and they have planted wildflower headlands with seed on the owned land.
Some of the land is min-tilled but strip tilling is not currently viable.
The family has started a haulage company to bring in diversified income, and going forward, battery storage is on the radar along with a second solar array, but Mr Officer is waiting for the technology to advance.
David Ross of SAC Consulting, said: “Many of the measures we explored with Willie did not bring an instantaneous return, but it’s great to see, five years after the end of the project, the ways in which he continues to review processes to make marginal gains that are consistently pushing yields and the business on.”
