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Farm diversification
Farm policy: Moving from BPS to ELMS
September 9, 2021
Dairy Marketing
Farm Diversification: sheep milk venture hopes to shake-up the market
September 11, 2021

Unusual Farm Diversification: Farming couple launch first smoked lamb

September 10, 2021
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Farm Diversification

Unusual Farm Diversification: Farming couple launch first smoked lamb

At Flame Marketing we love an unusual farm diversification project and this lamb diversification is a perfect example. This farming couple is adding value and creating a new product that allows them to have a much highermeat farm diversification value per kg for their lamb. The key to this type of food-based farm diversification is to ensure you have carefully planned your farm marketing strategy and considered the whole customer experience from purchase to delivery. Check out our free guide on planning your farm marketing strategy here.

FARM owners who are the first in Scotland to produce smoked lamb say farm diversification will be key to the industry’s survival.

James and Karen Baird built their own smokery on their 300-acre cattle farm in the Scottish Borders and started offering a take-away service during the pandemic. Orders came flying in and they are now supplying a local restaurant, which says it’s one of the most popular dishes on the menu and hope to take the niche product to supermarkets across the UK. Further down the line, they would like to launch a barbecue school on Potterland Farm with accommodation, capitalising on the current agritourism trend and also plan to launch smoked haggis for sale.

The idea for the smoked lamb came from Mrs Baird’s brother Ed, a chef who runs a restaurant in Castle Douglas, Mr Pook’s Kitchen.

“James had built him a little smokery out of oil drums,” said Mrs Baird, 40. “We were looking at it thinking, what’s going to be the future, with Covid, and we just thought, why don’t we build our own one and do take-away food? Then we thought about using our own lambs and combining my brother’s cheffing skills and James’ engineering skills.”

meat box sales“We’ve never found smoked lamb anywhere. You get smoked salmon and cold smoked products, that’s a classic Scottish thing but hot smoking is really unusual in Scotland and most people smoke pork or brisket.
“It’s one of the top sellers in the restaurant. Because the actual smokery is not finished yet, our production levels are low but we are building it slowly. When it’s finished we will take the product to a wider audience. We really want to get it out there and what we would really like to experiment with now is smoked haggis because we want to use every part of the animal,” added Mrs Baird, who is also a solicitor and runs a small legal firm.

The couple, who have two children Jessica, 12 and Gregor, 9, inherited the farm earlier than expected in 2009 after James’ father John died at 57, just a few months after being diagnosed with cancer. “We had a five-week old daughter at the time and there was a lot going on in the farm,” said Mrs Baird. “James is a very good farmer and a good mechanic but the managing had always been done for his father. It was very difficult, very daunting”, added Mr Baird, 44,  who has experienced periods of depression, which led to him being hospitalised at one point.

The generations-old farm began to suffer financially and the couple reduced the herd size to relieve some of the workload and pressure.

“Partly due to both of our individual characters, my father hadn’t started to pass anything on to me and I hadn’t really wanted to start taking over,” said Mr Baird. “I went from – in a short period of time – being an employee on my father’s farm to being in sole charge. We’ve changed quite a lot on the farm, we reduced the amount of stock we have to a level I can manage on my own. I’ve actually found the pandemic easier because I’m used to working alone on the farm.”

The couple were invited to take part in an STV series hosted by Countryfile presenter Adam Henson illustrating how farms across the UK are diversifying.Agri marketing

“We try to focus on creating a more premium product,” said Mr Baird. “That’s part of the reason for the smokery, to create a product that may be a bit more in demand. We’ve got to accept that the general trend is towards eating less red meat. Ironically, when the world does badly, farming prices tend to go up, “added his wife.

“When we applied for the show {pre-pandemic} farming prices were quite low, around £50 to £70 per sheep and when they started filming prices jumped to £100 a sheep. The difficulty we have always found with farming is that you do all the work, then a year or so later, you are told what you are going to be paid. What we were trying to do with the smokery was bring certainty to the price because the price doesn’t seem to fluctuate in the supermarkets the same as it does in the farmers’ pockets.”

Article taken from The Herald

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5 Instagram Reel ideas to market your artisan-spir
5 Instagram Reel ideas to market your artisan-spirit farm business

🍸 Why do we use [insert unusual ingredient] to make our [insert spirit]?
🍸 A tour of our distillery! What system do we use?
🍸 3 ways we are making our [insert spirit] carbon-neutral!
🍸 How do we make [insert spirit]? See our behind-the-scenes process!
🍸Cocktail Masterclass
🍸 Which spirit should I choose for my cocktail?

Do you use reels for your business?


Alternative meat products to add to your farm busi
Alternative meat products to add to your farm business - Charcuterie 

Charcuterie can be an excellent option for extending a product range as the products can be made from your existing meat supplies, or you could choose to team up with a local charcuterie business. 

Additionally, the shelf life of charcuterie products is often significantly longer than other meat-based products. Charcuterie also often uses less desirable parts of an animal, such as in the case of using cheaper cuts in salamis.


Instagram Reel ideas for your dairy diversificatio
Instagram Reel ideas for your dairy diversification

🧀 What happens to male calves on our farm?
🧀 A tour of our milking parlour! What system do we use?
🧀 Why do we use mob grazing for our cows? And what is it?
🧀 How do we make our ice cream? See our behind-the-scenes process!
🧀 Cheese tasting masterclass
🧀 Which cheese should I choose for my cheese board?
🧀Why should you buy milk from vending machines rather than from the supermarket?

 #cheese #britishcheese #dairy #dairyuk #britishdairy #milk #milkvendingmachine


8 farm diversification options for livestock farme
8 farm diversification options for livestock farmers

1. Milk vending machines – for dairy diversification
2. Crop mazes – for kid-friendly farm diversification
3. Shepherd Huts – the classic farm diversification
4. Glamping – the agritourism option
5. Ice cream – the tasty farm diversification
6. Storage containers – the commercial farm diversification
7. Clay pigeon shooting – for estate diversification
8. Growing truffles – the high-end farm diversification

If you are planning a farm marketing strategy to promote your farm diversification then we would also recommend you book a consultation with us.

 #lamb #hogget #beef #organicfarming #pork #rarebreed #highwelfaremeat #agrimarketing #backbritishfarming #farmdiversification #ukfarming  #farmmarketing #farmbusiness #agriculturemarketing #buybritish #organicfarming #agribranding #farmbusinessinnovationshow #farmlife #ruralpowerhouse #CountryLandandBusinessAssociation


Diversification idea – wool business!
Why choose a

Diversification idea - wool business!
Why choose a wool business?

A wool, yarn or fibre business can be an effective farm diversification for adding value to something that is often a by-product of the sheep farming sector. But there are also lots of other types of fibre to consider, from alpaca to plant-based fibres. Fibre businesses are useful for bringing in additional income on a smaller scale and tend to work well alongside a wider farm business strategy or even as a way to make money from your smallholding.

Fibre businesses can range from selling raw fleece through to spinning yarn and even dying yarns. 

Do you sell wool or fibre from your farm?

 #wool #yarn #knittinguk #felting #sheep #rarebreedsheep #britishwool #handspunyarn


How much would you need to sell to invest £600 pe
How much would you need to sell to invest £600 per month in your business? 

Is it 20 veg boxes? 2 glamping holidays? 100 bars of soap? 
How many new clients would we need to bring you?

With packages starting from as little as £200 and most under £675 per month, why not? 

#glamping #agrimarketing #backbritishfarming #farmdiversification #ukfarming #agribusiness #britishfarming #farmmarketing #farmbusiness #socialmediamarketing #contentmarketing #agriculturemarketing #devon #rurallife #rbst #agristudent #buylocal #supportfarmers #buybritish #shopsmall #dairy #organicfarming #agribranding #youngfarmers #farmbusinessinnovationshow #farmlife #thisfarminglife #ruralpowerhouse #CountryLandandBusinessAssociation


Video content for wool businesses needn’t be har
Video content for wool businesses needn’t be hard. Some ideas could include:

🐑 How is it made videos – show the processes within your business, such as spinning
🐑  Why do we do … – explain your practices and educate your audience
🐑  Product reveals – show your new products dressed and displayed in the best possible light
🐑  Before and after – show your goods before and after processes: from sheep to yarn,
🐑  Meet the team – show yourself or your team behind the business.


Want to transform your farm business?
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Want to transform your farm business?
Are you ready to take your agri-business to the next level?

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Find out more on our website - go to the link in bio

 #glamping #agrimarketing #backbritishfarming #farmdiversification #ukfarming #agribusiness #britishfarming #farmmarketing #farmbusiness #socialmediamarketing #contentmarketing #agriculturemarketing #devon #rurallife #rbst #agristudent #buylocal #supportfarmers #buybritish #shopsmall #dairy #organicfarming #agribranding #youngfarmers #farmbusinessinnovationshow #farmlife #thisfarminglife #ruralpowerhouse #CountryLandandBusinessAssociation
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