Name:Peter Duthie
Age: 21.
Club: Garioch JAC.
Where do you stay? I was brought up and live on the family farm just outside Kennethmont in Aberdeenshire.
Do you hold or have you held any office-bearer roles at Young Farmers? Within Garioch I have held various roles – committee member, secretary, junior vice chairman and now vice chairman. I am also currently secretary to West Aberdeenshire District and a north region committee member.
Tell us about your background in agriculture: I was born and brought up on the family farm. From a young age I enjoyed everything there was to do. I wasn’t that old, 5 maybe 6 at the most, when I decided I would like some hens. With a little help I built my own henhouse. Years later, for some reason, I decided I would try breeding and hatching. I bought hatching eggs and incubated them in a lick bucket that I had converted to an incubator. It had a dimmer switch with two light bulbs. The only expense was a humidity indicator. After the hens came the sheep. My sister and I each got a ewe from our granda. I wanted to expand on this, so I purchased two pedigree Texel ewe lambs as a nucleus for a pedigree flock. Anything that involves sheep that haven’t escaped or died is usually a challenge.
What do you do for an occupation? I am an operations and quality manager with Scottish Pig Producers, a marketing co-operative based in Huntly. I look after the procurement and marketing of pigs in Northern Ireland and the payments made to our producer members in Northern Ireland and Scotland. I also look after the company’s quality policy, ensuring we continue to provide the service that our 110 members require. At SPP we continually strive to get the best returns possible for our members.
What sparked your interest in agriculture? I wouldn’t say my interest was “sparked”. I was born and brought up in agriculture. Farming is in the family blood. My dad, granda and generations before on both sides of the family were all farmers – it was only a natural progression for me. Assisting ewes that were struggling to lamb with my little hands and short arms and driving tractors as soon as my toes could reach the peddles, what could be better?
What is the most rewarding thing about working in the farming industry? A spring-born lamb running in the park, a newborn calf up and suckling, crops “brering” in the spring, a hen appearing with a clutch of chickens. New life and successful crops throughout the year to me are the most rewarding things. Although there’s always the challenges of losing stock, or the questioning if the crop is going to come through, it’s all worthwhile in the end.
As rural youth, do you think there is something we should be doing additionally or differently within the agricultural sector? More encouragement to young farmers and new entrants to get into agriculture in their own right. Be it from the government, NFU, banks or large estates with land to spare. The more that can be done to get younger people into agriculture and get the start in farming life, like I have been fortunate enough to have, the better.
Where do you see the farming sector in 10 years’ time? Who knows where we will be in 10 years’ time with Brexit and the possibility of Indyref2, it would be very difficult to predict. In the weeks following the Brexit result, the currency exchange rates couldn’t have been better for farmers with exports increasing and imports slowing. But will this short-term bonus continue into a long-term gain or turn out to be one of the worst referendum results? Will there still be a subby? If there is, I hope it is concentrated on and awarded to those actually farming. I would also like to see more young people get the chance to start off on their own. Either through a share farming opportunity or some sort of tax relief for a retiring farmer to sell up or hand over to a young farmer under 30. With technology and automation continually improving how many tractormen will be required? How many cattlemen will be needed to do the feeding and bedding? These continual improvements in technology will no doubt reduce the labour expense on most farms, but at their own cost.
If you could pass on one piece of advice to someone looking to get into the sector what would it be? To get out there and gather experience from others first. Then pursue your interests once you have seen how others do things. You could start off thinking you know what you are going to do, but without seeing how others do things how are you going to improve? There are numerous organisations and groups out there with so much information that we can all learn from.
We can’t end the interview without talking about Young Farmers so tell us about your experience – why did you join? Dad had been on at me to join in the spring time, but come September a few friends were also going to a meeting at the local ice cream factory, so I went along too. That was it, hooked, and eight years later I still regularly attend with same group I started with.
What do you most enjoy about Young Farmers? Where do I start? There are so many different activities on offer covering a vast area. From club events, to district, north and national competitions. Dinner and dances to discos and fundraisers. Coffee mornings and quiz nights. Stock judging, evaluations, mock auctions, ploughing matches, muck sales, speech making, conferences, rallies, trips and visits. It’s all thanks to the local farmers and the support from the community that we get the chance to develop and get a deeper insight into agriculture. The social aspects too are very important. What could also be better than seeing the new members joining in with club activities and getting the same and more out of Young Farmers, as we did when we first joined.
How do you feel Young Farmers has impacted your life? I feel I am a more confident individual thanks to Young Farmers. There’s so much I have got the chance to do and see that I wouldn’t have been able to access without being a member.
Do you have any advice for someone looking to join? Just go for it. You have nothing to lose by going to a meeting. If you enjoy it, even better. You will get to meet so many different people and gain a diverse insight into agriculture from all angles.