FLAVOUR OF SCOTLAND
Producing Quality Meat on Home-Grown Feeds Producing quality assured Scotch Beef to a high standard and utilising home-grown feeds is a system the McEwan family from Arbroath has been working successfully for a number of years. McEwan Farms is a family run business based at West Mains of Colliston and is home to 1000 acres of owned land and 1600 acres of contract farmed land nearby. The family grows 700 acres of potatoes and 2000 acres of cereals including oilseed rape, spring barely, winter barley and wheat, while the beef enterprise comprises of 150 Simmental cross suckler cows which are bulled to the Charolais and Aberdeen-Angus. All progeny is finished on farm, as well as an additional 1000 head of store cattle bought in each year from Stirling, Thainstone, Forfar and Dingwall auction marts. Three generations are involved in the running of the business - grandfather William, his sons Graham and Gavin, and Graham’s three sons, Guthrie, Murray and Fraser. It’s Fraser who has shown a real passion for the beef enterprise and he now buys in all of the family’s store cattle as
well as establishing an additional market for selling their beef. Fraser and his partner Jodie Jackson, founded The Beef Box Company, last December, to sell home-reared beef direct to the customer’s door. Keen to promote the agricultural industry to the general public, while making extra income from the farm, the young couple have enjoyed an extremely successful 10 months in business and have been particularly busy since the pandemic. “The agricultural industry has received a lot of bad press recently and the general public seem to have a lack of farming knowledge and understanding,” said Jodie, who was born and brought up on a beef and sheep farm. “Our new business is not only a diversification project but has also been set-up to make people realise where food comes from and give customers the chance to buy direct from the producer.” During lockdown, Jodie has been busy doing cooking demonstrations on The Beef Box Company Facebook page which has encouraged followers to get involved and try out the Scotch Beef and Scotch Lamb recipes at home.
The Beef Box Company is a member of QMS Brands Licensing Scheme and offers individual cuts of meat or Scotch Beef and Scotch Lamb
boxes which include a range of different cuts. For more information on the QMS Brands Licensing Scheme email info@qmscotland.co.uk.
From Bridge of Allan to the Isle of Skye: Graham’s launch a new butter Graham’s The Family Dairy and Isle of Skye Sea Salt Co partner on a new artisan sea salt butter Grahams The Family Dairy has announced the launch of a delicious new artisan Scottish sea salt butter, partnering with Isle of Skye Sea Salt Co. The 16
two family businesses have come together to develop a pure, fresh and great tasting butter, made with milk from Graham’s 100 Scottish farmers
and mixed with top quality, natural, unrefined sea salt from the Isle of Skye. Jean Graham, Director, Graham’s The Family Graham
www.farmingscotlandmagazine.com
said: “Many years ago, Grandma Isabella Graham used to spend hours in the kitchen making the naturally fresh Scottish milk into rich, creamy butter. The butter
