wooler

At their weekly Prime Stock sale last Wednesday John Swan Ltd had forward and sold 802 lambs and 295 ewes.

Lamb numbers slightly easier, but vendors received returns above expectations, early week markets left well behind.

Leading prices per head:- Tex.x:- £87 Kettleburn, £82 Hartside (A Hutcheon), £79 Lorbottle, £78.50 Wandon, £78 Greenhead, Reston, £77.50, £77 West Longridge, £77 Branton Eastside. Suff.x:- £85.50 Castlelaw, £81.50 Brockley Hall, £79.50 Branton Eastside, £79 North Lyham, £77.50 Shotton. Bel.x:- £85 The Loan, £78.50, £78 Ladykirk. Chev:- £83 Humbleheugh.

Leading prices per kilo:- Bel:- 229.7p The Loan, 189.5p, 186.9p Ladykirk. Tex.x:- 200p Lorbottle, 191p Black Heddon, 187.2p Chatton Park, 186.3p, 185p Mindrum Farming Co, 185p Todrig, 183.3p Black Heddon, 182.9p Lorbottle, 181.3p East Fleetham. Suff.x:- 183.8p Mindrum Farming Co, 182.5p Howtel. Oxf:- 182.1p East Fleetham. Chev:- 181.7p South Charlton.

Ewes, numbers slightly increased with similar returns achieved, in keeping with national averages.

Leading prices:- Suff.x:- £77 Wandon, £70 Venchen, £69 Ross Farm. Tex.x:- £74 Alnham, £73 Wandon, £61 Cresswell Farms, £60 Yetlington Lane. Chev:- £50 Sourhope, £45 Alnham, £41 South Charlton. Mule:- £51 West Longridge. BF:- £35 Branton Eastside.

Rams:- Suff:- £90 Venchen. Tex.x:- £80 Greenhead, Reston.

st boswells

On Monday John Swan Ltd sold 86 clean cattle, 62 OTM cattle, 2,894 new season lambs and 425 ewes.

Bullocks (48) averaged 234.2p per kg and sold to 267p (-5.8p on week), heifers (38) averaged 230p per kg and sold to 277p (-7.2p on week) and 58 beef type OTM cattle averaged 127.9p per kg and sold to 225p (+5.9p on the week).

The 1,859 new season SQQ lambs averaged 181.6p per kg (+8.1p on week) and sold to £103, 1,035 light lambs averaged 171.7 and 425 ewes averaged £54.66 and sold to £95. Heavy ewes £71.29, light ewes £44.56.

Principal prices per kg: Bee Edge 2.77, 2.67 M/s WTS Forsyth and Sons, 2.66 Denholm Meat Supplies, 2.60 Robert Wilson Butcher, Edinburgh, 2.58 W Taylor (Lockerbie); Traprain 2.67 M/s WTS Forsyth and Sons, 2.59 (2) M/s Cropper and Malone of Edinburgh; Upper Nisbet 2.61 Denholm Meat Supplies, 2.59 M/s WTS Forsyth and Sons, 2.57 Malone of Edinburgh; Longnewton £2.60 M/s J Gilmour and Co Ltd, 2.57 M/s J Saunderson Ltd; Saughland 2.60 Denholm Meat Supplies; Hollybush 2.59 M/s TA Shaw; Upper Hundalee 2.59 M/s WTS Forsyth and Sons.

Principal -prices per head: Lurdenlaw £1740.40, £1668.45, £1575.50; Bee Edge £1634.30, £1575.30; Haltree £1570.80.

John Swan Ltd held their annual Show and Sale of Cast Cows judged by M/s G Moor.

The champion exhibited by M/s Hamilton, Ramrig, scaled 905kgs making 153p realising £1384.65.

The reserve champion exhibited by M/s Fleming, Mosstower, scaled 765kgs making 1.59p realising £1216.35.

Cows per head: Ramrig £1384.65, £1345.05; Nisbet £1363.15, £1295.25, £1086.75; Thrunton £1253.55; Mosstower £1216.35, £1050.45; Wester Middleton £1112; Queenscairn £1107.20; Outerston £1102.50; Philiphaugh £1096.20; Upper Samieston £1080.25, Greenknowe £982.80; Upper Hundalee £981.25.

Cows per kg: Outerston 2.25; Philiphaugh 2.03; Nisbet 1.99, 1.89, 1.65; Queenscairn 1.73,1.63; Mosstower 1.59, 1.49; Greenknowe 1.53; Ramrig 1.53, 1.47; Upper Samieston 1.45; Wester Middleton 1.39; Rumbleton 1.39.

Bulls: Wedderlie £1047.60(.97p); Upper Tofts £906.95 (97p).

The new season lambs SQQ avge 181.6p selling to £103 Bel.x ex Sydenham and 220.8p pkg for Tex.x ex Crumhaughhill.

Lambs per head: Bel.x;- £103 Sydenham, £97 Craigsford Mains, Tex.x;- £94 Crumhaughhill, £93 Crookston, Tex;- £93 Roxburgh Mill, £92.50 Quarrybank, Suff.x;- £96 Nether Howden(Halliday), £88 Burnhouse Mains, Chev;- £81.50 Attonburn, £80 Wester Ulston and Haltree, Mule;- £77.50 Threeburnford, £77 Burncastle, CM;- £75 Gospelhall, £74.50 Gilston, BF;- £72 Lauderhill.

Lambs per kg: Tex.x;- 220.8, 217.6, 216.2 Crumhaughhill, Bel.x;- 218.4 Crookston, 215 Sydenham, 213.2 Ashcraig, Suff.x;- 187.5 Birkenside, 187.2 Parkhill, 185.9 Threeburnford, Chev;- 186.3 Haltree, 185 Sydenham, Mule;- 184.6 Coulston Mains, 182.9 Burncastle Farming, CM;- 180.5 Wester Uston, BF;- 173.8

Lightweight lambs avge 171.7.

Lambs per head: Bel.x;- £73 Crookston, £70 Ashcraig, Suff.x;- £66 Brotherston, Tex.x;- £62 Helmburn, £57.50 Hillhouse, Mule;- £60 Brockhouse, Chev;- £57.50 Brockhouse, BF;- £63.50 Woodburn, £57 Craig Douglas and Holylee. Lambs per kg: Bel.x;- 212 Ashcraig, 202.8 Crookston, Suff.x;- 188.6 Brotherston, Tex.x;- 187.9 Helmburn, BF;- 186.7 Burncastle, 185.7 Holylee, Chev.x;- 182.8 Birnieknowe.

Cast ewes: Suff.x;- £95,£85,£84 Craigsford Mains, £88 Middlethird and Cockburn, Tex;- £85 The Bow, £79 St Leonards, Suff;- £75 Brotherstone, Cher;- £75 Deanfoot, Chev;- £71 Provest (Melrose), £59 Gilston, HB;- £71 Wester Middleton, GF;- £63 Craigsford, £57 Burnhouse Mains and Cockburn, Chev;- £60 Gilston, BF;- £53 Burnhouse Mains, £43 Burncastle.

Rams: Suff;- £111 Wester Middleton, Tex;- £89 Ladylands. S.

longtown

The Cumberland and Dumfriesshire Farmers Mart PLC had forward 43 prime cattle, five young bulls, 29 over 30 month cattle, 5,843 prime lambs and 6,317 cast ewes and rams at their weekly sale at Longtown last Thursday.

It was the Christmas show and sale of prime cattle. A total of 20 cattle were offered for show, where the judge Mr Joe Kirkup (Wm Kirkup and Sons, Butcher, Longtown) cast his eye over them and awarded the championship to a Limousin heifer shown by J and N Blaylock and Son, Hallburn, which later realised 295p (£1,947) and was purchased by the judge.

The reserve ticket went to J Retson and Son, Gardrum for a Belgian Blue heifer selling to 280p (£1736) to S McGimpsey, Thorns.

The cup for the Best British Beast was awarded to WG and HM Kyle, Spout Bank, which later sold to 238p (£1213.80) purchased by Joe Kirkup (Wm Kirkup and Sons).

Young bulls were a small show of five.

The otms were a similar trade and continued to follow the national trend.

Top price was 145.5p for a British Blue cow from Nunscleugh with top price per head £1182 Henrys Hill.

border livestock

This week Border Livestock Exchange to week ending sold 109 prime cattle including 45 cows, 191 store cattle, 2,014 prime lambs, 1,140 store lambs, 262 cull ewes and four mature bulls.

Top prices in the prime cattle section went to Easington Grange, Belford, for a home bred Charolais cross steer at £1,786. Charolais cross heifers from the same farm sold to £1,524.

Hereford cross steers from Tughall Grange, Chathill, sold to £1,699. Cast cows to £1,190 for Limousin crosses from Harehope Farm, Wooler, and to £1,182 for Luings from Ewart Farm, Wooler.

Lambs showed good signs of improving as numbers tighten with demand firm particularly for lighter weights.

Top price:- 400p per kg from Venchen Farm, Yetholm and Hardens, Duns.

Top per head for export weights was £85.05 from Hollybush Galashiels and £84.00 from Primside Farm, Yetholm.

The company had one of their busiest weeks for the time of year, with store sheep and cattle.

Store lambs sold in large numbers with trade the dearest so far this year.

Not many years ago there were regular stories about the nuisance caused by starlings in cities and the efforts made to stop them congregating and defecating in large numbers.

I sympathised because we were trying to stop what seemed like thousands of them doing the same on indoor sheep and cattle troughs. A murmuration of starlings is the official collective term, but I don’t recall that word among the many we used while trying to make sheds starling-proof and remove piles of health hazard bird droppings.

That’s why I don’t have mixed feelings that, according to the most recent RSPB survey, starling numbers in Britain have more than halved in about 20 years. Good – fewer problems in some towns and cities and fewer problems for ad-lib livestock feeders. But there still seem enough millions of starlings about to form those swirling flying formations beloved of photographers.

I do have mixed feelings about the reported decline of some other species, not least because as tends to be the way with the RSPB most of the blame is apportioned to farmers. Draining unproductive wet land used to be as much a part of good farming as sound fences, weed-free crops and disease-free livestock, but apparently what we do when draining is destroy wildlife habitats. But surely that can’t be the only reason for an alleged 95 per cent drop in turtle dove numbers or the halving of the number of cuckoo, grey partridge and yellow wagtail?

Not good, but not necessarily all the fault of farmers. What about the encouraged increase in the number of birds of prey such as red kite? What accounts for what must be a remarkable increase in recent years in the number of buzzards seen in, among many other parts of the country, Borders woodland and farmland? And, only a thought, apart from the keener bird-spotters, how many of us could identify a whinchat, wood warbler or corn bunting?

Not to mention that the RSPB report indicates that of Britain’s 107 most common and widespread birds only 16 had declined by more than one third. Couldn’t it simply be that bird populations have fluctuated for centuries for a large number of reasons and that the more successful adapt? Rather like human beings.

Brian Pack, Scottish farming’s one-man think tank has produced – with, in this case, the help of a committee – an interim report on how the bureaucracy said to be suffocating farmers might be reduced. The report is 170 pages long and one recommendation is for a single, independent regulatory body; another is for more tolerance of mistakes when claiming subsidy on land area; another is for fewer on-farm inspections. Good luck with all that. The problem is that farming subsidies and public money mean red tape, inspection and regulation. No subsidies – no regulation. Tough choice?

Selkirk-based Stark Main and Co have been awarded the Scottish Independent Firm of the Year award at the British Accountancy Awards at a ceremony in the Tower of London.

It is the second year in the row that the local company has scooped the honour.

A spokesperson for the firm, which also has an Edinburgh office, said they were delighted to have retained the award and thanked clients for their on-going support.

ELEVEN organisations from across the Borders have picked up awards for their efforts to boost health, safety and wellbeing in workplaces.

The Healthy Working Lives award programme was launched to encourage employers to promote a healthier lifestyle to their workforce and covers a wide range of topics including health promotion, occupational health and safety, employability, mental health and well-being, community involvement, and health and the ­environment.

Organisations must meet certain criteria to achieve the four levels of award (bronze, silver, gold and the mental health commendation), however the programme is designed to be flexible so employers can select topics most relevant to their workforce.

Explaining the importance of the awards, Dr Eric Baijal, joint director of public health for the council and NHS Borders, said: “During these very challenging economic times, it becomes vital that organisations look after their number one asset, their staff.

“Being proactive in addressing health, safety and wellbeing in the workplace leads to a safer, healthier and more motivated workforce. In turn this can lead to a reduction in sickness absence, staff turnover and related costs, as well as increased productivity, staff satisfaction and customer satisfaction.”

The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) based in Tweedbank has a workforce of around 250 people and collected a silver award.

Through the programme the SPPA were able to access training and support to devise a plan to minimise stress, and take a practical look at what could be done to reduce sickness absence.

“In preparation for a period of considerable change within the SPPA we would like to be able to recognise concerns at an early stage and hope that if problems do arise staff will be better prepared and more able to cope,” said Neville Mackay, chief executive of SPPA.

“The initiative provides many practical and cost effective examples of steps we can take to further the health and well being of our staff, both in the office setting and at home,” he added.

IN HIS autumn statement Chancellor George Osborne emphasised the improved economic conditions and announced that economic growth forecasts for this year have more than doubled from 0.6 per cent to 1.4 per cent.

However, he warned that the job is not complete and emphasised the importance of achieving a ‘responsible recovery’ by continuing with the austerity plan.

For businesses, the Chancellor offered an extension of small business rate relief for a further year.

In addition, a new 50 per cent ‘reoccupation relief’ will be available to local retail businesses, and a rates discount of up to £1,000 will be applied to some small shops, pubs and other retail properties.

Another key announcement was the scrapping of employer National Insurance Contributions for most under-21s, from 2015.

The Chancellor also announced that the intermediaries legislation will be tightened further to prevent employers and employment intermediaries circumventing employer obligations as regards taxation and employment law.

The Chancellor also confirmed that proposals to tackle elements of partnership taxation avoidance will go ahead.

This addresses limited liability partnerships (LLPs) using their tax status to disguise employment relationships by making an employee a member of the LLP to remove the employer NIC cost.

Additionally, some partnerships have partner-owned corporate partners which receive profit shares, with the result that tax on undrawn profits would be subject to a much lower rate and overall tax liability. The new rules apply from December 5, 2013.

Finally, there have been cases of losses being allocated to an individual partner, instead of a non-corporate partner, to enable the individual to access certain loss reliefs. This will also be tackled.

The arrival of a new minister for the parishes of Caddonfoot, linked with Trinity in Galashiels, is the ideal Christmas gift for both congregations.

It has taken the nomination committee two years to find a replacement for the Reverend Morag Dawson, who has moved to Dumfriesshire.

Now the Reverend Elspeth Harley has accepted the nomination after preaching in both churches as nominee, and it is hoped that her induction will take place on January 31. The Reverend Harley and her husband, Ewen, a retired doctor, will leave Aberdeen behind – as she says, a bit further from the sea – for a new life in the Borders.

The final chapter was written in Trinity Church where the votes were counted and the Reverend Harley emerged as overwhelmingly choice.

She said: “I am pleased to be able to come and join the congregations here. It is a great privilege and I am very excited about serving the churches and the Lord today.

“I was overwhelmed by the warmth of the congregations in both churches who made us feel at home.

“We will be sorry to leave Aberdeen as we have so many friends there, including our son and new daughter-in-law, but we are looking forward to the move.”

During the intervening period, the Reverend Marion Dodd has stood in as interim moderator. “We are all delighted that Elspeth is coming to the Borders and we all wish her well here,” she said.

The Reverend Harley was born and brought up in Edinburgh, and lived briefly in Glasgow before going to Botswana with Ewen and their two children. She then studied at the ecumenical college in Gaborone before returning to complete her studies in Edinburgh.

She spent 10 years as minister of the United Reformed Church in Glasgow and was then invited to teach ministry students in Samoa. She moved back to Aberdeen and had a variety of part-time ministries. She set up a Messsy Church, served as a school chaplain, and has a keen interest in organisations like Fair Trade and Christian Aid.

The photograph shows the new minister and her husband, right, with session clerks Bill Cheyne and Anne Grieve.

Hawick Rotary Club president’s night was held in the town’s rugby clubrooms, with 67 Rotarians and friends in attendance.

John Elliot, who visited a Mary’s Meal School in Malawi, spoke briefly of the work of this charity, after which the donation raffle raised £500.

The photograph shows – front – Mairhi Trickett (Hawick junior vice-president), Jane Bannerman, Sandy Bannerman (Hawick vice-president), Scott Elliot (Hawick president), Andy Ireland (District 1020 governor nominee, Polmont), Jacqui Ireland, Tom Stothart (Langholm president).

Back – presidents Jim McPherson (Selkirk), Jane Stuart, Eileen Frame (Melrose), Isobel Johnston (Galashiels), Sandra Craig (Kelso), Gordon Stuart (Jedburgh).

Imagine the scene. A five-year-old boy is struggling to breath in a hospital cubicle. Medical staff are assessing and preparing for treatments. The lad’s parents are probably up to ninety. And in the cubicle next door a teenager who has been taken to hospital, presumably because there was something wrong with him, is kicking off. He’s shouting and swearing. He’s causing more distress to the young lad and his already distressed parents.

And when the teenager is asked by a nurse to calm down, he ups his nasty game with more verbals and the situation reaches the stage that the nurse feels threatened and the police are alerted.

But this was neither imagination nor dream. This happened at the Borders General Hospital. And sadly, and shamefully, it happens far too often. This 16-year-old has been in court and admitted his guilt. He doesn’t yet know his punishment but he knows the sheriff is far from happy. He’s been told.

Sheriff Peter Paterson sits in place of the retired Sheriff Kevin Drummond who paid visits to the hospital to meet staff who regularly faced abuse and assault.

Sheriff Drummond took a hard line. So it is pleasing to hear that Sheriff Paterson is also firing from the hip.

Abuse and violence targeted at hospital staff and emergency workers won’t be tolerated, he’s decreed.

We are in complete agreement and will continue to highlight the hospital troublemakers.

A PLAN to transform a cottage in Dryburgh Village to include a hydrotherapy pool and spa treatment rooms has been given the green light by the council’s planning department, writes Adam Drummond.

The planning application for alterations to Rose Cottage, the creation of an underground link to an outbuilding and its conversion was approved by council officers.

The cottage is owned by Robert Seaton, a director of Bourne Leisure, which owns Butlins, Haven Holidays and Warner Hotels, but the application was submitted by Galashiels architects Aitken Turnbull, who were named as applicants and agents.

According to the application the whole development is residential, despite the inclusion of a pool, several spa treatment rooms and a ‘juice bar’ in the scheme.

The frontage of the new extension to the existing house, below ground level living area and converted outbuildings will be extensively glazed to maximise the views from the prominent site over the River Tweed and footbridge.

Planning conditions have been attached to the approval, including one seeking to ensure the retention of a hedge on the roadside which will screen a large part of the development.

No objections or representations were received by the council during the consultation period.

AN offshore worker had a noisy and costly shock on his journey home to Galashiels from Aberdeen in October.

And two months later he is still in dispute with NWH, the firm off whose lorry, he claims, a stone caused nearly £2,000 car roof damage.

As catering worker Joe Brownlie drove behind two trucks, one passing the other, on the A7 near Gorebridge, he heard “an almighty bang”.

Thinking a tyre had blown, he pulled into the side of the road. But there was no tyre damage. As he drove into Galashiels his rear passenger roof light fell down, but it wasn’t until he got home he saw the car roof. “That’s when it all started to click,” he told us. He reported it to police, but says Dalkeith-based hauliers NWH, who are working on the Borders rail project, claim they are unable to identify the offending lorry.

“The next incident could be fatal,” said Mr Brownlie, who has written to Network Rail and Borders MP Michael Moore.

NWH’s Lisa Boyd said: “As this is an ongoing insurance case we are not at liberty to comment.

“It is our insurer’s policy to investigate and defend claims or accept liability based on the information provided. NWH are working with other businesses and the police on the safe and efficient delivery of services on this local project to ensure as little disruption as possible.”

The historic Talla and Gameshope estate has been bought for £900,000 by Borders Forest Trust (BFT).

The Ancrum-based charity announced last week it had purchased 4,527 acres, the majority of the estate near Tweedsmuir, which was once a stronghold of William Wallace.

Trust director Jane Rosegrant said: “This is a real step change for Borders Forest Trust. It more than doubles our land holdings and, because it adjoins one of our other properties (Carrifran) and is nearby to a third (Corehead), it makes ecological restoration on a landscape scale possible.”

The estate changed hands early last year when BFT and the John Muir Trust were outbid for the 5,300-acre property with an asking price of £1.1million.

Ms Rosegrant explained this month’s success: “The previous owner approached us as he wanted to see the land pass into conservation ownership. Time was short, so we went to a small group of our larger donors with the request and secured pledges for the total price of £900,000 within three weeks.”

She outlined immediate plans: “The previous owner will be keeping his sheep on the property until the end of October 2014. During the time the land is still being grazed, BFT will carry out biological surveys so that we know what plants and animals are there now and can map changes over the years.

“Once the livestock are removed, we will begin the gradual work of restoring native habitats on the land. This will include woodland, but also areas of montane scrub and heathland.

“Next year we will run a much wider fundraising appeal to get our restoration work under way.”

The land was part of the royal hunting forest, Ettrick Forest, and was one of 
the many Reivers’ battle grounds.

Not many years ago there were regular stories about the nuisance caused by starlings in cities and the efforts made to stop them congregating and defecating in large numbers.

I sympathised because we were trying to stop what seemed like thousands of them doing the same on indoor sheep and cattle troughs. A murmuration of starlings is the official collective term, but I don’t recall that word among the many we used while trying to make sheds starling-proof and remove piles of health hazard bird droppings.

That’s why I don’t have mixed feelings that, according to the most recent RSPB survey, starling numbers in Britain have more than halved in about 20 years. Good – fewer problems in some towns and cities and fewer problems for ad-lib livestock feeders. But there still seem enough millions of starlings about to form those swirling flying formations beloved of photographers.

I do have mixed feelings about the reported decline of some other species, not least because as tends to be the way with the RSPB most of the blame is apportioned to farmers. Draining unproductive wet land used to be as much a part of good farming as sound fences, weed-free crops and disease-free livestock, but apparently what we do when draining is destroy wildlife habitats. But surely that can’t be the only reason for an alleged 95 per cent drop in turtle dove numbers or the halving of the number of cuckoo, grey partridge and yellow wagtail?

Not good, but not necessarily all the fault of farmers. What about the encouraged increase in the number of birds of prey such as red kite? What accounts for what must be a remarkable increase in recent years in the number of buzzards seen in, among many other parts of the country, Borders woodland and farmland? And, only a thought, apart from the keener bird-spotters, how many of us could identify a whinchat, wood warbler or corn bunting?

Not to mention that the RSPB report indicates that of Britain’s 107 most common and widespread birds only 16 had declined by more than one third. Couldn’t it simply be that bird populations have fluctuated for centuries for a large number of reasons and that the more successful adapt? Rather like human beings.

Brian Pack, Scottish farming’s one-man think tank has produced – with, in this case, the help of a committee – an interim report on how the bureaucracy said to be suffocating farmers might be reduced. The report is 170 pages long and one recommendation is for a single, independent regulatory body; another is for more tolerance of mistakes when claiming subsidy on land area; another is for fewer on-farm inspections. Good luck with all that. The problem is that farming subsidies and public money mean red tape, inspection and regulation. No subsidies – no regulation. Tough choice?

Latest figures from the EU show that 20 percent of tillage in Scotland uses conservation methods and less than 20 percent of land is left bare during the winter.

The Scottish Government’s chief statistician released figures for Scotland from the EU Farm Structure Survey which show that just over 20 percent of Scottish farms have diversified, the most common way being into tourism.

Just three percent report generating renewable energy for the market but 10 percent create energy for home use.

One in eight holdings report that more than 10 percent of their turnover comes from other activities on the farm than agriculture itself.

The survey includes information on soil conservation and livestock breeding practice.

And the data is used to help monitor greenhouse gas emissions.

When questioned a Scottish Government spokesperson said no Scottish Borders breakdown was available because of the nature of the study.

About a third of holdings kept all their land in general crop rotation

But less than 10 per cent of manure and slurry was incorporated straight away, which would be beneficial for the environment and crop-growth, said officials

Of holdings that bred cattle or sheep, less than 15 per cent used the best available genetic information, such as Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs).

Fifty-three per cent of ewes were mated using a home-bred ram, with one per cent artificially inseminated.

About half of the cows were mated using a brought-in bull, but with 18 per cent mated using artificial insemination.

Concerning farm ownership, 90 per cent of farms are run on a day-to-day basis by the occupier or a member of their family, with just four per cent owned by companies or institutions.

The independent statisticians also stated that four 31 percent of those managing farms in Scotland are aged over 65, with a further 27 per cent aged 55 or over. Just three per cent are under 35, 15 percent are female, and one in six had completed at least two years of agricultural training.

Meanwhile Borders MSP John Lamont last month welcomed a report from an independent Rural Commission set up by the Scottish Conservatives a year ago to look into all aspects of rural life and make recommendations to the Scottish Government.

Among the suggestions are more investment in broadband, further support for tourism in rural areas and consideration of introducing coastal and marine National Parks.

Rural policy should be progressive rather than stagnant, localised rather than centralised, cooperative rather than competitive, reliant on independent rather than public funding with enabling rather than punitive policies, says the document.

It notes: “Present levels of public spending are unsustainable in the long run.

“This applies to all levels of the public sector – local authority, Scottish Government, United Kingdom Government and the European Union.”

In it also are recommendations to reject the Absolute Right to Buy, phase out short limited duration and limited duration tenancies and introduce freedom of contract tenancies, to ‘recognise and address the long term challenges arising from CAP subsidy dependency”, change the Forestry Commission to a Land Use Commission and increase support for forestry.

Mr Lamont said, while not all recommendations will be adopted as party policy: “When it comes to important issues such as access to broadband, areas such as ours often lose out, and I am delighted that the report has looked into ways that this situation can improve.

“Along with suggestions to improve tourism in the region, and create coastal National Parks, this report has suggestions that could really benefit the Borders.”

Food specialists Baxters is preparing to axe its shop and restaurant in Selkirk with the loss of 23 full and part-time jobs, writes Bob Burgess.

The company is also set to pull the plug on its showcase complex at Ocean Terminal in Leith. The Dunsdale Haugh premises in Selkirk is expected to go mid-February.

The proposed closures are a result of Baxters’ landlord wanting to sell the Eaglesgate Retail Village at Blackford near Tullibardine in Perthshire which is the Fochabar-based company’s retail headquarters. For the sale to go ahead the landlord needs vacant possession.

Baxters told us: “We can confirm it is the intention to close our Selkirk retail operation. It is likely to close early in 2014. As this site [Blackford] plays a central role in the management and administration of our retail division, its closure will, sadly, necessitate, the closure of our Selkirk outlet.

“The Board has evaluated various alternatives, but the costs involved do not make any of them viable.”

There’s a slim hope that if the Blackford sale falls through Selkirk might survive.

Baxters spent £1million converting the empty Selkirk Glass factory and opened its 8,300 square foot shop and restaurant in May 2008.

BERWICKSHIRE farmer Chris Walton represented Scottish organic farmers when he attended the European Commission’s launch of the United Nations’ (UN) ‘International Year of Family Farming’ in Brussels last week.

First launched in New York at the end of last month, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said the initiative aims to raise the profile of family and smallholder farming by focusing world attention on its role in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, in particular in rural areas.

One of around 500 delegates, Chris, of award-winning Peelham organic farm, Foulden, said: “The United Nations and European Commission now realise that the farming family spirit gives resilience to this most essential of world industries particularly during this time of weather extremes and economic upheaval.

“It was gratifying to witness the acknowledgement of the value of the family on farms and in particular those families which supply food direct to local communities”.

Peelham, with an on-farm organic butchery and seven employees, was Highly Commended award in RSPB’s Nature of Farming Award earlier this year and is a former Future Farmer Award (2009).

Chris is on the Farmer and Grower Board of the Soil Association and the invitation came from the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements.

A colleague reminded me this week that I had once reached great heights.

We were on the road from St Boswells to Selkirk and in the December darkness the red lights of the Lindean transmitter mast glowed as a warning to the pilots of low-flying military jets. We could also see the lights of its Ashkirk neighbour.

The duo are as much a part of the landscape as the often-photographed Eildon Hills and Leaderfoot viaduct – but really come into their own after the sun has gone to rest and darkness prevails.

Colleague Derek Forrest was recalling that I had once been at the top of the Lindean structure.

I remember it well for the simple reason we got stuck half-way up and were left swaying in a an open basket for what seemed an eternity.

We did get to the top on a second attempt. I’ll explain – but first some technical info.

The mast goes straight up. It goes straight up for a long way. It goes straight up, in fact, for 754 feet (229.8m). If you add the antenna it actually goes straight up for 783ft (238.8m).

Now that’s a long way up – and that’s a long way down. It is stopped from falling by steel guy ropes and is the only one of its kind in Britain built by the Independent Television Authority.

And during the winter of 1999/2000 I wangled a trip up it.

I knew some engineers doing upgrading work. So on a bright and, fortunately, not breezy morning, photographer Ian Mitchell and I were bundled into an open basket suspended from a wire that went round something at the top of the mast and to an engine of some kind on the ground and pulled away at an acute angle.

We were joined by two engineers who left a colleague on the ground to work the buttons and levers.

All went well for about 350ft when things started to judder. And so did I. Then we stopped. In mid-air. The bravest of the engineers swung himself out to see what was wrong and mumbled something on the radio to his pal below.

I suggested with pretend bravado that this must happen often. I wasn’t reassured when he told me he’d been doing this for 30 years and this was the first.

The safety gear issued to Ian and I consisted of safety helmets with string that went under your chin. Oh well, I thought, if I hit the ground heid first I’ll be OK.

We had two options, said the engineer. They could swing the basket right into the mast, we could then clamber out and use the vertical – very vertical –ladder that resides within this unique structure. Or we could be hand-winched down – an exercise that would take about two hours.

Two hours later we were on the ground. It transpired the steel rope had slipped from its pulley at the top of the mast.

Next day it was fixed and I was back in the basket. Ian didn’t come and I was joined by cub reporter Sarah Williamson who laughed all the way to the top and all the way back down again.

I heaved a sigh of relief after we passed the point where we had juddered to a halt 24 hours earlier – and again on reaching the top and then the bottom.

The number of birds feeding in my garden has increased quite dramatically during the past week.

Blue tits are still the most common visitors to the peanuts, followed closely by the house sparrows, but on Saturday I was delighted to welcome back a party of around half a dozen long-tailed tits, which I hadn’t seen in the garden since last winter.

They really are gorgeous little things when seen close at hand, with their pinkish plumage and incongruous long tails sticking out from the feeder at all angles.

In actual fact, they are not really tits at all, but are more closely related to the more exotic babbler family. Like them, it has fluffy plumage and sociable habits.

Coming to garden feeders is quite a recent phenomenon for long-tailed tit flocks.

On the face of it, it seems an odd choice of food for an almost entirely insectivorous bird, but it could be an indication that they may be running short of natural resources.

The sound of a visiting party is quite unmistakable, as they call to one another continually with a loud “chirrup chirrup”.

At this time of year they are territorial and a flock will defend its patch, which may measure just a few hundred metres across, against other flocks of the same species.True members of the tit family, such as great and blue tits, will band together in winter to form feeding flocks, but during spring and summer, will pair off.

Long-tailed tits, however, can be seen in groups at almost any time of year. Even rearing young becomes a group activity, when several helpers other than the parents, join in to assist with feeding the youngsters.

This activity is very unusual amongst British birds.

Because they are so tiny, long-tailed tits are extremely vulnerable to long cold winters, as up to 90 per cent of the autumn population may not survive until spring.

Recent mild winters and the aforementioned discovery of peanut feeders have no doubt gone some way to upping the survival rate, especially here in the Borders, where they seem to be in good numbers.

Even if only 10 per cent do survive the winter, the fact that they lay up to a dozen eggs allows them to recover in numbers, over quite a short period of time.

If you encounter a flock while out in woodlands, you can entice them to within a few feet by “pishing”.

This is a birdwatching term for the art of attracting small birds by making repeated “pshhh pshhh” sound through the teeth. For some reason, long-tailed tits find this sound irresistible and will approach to almost within touching distance.

z You can contact me by email: corbie@homecall.co.uk

THIS last week, I have mostly being cheating death. Not once, but twice.

Not a very exciting kind of death that makes the news if it happens. When I lived in Londonshire, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I used to read The Times. Not because I’m posh or enjoyed wrestling with newspaper pages the size of bedsheets, but because I loved reading the weird and wonderful wee News In Brief snippets down the side of the pages, and the obituaries.

It was here that I learned of the man who died after falling off the wooden bicycle he had made (obituary), and how his grieving widow had spoken out after unkind and, she said, untrue allegations circulated that the bicycle had woodworm (News In Brief).

And not the oddball type of death meted out in movies, the vampire ‘death by stereo’ from The Lost Boys or Vizzini’s poisoning in The Princess Bride.

My brush with death was far more pedestrian, literally, as I was walking about in the garden at the time. The gales of last week which reached their peak early morning, hit Shoogly Towers hard. A bench upturned, a rose arch fell and the bird table blew over.

I know, I know, it’s hardly comparable to the damage done by the Great Storm of 1987. To set the scene, we have a lot of trees. Although we are only in about an acre, I had to count the trees for the estate agent’s particulars, and stopped at 250 decent-sized ones. That’s medium to very large, specimen trees, and not counting large shrubs and bushes. We have all sizes from hawthorn to Scots pine, and everything in between – larch, birch, beech, oak, Douglas fir, yew, and ash... lots of trees.

As the storm still gusted, I took the Young Master and Young Mistress out to the school bus and then came back up the drive to have a word with Gamford about the twigs strewn across the road by our swaying trees, put on my wellies and stepped back outside to see that a fairly large rowan tree had decided to lie down across the drive.

‘Oh, cripes’, I exclaimed, or words similar to that. It had, however, had the good grace to fall short of the workshop and the whirlygig, and miss a holly bush and a rather nice conifer, but had it happened a few minutes earlier it might have redesigned me.

As part of the clean-up, I then went into the chook run to find all the chooks miserably sheltering behind the coops, not daring to venture out for fear of being blown into next week, and their water drinkers full of leaves and debris.

Not long after this I noticed another tree had gone, part of a beech tree which was struck by lightning a few years back and had to have its damaged top removed. If it had fallen forwards and to the left, it would have flattened both the chook shed and the turkey shed, and flattened some of the occupants sheltering there. If it had fallen ever so slightly backwards, it would have flattened the fence for about 30 feet or so. Perhaps more worryingly (for me), had it fallen straight forwards, I would have been squashed, like Victor Mature under the temple pillars.

But, like the rowan, it fell most conveniently, right along the fence line, its one large branch arching over the fence and stretching out over the field behind, barely pressing on the wire. Phew.

And, even better, as any smallholder with a chainsaw knows, fallen trees are just logs-in-waiting.

Chop, chop.

Latest figures from the EU show that 20 percent of tillage in Scotland uses conservation methods and less than 20 percent of land is left bare during the winter.

The Scottish Government’s chief statistician released figures for Scotland from the EU Farm Structure Survey which show that just over 20 percent of Scottish farms have diversified, the most common way being into tourism.

Just three percent report generating renewable energy for the market but 10 percent create energy for home use.

One in eight holdings report that more than 10 percent of their turnover comes from other activities on the farm than agriculture itself.

The survey includes information on soil conservation and livestock breeding practice.

And the data is used to help monitor greenhouse gas emissions.

When questioned a Scottish Government spokesperson said no Scottish Borders breakdown was available because of the nature of the study.

About a third of holdings kept all their land in general crop rotation

But less than 10 per cent of manure and slurry was incorporated straight away, which would be beneficial for the environment and crop-growth, said officials

Of holdings that bred cattle or sheep, less than 15 per cent used the best available genetic information, such as Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs).

Fifty-three per cent of ewes were mated using a home-bred ram, with one per cent artificially inseminated.

About half of the cows were mated using a brought-in bull, but with 18 per cent mated using artificial insemination.

Concerning farm ownership, 90 per cent of farms are run on a day-to-day basis by the occupier or a member of their family, with just four per cent owned by companies or institutions.

The independent statisticians also stated that four 31 percent of those managing farms in Scotland are aged over 65, with a further 27 per cent aged 55 or over. Just three per cent are under 35, 15 percent are female, and one in six had completed at least two years of agricultural training.

Meanwhile Borders MSP John Lamont last month welcomed a report from an independent Rural Commission set up by the Scottish Conservatives a year ago to look into all aspects of rural life and make recommendations to the Scottish Government.

Among the suggestions are more investment in broadband, further support for tourism in rural areas and consideration of introducing coastal and marine National Parks.

Rural policy should be progressive rather than stagnant, localised rather than centralised, cooperative rather than competitive, reliant on independent rather than public funding with enabling rather than punitive policies, says the document.

It notes: “Present levels of public spending are unsustainable in the long run.

“This applies to all levels of the public sector – local authority, Scottish Government, United Kingdom Government and the European Union.”

In it also are recommendations to reject the Absolute Right to Buy, phase out short limited duration and limited duration tenancies and introduce freedom of contract tenancies, to ‘recognise and address the long term challenges arising from CAP subsidy dependency”, change the Forestry Commission to a Land Use Commission and increase support for forestry.

Mr Lamont said, while not all recommendations will be adopted as party policy: “When it comes to important issues such as access to broadband, areas such as ours often lose out, and I am delighted that the report has looked into ways that this situation can improve.

“Along with suggestions to improve tourism in the region, and create coastal National Parks, this report has suggestions that could really benefit the Borders.”

BERWICKSHIRE farmer Chris Walton represented Scottish organic farmers when he attended the European Commission’s launch of the United Nations’ (UN) ‘International Year of Family Farming’ in Brussels last week.

First launched in New York at the end of last month, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said the initiative aims to raise the profile of family and smallholder farming by focusing world attention on its role in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment, and achieving sustainable development, in particular in rural areas.

One of around 500 delegates, Chris, of award-winning Peelham organic farm, Foulden, said: “The United Nations and European Commission now realise that the farming family spirit gives resilience to this most essential of world industries particularly during this time of weather extremes and economic upheaval.

“It was gratifying to witness the acknowledgement of the value of the family on farms and in particular those families which supply food direct to local communities”.

Peelham, with an on-farm organic butchery and seven employees, was Highly Commended award in RSPB’s Nature of Farming Award earlier this year and is a former Future Farmer Award (2009).

Chris is on the Farmer and Grower Board of the Soil Association and the invitation came from the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements.