Farming Experience in Scotland!

From the last week of June until the beginning of August I did an amazing trip of lifetime trough Scotland. I visited 3 different farms and did a 4-day Aberdeen Angus Herd Tour in the Scottish Borders.

My trip started on the 28th of June early in the morning in The Royal Highland Show. Tom Rennie was waiting for me to go back to his farm, Mosston Muir, with his lorry and cattle, after been showing successfully his Anguses and Belties for 4 days in Edinburgh. We headed to Forfar, near to Montrose, where Mosston Muir is located.  Mosston Muir is a 100-acre big farm, where Tom and his wife Joyce breed Angus, Hereford, and Belted Galloway and produce about 40.000 Pheasant and 2000 Ducks a year. Two weeks of interesting work were waiting for me. I mainly helped with the Pheasant and Ducks but also prepared some Angus cattle for the Echt-Show. The Pheasants and Ducks arrive on the farm when they are one-day old and are kept until they are 7 weeks in pens with sheds. At the age of seven weeks the birds are sold to gamekeepers where they are kept in 1-acre big pens and prepared for the hunting-time in the late autumn.  I joined the team of two woman, Brenda and Neck, and a young man called Kayle who where in charge of looking after all the birds.  We had to fed and refill the watering of all the Pheasants every morning and also watch that all the pens where ok so the birds could not   escape and neither be attacked by predators such as Crows. Sometimes the Pheasants escaped of the pens and we had fun catching them with the net and putting them back. Luckily when I was there it was time to deliver some Pheasant to the gamekeepers. I was able to join Malcom, who was in charge of delivering the Pheasants, and see lovely parts of the country.

My next stop was in Wardes, a farm in the northeast Scotland near Aberdeen. There I was kindly received by Iain and Midge Mathiers who farm together with his son Scott about 5000 acres (Owning Tillyfour, the Farm where Aberdeen Angus was started to breed back in the early 19th century by William M´Combie). They mainly breed commercial cattle in their hilly grasslands, having once a year a sale. Heifers with calves are sold. The heifers are mainly continental cross breeds sired with Limousines bulls. They do as well some arable, seeding Barley and Peas producing feed for their cattle. Fortunately I joined Clark a 22-year-old man who works in Wardes.  We had to check every morning those cows and heifers that were ready for calving, delivering cattle to the slaughterhouse, tagging newborn calves and moving cattle from field to field. Once Iain took me to the cattle market, learning how a cattle-market works in Scotland. The cattle is auctioned one by one, showing them in the ring and giving the weight, age and breed on a big screen. Iain and Midge also taught me about how the register of cattle works in the UK, a complex system having for each cattle a passport.

After helping for 11 days in Wardes, I was invited by Iain and Midge to join the 4-day Border Herd Tour leaded by Eddie Gillanders. We went on to the Scottish Borders, where I got together with the North-East Angus Club. We slept in a lovely hotel called Carfraemill. In these 4 days we visited 10 different Farms, where we learned about their Aberdeen Angus Pedigree and their history. At the end of each visit a hot tee and good Scottish Whisky were waiting for us. It was for me a fascinating tour because I could get an idea of Anguses in Scotland and was able to judge myself many cattle. I did appreciate the good atmosphere that was on in the tour, having fun with all the members of the North-East Club and Eddie every time.

Afterwards the Herd-Tour, I did my last stop for one week in “Wedderlie”, a 1060ha big farm located in the Scottish Borders, near to Kelso.  Marion and John Tilson, the owners of the farm, warmly welcomed me. They breed together with their daughter, Wanda, about 200 Pedigree Angus cows being one of the largest and oldest herds in UK (100 years in 2013). John and Marion also breed Welsh Ponys, a successfully tradition that started in 1943,and Sheep having 500 Scottish Blackface and 900 Texel.
I helped lining up barley-straw-bales, clipped sheep and washed Angus bulls. John, Marion and Wanda shared with me their experience of breeding Angus. I went also with Marion, John and Wanda to the Border Union Show, being this year the national Angus Show, seeing notable Angus cattle.  The show was really busy and good. I was able to see horses, different cattle breeds and taste delicious Scottish food in the big food-fair building.

All in all, this trip was really enriching and maturing. I gained a lot of experience; learning about different ways of breeding and giving me knew ideas about farming. This experience opened me further horizons, gave me the opportunity to meet impressive persons and allowed me to see breathtaking landscapes of Scotland. I can safely say that I will not forget it.

My many thanks to the Rotman Family who helped me to plan this trip and also to Tom and Joyce Rennie, Iain and Midge Mathiers, Eddie Gillanders, The North-East Aberdeen Angus Club, Marion, John and Wanda Tilson for making me feel like part of their family and sharing all their experience with me. I hope to come back in the future!!

Dear Mr M J Rodman

Firstly I would just like to thank yourself and the ESU for giving me this amazing opportunity. I am looking forward to it so much. I am presently working as a full time butcher and have done so for 11 years which is one of my keenest interests. We currently supply catering to local hotels, restaurants and golf clubs.We also have a shop where we sell locally produced meats and specialize in cured and smoked products such as our dry cured bacon and air dried hams. We do a lot of cutting work for farmers where we prepare and package their animals to sell at farmers markets and from their own farm shops.My Nan and Granddad had a small dairy farm which my Uncle and Aunt now run, I spent a lot of my youth on the farm hence the interest in livestock and meat, I have over the last 5 years built up a flock of 400 ewes and 200 ewe lambs which I buy in and sell later in the summer for breeding. I am hoping to start up my own retail butchers business when I get back from Argentina and I am looking to start a restaurant once I have the shop running smoothly. Enough about me. I had a couple of questions. I was thinking of starting with you from about the 5th of August if that ok? Plus what kind of day to day work will I be doing? I am currently having Spanish lessons and I have been helping exercise my friend’s polo ponies so hopefully I will be as prepared as I can be when the time comes.

Thanks again.
Yours sincerely,

Alan Forsyth

[Close Report]

I arrived in Buenos Aires at the end of June ready for a three month adventure and what an adventure it proved to be. Before I went to Argentina I new very little about the people’s Latin culture and I new even less about their agricultural methods.

After spending a few days in the city acclimatising Malcolm packed me of to La Pampa Province for a three week stay on an estancia just outside Quemu Quemu. The farms main business was the fatting of 5500 beef cattle. All the work carried out with the animals was done on horse back which I enjoyed very much.

After my three week stay I headed back to Buenos Aires to spend a week at the Palermo Show. The show was great fun and I spent much of my time talking to people on the machinery stands, looking at some of the finest bred Aberdeen Angus and Hereford cattle I have ever seen and consuming vast amounts of steaks which in my opinion are the best in the world.

I then went to Mar Del Plata which is five hours south of the city for a two week stay on Santiago Marini’s farm. Santiago runs a 3000 hectare arable farm. I was most impressed at how efficiently and business like in the way that he runs his farm and shows that Argentina’s agriculture should not be taken lightly by the northern hemisphere.

It was then off to Lincoln for a ten day stay on a mix farm of cattle and arable. My job was working with the 1100 Bonsmara cattle that they ran. I enjoyed my stay there very much and was made to feel like an important part of the workforce.

My last stop was the Province of Salta which is to the far north west of the country. Salta is a very beautiful place full of hills, mountains, lakes and rivers. I felt very privileged to be given the opportunity to visit such a place that was bursting with real cultural roots. I spent my time being shown round many different farms and also did a little independent sightseeing.

After three months of being in the country it really did start to become like home as everyone made me feel like part of the family. I would like to thank all the families that I stayed with for being the most excellent hosts and a special thank you to Malcolm Rodman and his family for giving me such a great life changing experience.

Jeffrey Gee

[Close Report]

Intendente Alvear , September 22 , 2008
Joaquin Oliverio  

This has been Alan’s itinerary since he left Quemú Quemú:  I picked him up at the farm on Wednesday 3rd September.  He accompanied me on visits to different farms in Saliqueló till Friday morning.  We saw 4 farms, each of which was 100% agricultural. I left him on Friday at a farm in Mones Cazón where he stayed till Monday 15th September.  In that week he did the rounds with Tomas Doeyo, the veterinarian who works for the firm Siecon in Pehuajó.  The farms they visited were in the area of Mones Cazón, Recalde and Mapis.  They are all breeding farms.  This week he assisted the town butcher to slaughter and butcher two steers, which I think was a good experience because he was able to compare the method used here with his way of slaughtering and buthcering.  On Monday 16the we slept at the farm belonging to my uncle, and on Tuesday I left him at a farm in Intendente Alvear.  The farm had a rotary milking parlour with 80 stalls where they milk between 1.800 and 2.000 cows all year round.  They are all a cross between “Holando” (Holstein???) and Jersey, something which is not seen in England.  From what I know (I have not seen Alan yet), he was going to be working with the boy in charge of all the birthing cows, and at midday he was going to do the rounds with the overseer and in the afternoon give the overseer of the “guachera” a hand.  This is peak time for birthing, and the “guachera” has 450 calves at this moment.  I think it has been a rather difficult week for him because nobody on the farms speaks English, in spite of which he commented over the phone that he was having a good time.

I hope that this brief report is useful.  Let me know if you require more detail and I will fill it in for you.

Regards,

Mr. Joaquin Oliverio
Engineer from Buenos Aires University
St.Catherine's Moorland's - Tortuguitas Old Boy
Farming Exchange July-October 2004
Scotland and UK

THE ENGLISH SPEAKING UNION ARGENTINA

Farming Exchange, August-October 2005. Won by Joaquin Lopez Sanabria from Salta and Buenos Aires University. Joaquin will be working on farms near Saint Andrews in Scotland, and three farms in England.


The itinerary planed is:

· Cameron Farms – Saint Andrews, Scotland until September 3rd
· Edinburgh until September 5th
· Fletcher Farms Cumbria, England from September 5th – 27th
· Bradstock Farm, Hereford, England from September 27th to October 20th
· Lord Radnor, South West England from October 20th – October 27th
· London from October 27th to October 29th

September Mr. Tony Bradstock, from Herefordshire England, will be spending three months on Estancias in Argentina.

It was just under four months before my return to the British Isles when I initially arrived in Buenos Aires. At that time I was unaware of the incredible time I had ahead of me. I was at first captivated by the atmosphere and sights within the city, but it soon almost became a second home to me and I never stopped feeling completely at ease in such a wonderful country.

My first travel into rural Argentina took me directly to the estancia 'El Madroño' near Santa Rosa, before then spending the next month with the company of 'Terra Garba' and getting to visit eight of their impressive estancias across central Argentina, most significantly La Pelada, near Castelli. After a fantastic week with the Hereford Association at the National Hereford Show in San Luis (a special pleasure for me as a result of my Hereford Cattle background in the UK) I was lucky to be able to spend further time on three more excellent estancias in the province of Buenos Aires; near Gonzales Chaves, Coronel Dorrego and Coronel Brandsen respectively. Following these, I managed to arrange my own trip southwards through the amazing landscapes of Patagonia, taking in the extraordinary sights of Peninsular Valdes, El Calafate and Tierra del Fuego.

Throughout my stay, I was given an excellent insight into the methods, customs and most significantly, the sheer immensity of farming in Argentina. I had quality experiences carrying out exhilarating cattle work on horseback, the chance to help with sowing of maize and soya, as well as sheep shearing, artificial insemination work and many other aspects of agricultural work in Argentina. I had an unforgettable time experiencing agricultural practices and life in Argentina, whilst being able to savour many of the spectacular landscapes of the country, and have a tremendous insight into Argentinian culture and language whilst doing it.

I would like to conclude by expressing my most sincere appreciation to the ESU in Argentina for accepting me on to the exchange, and the Rodman family who committed so much of their time and provided so much assistance to me. I would also like to convey an enormous gratitude to the various hosts who I stayed with, all who made my time in Argentina very special for me.

[Close Report]

Mr. Tony Bradstock, from Herefordshire, winner of this years ESU´s "farming exchange is spending three months on estancias in Argentina, his first stop was in Estancia "El Madroño" in Colonia Baron, La Pampa with the Randall family. Here he worked with Braford cattle, and helped with fencing and tractor work.

From here he joined Estancia y Cabaña "La Pelada" and Cabaña "La Persistencia" belonging to Terra Garba SA , thanks to a kind invitation from the Reyes Terrabusi family. Here Tony was involved in artificial insemination programmes on several different farms and worked with Hereford and Angus cattle.

From here he was invited to a meeting at Cabaña "La Rubeta" where well known judge Ignacio Corti Maderna shared his experience with a group of young farmers, and he was able to see cattle from one of the most successful Angus farms in Argentina. This week Tony will be at the Hereford National Show in San Luis. Tony is involved in Pedigree Hereford Cattle in England so this should be a great experience.

After this he will visit a farm and feedlot in the Gonzales Chaves area, before he goes of on his own to visit the south of Argentina

	Tony

[Close Report]

Carolyn
Carolyn Fletcher,
Barwise Aberdeen Angus

De mi consideración:

En nombre del ESU Argentina me dirijo a Uds. invitándoles a promover esta excelente oportunidad para un estudiante de Agronomía o carrera relacionada con el campo, que viajará a Inglaterra y Escocia en los meses de Agosto Septiembre y Octubre, 2005, teniendo la posibilidad de adquirir experiencia en trabajos rurales.

ESU Argentina se hará cargo del costo del pasaje (Bue-Lon-Bue) y la estadía estará a cargo de ESU – Inglaterra y los establecimientos en los cuales harán la pasantía. Los gastos de traslado dentro del Reino Unido serán a cargo del becado.

Las condiciones para solicitar esta beca son:

 1. Dominio del idioma inglés
 2. Varón: Edad de 20 a 23 años.
 3. Argentino nativo- Pasaporte al día. (enviar fotocopia con el CV)
 4. Ser estudiante universitario o de nivel terciario en carrera acorde.
 5. Práctica en establecimientos agropecuarios.

Los interesados deberán enviar su currículum con foto, un breve resumen de su experiencia en el campo y los motivos que lo impulsan a obtener esta beca a:

   Malcolm J. Rodman
   San Martín 390, 2º piso
   (1004) Buenos Aires

Fecha límite de recepción de currículum: 21 de Junio de 2005. Para más información, entrar en www.esu.org.ar, bajo “Farming Exchange”

Sin otro particular saludo a Uds. Muy atentamente