A north-east farming family has helped raise around £17,000 for charity after swinging open its gates for a farm open day earlier this week.
The Watson family of Darnford Farm, near Banchory, held a farm walk and social evening to raise funds for Scots rural charity RSABI and the Scottish Association of Mental Health (SAMH).
The family – Peter, sons Adam and David, and their wives Aynsley and Lynne – were crowned Scotch Beef Farm of the Year last year and following numerous requests to host farm visits they decided to hold an open day and raise money for charity at the same time.
David Watson said: “The day went really well and I think we had around 450 people attend.”
He said the exact fundraising total was still being calculated but it was likely to be in region of £17,000, with £10,500 raised from an auction and the rest from donations, competitions and the sale of refreshments.
The auction featured lots from companies the family deals and bidders snapped up items such as tractor front boxes, gates, fence posts as well as an in-calf Saler heifer from the Darnford herd. The beast was bought for £2,000 by Matt Steel, Wickerinn Farm, Banchory.
He said the family had chosen to raise funds for SAMH and RSABI to help the charities with their work in raising awareness of the issues surrounding mental health and helping those affected by poor mental in rural areas.
David said: “We have had experience of mental health problems in our family and one of the aims of the day was to raise awareness of mental health and show that there need not be a stigma about it.”
The event was also used to launch the hunt for this year’s Scotch Beef Farm of the Year – an award organised by AgriScot and Quality Meat Scotland (QMS).
The award, which is now in its fifth year, sets out to find and reward a Scottish farm which exemplifies the best in beef cattle production.
Peter Watson said: “We were delighted to be nominated and having been through the process I would definitely encourage others to apply and play a part in promoting Scotch Beef.”
AgriScot chairman, Andrew Moir, said the award offered a tremendous opportunity to celebrate all that was good in Scottish agriculture.
QMS head of industry development, Doug Bell, urged anyone in the supply chain to nominate a farmer they thought was doing a great job in producing beef.
Those wishing to nominate a farm for the award are asked to email the details of the farm to enquiries@agriscot.co.uk
