A leading beef and sheep farm in East Lothian has been unveiled as the host of next year’s NSA Scotsheep event.
The biannual event, organised by the Scottish region of the National Sheep Association, will take place at the Hamilton family’s Aikengall Farm at Innerwick, Dunbar on June 5 2023.
Brothers James, Charles and Harry, along with their mother Vanessa and their late father John, moved to the unit in 1998, from Dykefoot and South Cobbinshaw in Lanarkshire.
NSA Scotland chair Peter Myles, said the association was delighted that the Hamilton family has agreed to host the event.
“The 2022 event will be a hard act to follow but Aikengall has all the ingredients for a terrific day out for Scottish sheep farmers – great livestock, great hosts and great views, what more could you want,” he said.
“Unless of course you want to see renewables – the impressive Aikengall wind turbines will generate a considerable amount of interest as well as power on the day.”
Since taking on the 1,900 acre unit, which rises from 900ft to 1,200ft above sea level, the Hamilton family has extended their farming interests.
They incorporated the neighbouring 400 acre Thurston Mains in 2004, as well as the tenancy of the 1,200 acre Nunraw Farm at Garvald in 2010 and the 600 acre Barney Mains, near Haddington, in 2022.
The family also contract farm an upland unit of 2,000 acres at Heriot, Midlothian, with the Walgate family, which has helped them grow their business and run over 2,800 breeding ewes and a commercial herd of 900 spring calving suckler cows.
All progeny is finished on home-grown feed and breeding replacements on a closed flock/herd basis, only buying in tups and bulls as required.
James, who lives at Aikengall, said: “It will be a great pleasure and honour for us as a family to host such a prestigious event for the sheep industry in Scotland. We are looking forward to welcoming fellow farmers and seeing friends old, new, and not met yet, next June.”
Of the ewe flock, 1,400 head is lambed each year at Aikengall, comprising 700 Blackface bred pure, with the remaining 700 Blackface ewes crossed to the Bluefaced Leicester for producing Scotch Mules, where the females are retained for breeding.
The 1,400 Scotch Mules ewes are put to the Texel tup and lambed at Nunraw in March.
Barley and wheat is grown at Thurston Mains and Barney Mains, where Charles now lives, with extra barley sold for malting and wheat for milling if specification can be achieved.
The farm has incorporated various stewardship schemes for the natural environment and also hosts Aikengall Wind Farm, with Community Wind Power Ltd, comprising 16 Vestas V90 wind turbines.
Each has a generating capacity of 3MW, generating enough electricity to power approximately 31,500 homes and based on displacing around 54,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.
Organisation of next year’s event will be overseen by Colin MacPhail, who runs his own agricultural and rural business consultancy business as well as having farming interests on the family farm on the Isle of Mull.
