AP Innes Mellendean

A P Innes were appointed to contract farm 110Ha for Roxburghe Estates in 2018.  The land had previously been split into three separate farming units let on individual short duration farm leases.
The Estates decision to pursue a CFA (Contract Farming Agreement) was triggered after the short duration tenancies ended and the estate took the farm back in hand.
The farm lies to the east of Kelso and is productive sandy silt loam, silty clay loam and clay loam soils stretching south from the banks of the river tweed.
The CFA was the first arable partnership entered into by Roxburghe Estates and is managed externally by Andersons Northern.

A P Innes deliver a full contract farming agreement service aligned with the aims of Roxburghe Estates including:

  • All cultivations, sowing, rolling, fertiliser & spray applications, agronomy and harvesting
  • Input buying and produce sales in line with pre-agreed annual budgets
  • All drying and storage of farm produce
  • Strategic business and rotation planning
  • Ongoing improvement of the farm infrastructure and soil aligned with our clients aims
  • The farm was previously farmed in three separate units which provided rotation and management challenges bringing the unit together into a sustainable rotation
  • A deep focus on weed management and agronomy has delivered low annual agri-chemical spend
  • With the support of the farmer (Roxburghe Estates), A P Innes have been able to bring additional value to the farm with the upgrading of farm tracks, fertiliser storage and field gates & fencing
  • Consistent levels of top quartile performance achieved for the farmer since contract inception
  • Productive and efficient working relationship formed with the Estate team and business advisors
  • Focus on soil health and building of organic matter with implementation of straw-for-muck deals with trusted farming partners
  • Support and willingness of Roxburghe Estates to invest in longer term initiatives has enabled long term soil health strategies to be implemented
  • The mutual success of the partnership has been recognised with a recent extension of the CFA