The Marshalls have been growing berries in Alyth, Perthshire for four generations. Peter Marshall's grandfather, a banker started growing raspberries in 1942 in his back garden.
He later bought Newton of Balhary followed by Muirton farm, after the second world war, then he added a third in 1991 followed the fourth in 2013. The Marshalls now farm 1300 acres. The main focus is on soft fruit and cherries, with some potatoes and arable crops.
These days the farm is run by Peter's son Rowan and his wife Jennifer.
"Everything has changed so much in the Strathmore Valley, years ago it was filled with small raspberry growers and most, if not all of the fruit was either picked as pulp or canned in Blairgowrie there was a small amount picked fresh then shipped down to London by train," explains Jennifer Marshall. "Through the 90s most of the raspberries were picked by machine for processing."
Throughout the 60's and 70's not much went to the fresh market; it was only in the 80's that some farmers started to put fruit into punnets. Back then the season only lasted six weeks, now it stretches over six months.
Peter was quite the entrepreneur and diversified from raspberries to growing strawberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, red currents and cherries. Rowan and Jennifer took charge around six years ago, but Peter is still very involved in the business.
Investment and automation
"We were one of the founding members of producer organisation Angus Growers, it consists of 17 members and it works well. Before Brexit money from the EU was used to fund investment in the sector. The scheme will hopefully be supported by the Scottish government but there has not yet been any commitment to support it past 2025 as yet. The PO is essential to help growers invest. It has been a few very tough years for growers, but major investment is needed to fund innovation and automation, and we can only hope this will be supported by the Scottish Government moving forward. The Fruit sector in Scotland is worth millions of pounds and every grower is proud to produce brilliant fruit that is sold throughout UK."
According to Jennifer the Scottish government appears to be supportive but haven't committed to the next few years as yet. "It is important that Scottish soft fruit continues, the sector is a major employer and the workers all pay tax and National Insurance. Thousands of people are employed across Scotland."
"Times have been hard with increases of the minimum wage and overhead costs that all farmers have been hit with – the key with the soft fruit sector is supermarkets understanding the production costs and how they have changed over time. It's important that we work collaboratively with supermarkets."
Raspberries
"Many raspberry growers have stopped growing over the last few years, leading to a lack of supply in the UK. This is due to high labour costs – Raspberries have a higher labour cost compared to cherries or raspberries. This year there have consistently been Moroccan rasps on the shelves as there is not enough UK supply.
"We are now going back to raspberries, thanks to a fantastic new AVA Monet variety from Angus Soft Fruit. We have big hopes for this one, lower picking costs, big berries and smooth canes. We have 25-30 acres going in this year which is a big financial commitment, but we have been extremely impressed by Monet and hope Scotland can lead the way in production.
"We have a great climate here in the Strathmore valley for raspberry production and hopefully the 40 plus years of growing raspberries in this area gives us a head start!"
Cherries
"We have been growing cherries on our farm for 14 years and learned a lot along the way and we are still learning! cherries is the one fruit we have always felt that suppliers want more and more of…there are only 3 commercial growers in Scotland and Scottish cherries are usually later than English supply, our production fills a gap where world production is low apart from Scotland."
Growing cherries requires big investment and faith – it takes at least 3 or 4 years after planting to see a return. Scottish Cherries are fantastic and 60% of the Marshall's production is classed as a 'King Cherry' so 30-32mm in size.
"We have a mixture or varieties ranging from Kordia to Sweetheart, our season starts in Mid July and usually finishes at the end of August. We sell a large amount throughout Scotland but also supply national retailers such as Asda and Marks and Spencer. At the moment we produce between 75-78 tonnes. We are aiming for 120 tonnes in three years, and 200 tonnes in 5 years. We still need to learn more about post-harvest treatment and invest in sorting, cooling and storage equipment.
"Our yield this year has been challenged due to the cold spring and lack of sun (similar to most crops across the UK), however we still produced ¾ of our crop prediction, which is not bad, although we are hoping next year will be a bumper year volume wise. There are also great opportunities for export, we are ambitious, but we want to get it right. It takes time, work and investment to produce excellent quality cherries that can be shipped all over the world."
Blackcurrants
"We grow blackcurrants for Ribena, around 350 tonnes, we are one of only four suppliers in Scotland. Moving forward we will concentrate on raspberries and cherries as the labour profiles work, giving a longer season for the pickers."
For more information:
Jennifer Marshall
Peter Marshall Farms
[email protected]
petermarshallfarms.com