Hugh McClymont

Hugh McClymont describes himself as a guardian of the countryside. He has a lifelong passion for educating children, who he sees as the consumers of tomorrow, about dairy farming and the importance of buying local produce. Hugh is the Farm Manager at the Scottish Agricultural College’s Crichton Royal Farm, a 310 hectare dairy farm set in the Dumfries countryside, where he has lived and worked for the past thirty years. Hugh is also a member of LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), an organisation which promotes environmentally responsible farming, and the organisation behind Open Farm Sunday which is held on the 13th June.

As a LEAF farmer, Hugh is committed to producing good food with care for the environment. Hugh encourages biodiversity on the farm with a wide range of measures. He estimates, for example, that there are 2.5 kilometers of water margins, eight kilometers of hedgerow and five hectares of species-rich farmland, that together, provide an undisturbed home for animals, butterflies, frogs and birds such as Tree Sparrows and Yellowhammers. Hugh also plants 20 hardwood trees a year on the farm.

Crichton Royal Farm is home to 485 Holstein Friesian Cows and 240 dairy youngstock, which as a herd produce on average over four and half million litres of milk a year, and Hugh also grows maize and wheat as feed for the cows.

There is also a one and a half mile farm walk at Crichton Royal Farm that includes information boards to educate visitors of the many ways that modern farming practices conserve the environment. This is just one of the educational activities that Hugh is involved in; he also welcomes school trips to the farm and regularly visits schools to talk to the children about dairy farming. He even has a life-size model cow so children and adults alike can try their hand at milking! Many people say that Hugh should have been a teacher, but he says his role as a farmer is perfect as it allows him to perform a variety of roles that he is devoted to from educator and producer to environmentalist and businessman.

For a great day out and to find out more about how your food is produced and the countryside around you cared for, visit Hugh at Crichton Royal Farm on the 13th June for Open Farm Sunday 2010.

For more information visit www.farmsunday.org and for up-to-date campaign information, follow us on Twitter – www.twitter.com/openfarmsunday

To arrange a visit to Crichton Royal Farm or an interview with Hugh contact:
Naomi Barry or Amanda Wadlow
Open Farm Sunday Press Office    
T: 01189 475956 M : 07920 098498  
E: naomi.barry@ceres-pr.co.uk / amanda.wadlow@ceres-pr.co.uk