How Oxbury’s support of a family in Aberdeenshire made their farming dreams come true
Growing up on a beef and sheep farm in Aberdeenshire, Rebecca McBain always longed to return to farm life.
A successful application for a 50-acre tenancy gave her and her husband Alistair a base for their 85 ewes and an arable operation for malted barley. But it’s difficult to make a 50 acre farm support a family full-time, so Rebecca and Alistair also took jobs in the agriculture industry.
So, when local egg packing company Duncan Farms announced it was looking for a contract producer, the prospect of building a shed and selling eggs was tempting – but the couple decided it was a little too much, too soon and Alistair ended up taking a job with Duncan Farms instead.
But the idea continued to smoulder in the back of Alistair’s mind, taking him back to his childhood when, inspired by the farming life of his grandfather, he reared a flock of 100 hens and sold eggs to friends and family.
As the egg market became stronger and his farm business grew, Alistair asked his employers whether there would still be an opportunity for him to become a contract producer. They agreed.
Now, the numbers worked – if they could secure finance to build a shed and buy some birds.
A late-night googling session led them to Oxbury’s New Gen scheme, which is designed to give new entrants a valuable helping hand to get into farming, including a 100% loan-to-value offer.
“I was expecting to be disappointed because, as new entrants to farming, we don’t have a huge amount of financial backing behind us,” said Alistair. But when the application landed on Oxbury Relationship Manager Terry Butcher’s desk, he gave them a call and discussed how they could help turn their aspirations into reality.
Terry worked with Alistair and Rebecca on their business plan, which they presented to members of Oxbury’s credit and management teams to see if this was a business they could help thrive.
“Everybody from the interview panel was blown away by Rebecca and Alistair,” recalls Terry. “Part of the New Gen scheme is very much about buying in to the people. We have to trust and believe in the people and know that they've got the knowledge to succeed.
“And Rebecca and Alistair are fantastic individuals with an excellent working knowledge of the sector.”
Oxbury New Gen has funded the build of a 32,000-bird free-range laying site as well as a flexi-credit facility to help manage cash flow. That has enabled Alistair and Rebecca to secure a long-term contract with Duncan Farms to supply around 17,000 eggs a week.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to farm in our own right and to build a business,” says Rebecca. “Firstly, with the sheep – anybody who knows me knows that I’m very passionate about sheep but the development into chickens on a larger scale helps us make this farm more sustainable.”
But it’s not just the finance. Having a Relationship Manager who is just a phone call away has helped to support Alistair and Rebecca through a whirlwind few months.
“Having Terry on the ground has been absolutely amazing,” says Rebecca. “It’s been so good having somebody who you can phone and speak to, and who actually comes to see you.”
“The New Gen scheme is an absolute game changer for new entrants to farming,” says Alistair. “The biggest barrier to getting into farming is capital – everyone knows that. New Gen opens the door to people who have got the credentials and are willing to give it a go.”
By a happy coincidence, the house on the farm, which had been occupied by another tenant, became vacant just as the shed was taking shape, allowing the young McBain family to move in and start a new chapter in their lives.
“Now that we live on farm, it’s just it’s so good,” says Rebecca. “We’ve got a little boy, a three-year-old, and he just absolutely loves it.
“And we’ve been able to give him the way of life that I've grown up with. It’s a dream come true.”