Meet the Consultant - Sarah Balfour
Hello! I’m Sarah, a Beef Consultant within SAC Consulting’s Livestock Team and recently appointed editor of Unearthed. I joined SAC Consulting back in 2015 as a Technical Administrator based in the Elgin office before becoming a consultant and progressing my career to specialising in beef consultancy within the Livestock Team in October 2018.
I come from a farming background and have a sound understanding and knowledge of the Scottish livestock sector especially upland suckler enterprises. I grew up on a hill farm near Tomintoul, within the Cairngorm National Park, where my family have a mixed beef and sheep farm of 110 suckler cows mainly Limousin and British Blue crosses (including a small herd of pedigree Limousins) producing top quality suckled calves for showing purposes and high-quality butcher’s calves. A flock of 450 Cheviot ewes are crossed with Beltex and Suffolk tups to produce store lambs.
I have always had a passion and keen interest in beef cows and the beef industry, with spare time and school holidays spent in a boilersuit and wellies. Childhood summer holidays were spent showing cattle across the North-East show circuit. Even now I can often be found on the end of a halter either with my family’s commercial cattle or with one of my beloved British Blues from my pedigree herd.
A key area of interest for me is improving suckler herd fertility. I am an advocate for highlighting the importance of fertility testing stock bulls. I have written various technical publications and articles on the subject and delivered several presentations at farmer meetings including at the ‘Chewing the Cud about Cows and Carbon’ meetings (funded by the Universities Innovation Fund (UIF)) held in Aberdeenshire and Inverness-shire in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Part of my role as a beef consultant is knowledge transfer to consultants and wider industry, which has led me to deliver and facilitate several projects funded through UIF. This year I chaired ‘The Big Beef Roadshow’, a series of meetings organised alongside my nutritionist colleagues in the Livestock Team which focused on improving existing practices to drive increased herd efficiency and sustainability.
Other key areas of interest and expertise include bull management, animal health and welfare, particularly health planning, beef market prices and trends and advising farmers and industry on beef related issues, with practical advice to improve business efficiency and profitability. I write monthly beef market updates and outlooks for SAC Consulting’s Sheep and Beef News and the Farm Advisory Service’s Agribusiness News.
I live with my partner Luke – a livestock auctioneer and our 5-year-old son Harry, near Keith, Banffshire, where we farm approx. 60 acres (which includes an area of woodland) with additional land let seasonally nearby. We have 120 Beltex and Texel ewes producing finished lambs, with the best of the tup lambs kept through and sold as cross shearlings. We have also recently established a flock of pedigree Park-Type Cheviots. Alongside my herd of eight British Blues, approximately 15-20 weaned calves are bought in October to overwinter which are then sold as forward stores. My hobbies aside from showing cattle include flower arranging. I won best floral exhibit at this year’s 150th Keith Country Show. I am also involved with various committees including the local agricultural show and I am currently Vice President of the Aberdeen Fatstock Association.
I graduated from the SRUC Craibstone campus in 2011, with a BSc (Hons) Agriculture. My dissertation topic was the use of alternative bedding materials for upland suckler cows, a subject that I have continued to have interest in, particularly wood-based alternatives. I can offer advice to farmers on the use of straw alternatives for livestock bedding and how to manage straw supplies and have produced technical notes for the Farm Advisory Service (FAS), articles for farming press and podcasts on the topic.
One of the things I enjoy most about being a Beef Consultant with SAC Consulting is the variety of work and projects I am involved in, from one-to-one technical farmer advice, data collection, carbon auditing and mitigation, technical writing, presenting at meetings and group facilitation.
Projects I am currently involved with include the delivery of the FAS Sustainable Beef Systems Series and the Biosecurity and Roundworm Advice for Cattle Enterprises (BRACE) project, in collaboration with research colleagues at SRUC.
Sarah Balfour, Beef Consultant, Sarah.Balfour@sac.co.uk
Unearthed is the exclusive SAC Consulting members' monthly newsletter. Unearthed offers insights and tips from our experts on what we think is in store for farming and crofting in the coming months in order to protect and enhance your business.
Posted by Unearthed News on 18/11/2024
