Will Priest, Farm and Estate Student

Part of my studies at Harper Adams University I am required to do a 12-month placement, in a bit of a last-minute decision I decided to come up for the Balcaskie placement tour. Shortly after I was offered the job, it wasn’t a tough decision to accept the offer. Looking back now, I’m very glad I accepted. I Arrived at Balcaskie in June 2025 at the Bowhouse market weekend ready to start work on the Monday morning, my first couple of days consisted of being shown around the estate and how to do the daily cattle mob moves, after a couple days of training me and Darcy and a lot of map reading we were left to it.

With a bit of fast learning (learning from mistakes) we soon realised how quick and easy it is to look after and move the cattle daily.

Throughout the year my role on the estate has varied from day to day and week to week, from weaning piglets to picking stock for the butchery, my role has been heavily livestock based. With only a few consistent roles, including moving/ checking cattle and sheep mobs and working as part of the livestock team.

Over the year there has been several highlights that have stuck out for me, these consist of the good and the bad…

Breaking the bulls for Fife and Highland show has definitely been a highlight, admittedly there were ups and downs to this being my first time halter training cattle, it was a bit of an experience, but after lots of efforts and being pinned up against the gate by Endgame the bull, he finally decided he like me and we managed to get round the ring at Fife show, even coming away with a rosette and some money, that I quickly spent in the bar.

There have been many other highlights over the year, far too many to mention them all, I have really enjoyed working with the cattle and the sheep, specifically regular weighing, bolusing, catching the tups when they were in with the ewes and working with the Te Pari sheep handler. Working with the pigs was, interesting. With certain pigs definitely outsmarting us a few times, with a highlight being when we finally caught a specific pig for the butchery. After several months of failure, we had to come up with new plan, with camouflage war paint on our cheeks and carefully hidden around the forklift, we unsuspiciously approached the pigs to feed them managing to just catch her off guard, this might not seem like much of a highlight, but at the time it was very much a highlight to the week.

Facing different challenges across the year has been frustrating at times, including dealing with frozen pipes and livestock issues such as breaking out and causing more work, but very beneficial in the long run, with me feeling more confident with all aspects concerning livestock general practises within the agricultural industry, allowing me to be able to pay more attention to detail and reduce time and work.

Another highlight for my time at Balcaskie is the area, I have absolutely loved living in the East Neuk of Fife, so much so, my new dog is now named Neuk!

As my time comes to an end at Balcaskie I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone at Balcaskie especially Sam for the opportunities he’s given me throughout the year and Cammy and Ewan for being brilliant to work under and alongside, Thank you!