Orkney Islands Council (OIC) has spent over \u00a360,000 as it looks to revitalise a farm in St Ola.<\/p>\n
The authority is still working on proposals to develop Seatter Farm into a \u201cmodern dairy unit,\u201d though no firm investment decisions have been made.<\/p>\n
First purchased by OIC in 1990, the council confirmed that change was on the horizon at the 360-acre business, after the previous tenant left in March last year.<\/p>\n
The authority said, in May 2025, that it was working with Orkney Cheese towards the long-term aim of reinstating milk production at Seatter Farm.<\/p>\n
Since March 2025, OIC has spent \u00a361,300 on the farm, and earned an income of \u00a335,200 over the same period, as it rents out the land.<\/p>\n
There have been no updates from OIC on the project, but the authority has hired SRUC to examine the best options for the farm.<\/p>\n
The study, provided to The Orcadian following a Freedom of Information request, concludes that Seatter could make an important difference for the dairy sector.<\/p>\n
The report, dated September 2025, states that the combination of the land at Seatter and OIC offering to fund a modern dairy unit creates \u201can amazing opportunity\u201d for a new tenant.<\/p>\n
This should also strengthen the position of Orkney Creamery and the wider Orkney dairy industry, the report continues.<\/p>\n
SRUC said it would be beyond the council\u2019s plans to offer the tenancy to a new entrant to the industry, unless they have \u201csignificant capital backing\u201d from an existing farm.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, with the significant level of investment being proposed by Orkney Island Council, Seatter will offer a tremendous opportunity for an existing dairy farmer\/dairy business to \u2018trade up’\u201d the study says.<\/p>\n
The consultants expect the farm will attract a good level of interest from possible tenants across the country.<\/p>\n
Various herd sizes were considered, with SRUC finding that having between 120 and 200 cows would generate a \u201cgood level of profit\u201d while still allowing extra funding to be re-invested into the business.<\/p>\n
From the Orkney Creamery\u2019s point of view, a herd size of 175-200 was preferable to meet the shortfall in milk production in the county at the time the report was written.<\/p>\n
SRUC also looked into the possibility of an organic dairy or \u201chigh milk quality jersey dairy system\u201d but found that these wouldn\u2019t provided the necessary boost in milk output.<\/p>\n
But, if Seatter Farm became a productive dairy unit, other farms could specialise into these areas, the report adds.<\/p>\n
If the project is to work, the study says it is crucial to find a suitable tenant \u2014 one who can run the farm, and fit in within the local dairy industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, this exciting project has a crucial role to play in supporting the dairy industry in Orkney to produce a critical volume of milk to sustain the Orkney Creamery business in addition to developing a productive farm on the island,\u201d the report concludes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will also help to sustain, develop and grow the agricultural community in Orkney.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesman for OIC said the council has been carrying out improvement works on the land and buildings at Seatter Farm following the end of the previous tenancy in March 2025.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cPlans are being developed to reintroduce Seatter Farm as a modern dairy unit in order to support the dairy sector in Orkney by helping to maintain milk volumes and thereby retaining value within the local economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo decision has yet been taken on the level of investment required.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the SRUC report was written, the dairy industry has faced a difficult time, amid national reports of the price of milk falling below the cost of supplying it.<\/p>\n
The local sector has also been hit by the global oversupply of milk and dairy products, Orkney NFU chairman Stevie Hay told The Orcadian last month.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the hardest time they have faced for a long time,\u201d he added<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully it has hit a bottom and by the back end, the price will have started to rise again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orkney Islands Council (OIC) has spent over \u00a360,000 as it looks to revitalise a farm in St Ola.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60],"class_list":["post-568134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}