Overton Farm 'beefs' up its service

William Young's family have farmed the fields of Clydesdale for centuries.

But, as proprietor of the Clyde Valley's Overton Farm, he's seen many changes taking place in farming over the years and he himself has had to diversify to ensure his business continues for future generations.

He said: "I purchased Overton Farm from the Duke of Hamilton 35 years ago and, at the moment, we farm 600 acres. It's very much a family business and we breed beef cattle. We usually have around 100 suckling cows at any one time. They calf every year producing up to 200 calves. We don't buy the animals in, but breed them ourselves and we can trace each animal's lineage way back. That's important to us because we know that we are giving our customers the best quality beef."

The farm's main outlets are beef distributers Scotbeef and Marks & Spencer.

Said William: "Both companies have very strict quality controls which means we have to ensure the cattle are fed in a certain way and are kept in the best conditions. All our cattle are grass or silage fed and we also grow our own grain for feeding our livestock."

Small Business Gateway Hamilton, working with South Lanarkshire Council Company Development team, put together a project that secured grant funding from South Lanarkshire Business Fund. This means they will be able to butcher their beef on site.

William said: "We have premises in Carluke and we have a butcher come in and butcher the meat for us. However, as the business grows, it's impractical for us to have the meat butchered so far away from the farm. That's why we decided to create our own butcher's premises on site. What we aim to do is have a full-time and two part-time butchers working from the new premises. It saves a lot of time."

The Youngs also grow potatoes and vegetables which they sell in their farm shop.

Another outlet is the Hamilton Farmers' Market, where they have regualr customers who come back time and again for their produce.

In additon to this, the Youngs also hold a highly successful car boot sale every Sunday from spring to autum and have opened part of the shop as a small cafe specifically for car boot salers and their customers. It sells the type of food car boot salers are looking for, namely hot rolls, teas and coffees.

William said: "The Government is always shouting about farmers diversifying and that's what we've done. We decided to open a farm shop and it's been really successful. Not only do we sell our own beef and vegetables, but we buy in fruit and other produce such as jams and pickles from local producers. We also have a good market for our fresh farm eggs.

"We also run a car boot sale and have opened part of the shop as a cafe. We are confident it will go down well with car booters and thier customers!"

Foot and Mouth Disease

Like all farmers, William Young are watching developments of this outbreak, of which there have been no cases in South Lanarkshire.

Explains William Young: "Luckily we carry out all our operations on site and don't have to move animals. Therefore we have not been affected."

South Lanarkshire Council have mobilised enormous resources across its services to help tackle the outbreak and implement contingency plans and with parnter organisations it is busy preparing organisations, it is busy preparing to help businesses recorver from the outbreak.

For information and advice contact:

Small Business Gateway
Tel. 0845 6096611

South Lanarkshire Council
Richard Montague
Tel. 01698 453201

Lanarkshire Valuation Joint Board
Tel. 01698 453000

Business South Lanarkshire - Spring 2001

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