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 new people to enter the industry.
Kevin Cuthbertson, 30, first became interested in farming through a chance encounter as a teenager and had clocked up years of experience working for other farmers before going on to purchase his own flock of 50 sheep. However, his ambition of owning a larger flock and dedicating himself to his own farm on a full-time basis was hampered by a lack of long term security around land rental.
Cuthbertson said: “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. 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 Black Face 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, work 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, FONE has helped facilitate entry to around 70 new entrants by providing over 100 land opportunities across 7000 hectares of land.
Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon visited the farm this week to see how the scheme has helped Cuthbertson with his farming ambitions. Gougeon said: “It is fantastic to see what Kevin has achieved since he secured this starter unit through the Farming Opportunities for New Entrants Group.
“I want to thank him for taking the time to show us around and highlight a great example of the Group in action.
“I’d also like to thank Scottish Water for their involvement in making this land available for Kevin and for their continued work in identifying and making public land available for new farmers.”
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