Giles Henry of Oakwood Mill Farm, Selkirk, Selkirkshire

Giles took over the tenancy of Oakwood Mill Farm in 1996 following stints on several other Scottish farms and ten years running a grain drying and storage business. Its 260 acres of upland ground and 270 acres of hill ground are home to 30 pedigree Luing cows, a sheep flock of 350 Lairg type Cheviot ewes and 4000 laying hens which are reared in an on-farm unit from day olds. Giles grows cereals for use on the farm and there’s a small self-service area selling local organic eggs, veg and honey.

• Can you give a short history of how you got to where you are now, including why and when you ‘went organic’?
  I was born and schooled in Somerset. Ever since I can remember all I ever wanted to do was work on a farm. My family were not farmers. I left school and left home when I was 16 and came to Scotland to work on a farm as a ‘mud student’. I did my National Certificate in Agriculture at Oatridge College and then worked for 4 years on several farms in the Scottish Borders. In 1978 I was asked to manage a large grain drying and storage business which was being built in Berwickshire. I did this for 10 years, in which time we handled over 1 million tonnes of grain and I rose to post of Managing Director with a staff of 25. In 1987 I took the tenancy of a 300 acre farm near to the Carter Bar on the border with England. This was an all sheep unit where I kept 750 ewes, all housed in winter. The farm was very steep and it was here that I learnt how to grow grass with the use of clover. In 1995 Oakwood Mill came up for let on The Duke of Buccleuch’s Bowhill Estate. I was lucky enough to get the tenancy and moved here in May 1996. I had always thought about going organic and when things started to get difficult and on-farm prices slumped, I looked more seriously at the opportunities that organic farming would give to us. I could see that in time we would get a good premium for our produce and also it gave me a new focus and incentive to make the job right. We didn’t have the acres to put on a lot of stock so we had to get the best possible price for what we produced. We started organic conversion in 1999 and really have not looked back. Prior to Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in 2001 I had had various part-time jobs off the farm to supplement my income. These of course ended with the onset of FMD. That summer I looked for an enterprise that would give me the income of a part-time job but on the farm. This is when I looked at egg production. In February 2002 we put on our first poultry unit and added a second unit in July 2004 . I took on a school leaver to help me at this time. We also employ two students to collect the eggs at weekends.

• Can you describe a typical day in your life?
  Rise at 7am and have breakfast. Usually I will let the dogs out and feed our meat chickens before James (our worker) starts at 8am. Once I have discussed things with him, I will go and let the hens out and feed the birds in the rearing shed while James looks at the stock. Once the eggs are collected, I box seconds and small eggs for farmgate sales. I will try and check the post and my emails at this time and do any necessary phoning. Depending on the time of year, James and I will get on with the various tasks of a busy livestock farm. It ranges from bedding and feeding to fencing and property repairs, stock jobs and fieldwork. I shut the hens in at dusk and feed the dogs. This varies from 4.30pm in winter to 11pm in summer.

• Who are your customers and where are they?
  I sell to both local customers in Selkirk and supermarkets like Waitrose and Sainsbury’s. Our sheep flock consists of 350 Lairg type Cheviot ewes. Any surplus ewe lambs are sold as gimmers for breeding. Lambs are all finished and either sold direct to the consumer or marketed through Caledonian Organics. We have 4000 laying hens which supply eggs to Waitrose as well as ever increasing farmgate sales. We produce around 50 meat chickens a month, which are processed on site through a small killing, plucking and processing unit.

• Organic principles – why do they matter?
  We have to be seen to be producing a product to a rigorously enforced standard so our customers can buy with confidence.

• What does the Soil Association mean to you?
  An organisation that promotes, legislates, polices and lobbies on behalf of its members so as to safeguard the integrity of the organic movement.

• What is your greatest achievement?
  Bringing up three children of whom I am very proud.

• How do you plan to progress in the future? What is your vision?
  I have to develop my business so that I am gaining the best possible return for the product I am producing. This means developing means which enable me to sell direct to the consumer as much as possible. I want to reduce the food miles of my produce and entice people to buy my produce because it is local, of the highest quality and organic.

• If you were starting all over again, what would you do differently?
  I would start with 30 acres and three poultry units that would pay themselves off in four years. Then I would expand with the profit that the business makes. Instead I started the hard way as I borrowed all the money to get myself set up in farming and therefore I pay two rents, one to my landlord and one to the bank.

• What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
  Have time for everybody.

• Who or what’s your biggest inspiration?
  My wife and family.

• What is the key to your success? What do you love most about what you do?
  Enthusiasm, determination and courage.

• What do you love most about what you do?
  I am ‘living the dream’.

• What keeps you awake at night?
  Not a lot, with the hours I put in!

• What single thing would most improve your life?
  Getting rid of the overdraft.

• What do you find most frustrating about what you do?
  Red tape and bureaucracy.

• How can the organic market be improved?
  As with all agriculture, we need to be more proactive at getting the good messages of our industry across to the public.

• How can we get more people to buy organic?
  Get the supermarkets to reduce their mark up.

• What’s the main benefit of being organic for you?
  Having a renewed focus and producing food that is safe to eat.

• What other organic ventures do you admire and why?
  Anyone who sells at a farmers’ market. The last place I would want to be on a Saturday afternoon is getting cold in a town square somewhere. I can do that any day of the week at my back door.

• Supermarkets – good or bad?
  85% of the population shop there – so we’ve got get our produce into them.

• What is the biggest threat to what you do?
  The bank pulling the plug!

• What’s the best thing about organic farms?
  The wildlife and bio-diversity on the farm; farming the natural way; the public like what we do.

• What’s the best thing about organic food?
  It’s safe from chemicals and also tastes better.

• What is your favourite meal?
  Organic steak with roast potatoes and mixed veg.

• If I was Prime Minister I would…
  Try and return some pride to the younger generation, both in their surroundings and for their fellow man.

• The world would be a better place if…
  Everyone was honest with each other.

• I’d like to be remembered for…
  Being Giles Henry.

• When were you happiest?
  Yesterday, today, tomorrow.

• What is your greatest fear?
  Anything bad happening to my family.

• What is your favourite word?
  Winning.

• What would be your ‘Desert Island’ luxury?
  A fridge with an endless supply of Magners!

• Is the customer always right?
  Most of the time!