Our Priorities

In addition to its huge woodlands, Altyre manages over 4,000 acres of moorland.
At present, 2,000 acres are farmed for arable and beef production, producing malting barley for local distilleries and premium quality Aberdeen Angus beef.

Woodland Diversification
A field at Altyre

A Holistic Approach

2019 has seen the Estate embark on a long-term holistic approach to what it manages and how it conserves land, soils, environment, habitats and wildlife.

This starts with the way we farm, how the margins are managed and even how the ‘narrows’ and corners are used. This conversion process is intended to wean us off man made additives i.e. no fertiliser, no spraying and no ploughing.

It's Heady Stuff!

An exciting new challenge for us.  It’s about recognising that organic matter is the ‘new king’ and this will be increased by helping the soil to regenerate itself by using cash crops, catch crops, fallow land and green manure in a rotation with cattle and sheep deployed to ‘mob graze’ what we grow. As we experiment, introduce, test and evaluate what we do we also hope to develop sufficient impetus and interest to explore with one of our regional institutions of higher education whether there is scope for establishing and funding a degree course in Sustainable Farming at Altyre.

This would add a new string to our ambitions to embed further Altyre as a regional beacon for rural based innovation and enterprise. If you would like to explore this please contact us at office@altyre.com