Growing up on an upland sheep and suckler farm near to Thornhill in the west of Scotland, Mhairi Dalgliesh developed her love of agriculture and animals at an early age.

“I always enjoyed being out and about on the farm, as I grew up I still wasn’t sure what I really wanted to do. Eventually agriculture was the only thing that stuck out in my mind and I chose to study agricultural science in SRUC [Scotland’s Rural College],” said Mhairi.

“We are an upland farm which consists of Blackface sheep and South Country Cheviot sheep along with 25 suckler cows as well. While I am currently not working on the farm today, I still maintain as much involvement as I can.”

Gaining a better understanding of Scottish agriculture

Once Mhairi began college her love of agriculture began to really take hold. She added: “I really enjoyed the course, in my third year I went on placement with Scottish Agricultural College Consultants in Ayr. I was one of three students who were shortlisted to work in the SAC offices. I enjoyed my time there, it was the perfect balance between working in the office and working out on farms and seeing agri businesses first hand.”

After the completing the placement Mhairi went back to college for her final year and following her graduation she returned to work with SAC Consultants full time at their offices in Perth.

“I graduated on a Friday and was in work on the Monday. I have been with the firm for just over a year now as an agricultural advisor,” Mhairi said.

“The placement allowed me to experience what the job entailed. I always wanted to look for a job with variety - and agricultural advisory certainly fits that bill.”

Mhairi added: “I am now living in Perth full time. I try and get home every weekend to help with the farm and keep in touch with what is going on. I’ll hopefully get home to help with lambing for some time in the spring.

“The advisory role has enabled me to build my knowledge and broaden my understanding of Scottish agriculture as a whole which has been excellent.”

When it comes to looking at the future of the farming industry in Scotland, Mhairi holds a very positive outlook. She said: “I have seen how farms have expanded, I am hugely positive for the future of agriculture. It is definitely in safe hands. In general farmers are adapting and moving on with their businesses in the face of Brexit.”

The importance of the Young Farmers

Mhairi first joined the Young Farmers at the Thornhill Club before moving to join Bankfoot Club when she relocated to Perth.

She said: “The young farmers has massively helped my confidence, it pushes you out of your comfort zone. I have developed knowledge and skills that are helpful in the agricultural industry but also in everyday life.

“The opportunities it opens up for its members are endless. It gave me the opportunity to apply for the trip to California. After filling out the application form and going through the interview process the group was chosen. Exercises like this are great for building confidence and developing our interpersonal skills and it all comes through the Young Farmers.”

Mhairi is one of the 16 young farmers travelling to California in November on the Agri affaires trip which focuses on embracing technology. “I have very high hopes for the trip to California it should be a great experience. They have incredibly efficient operations and they constantly meet food demands for their populations. It will be really interesting to see the technology that is implemented out there also,” said Mhairi.

“I think that that is something lacking in Scottish agriculture. Farmers are that bit older and maybe don’t fully embrace technology on farm level. It would be great to use the opportunity to gain examples of where technology is having a significant impact on production. I should be able to take a lot from the trip and hopefully implement some of what I see back home with my clients.”

Mhairi believes that bringing different experiences and perspectives to the trip will help everyone benefit from it. She added: “I am one of the few people on the trip who isn’t working directly on a farm. I think it is good to have a variety of people in the group as we can all learn something off each other. Even those of us off farms can bring a different perspective to the trip which can only be a good thing.”