VINEYARD RARITY
Berry good!
The Smith brothers own a superb, 1978 MF135 Mk.III that was originally bought new by their father. Bob Weir discovers more
T
he twin towns of Rattray and Blairgowrie are located at the western end of the Strathmore Valley, and have been dubbed the ‘Berry capital’ of Scotland. The area attracts an army of fruit pickers and tourists during the harvest, and the produce is exported all over the world. In 2016, strawberries alone accounted for a turnover of £84 million, or 73% of the overall value of soft fruit. Robert and Rodger Smith come from a farming background and have lived in the Blairgowrie area for many years. They were brought up on a local farm, and both run building contracting businesses in the area. “Five of us grew up on the farm, but nobody followed our father into agriculture,” Rodger explained. “Unless your holding is over 500 acres of arable, it is difficult to make a living these days. My father sold the farm in 1988, and we’ve gone onto other things.”
King of fruits
The brothers can remember back in the 1970s, when the raspberry was still king. “There were berry fields for miles around,” Rodger recalls. “The area was producing something like 750,000 tons of raspberries each year. Soft fruits are still popular, but the raspberry has mostly been replaced by other types. Things
MASSEY FERGUSON 135
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