Managing the Land
Balnagown Estate is a 39,000 acre Highland estate spread across Easter Ross and Sutherland.
The core estate is located on the east coast between the traditional towns of Alness and Tain. It stretches right across the country to within three miles of the west coast, taking in the majestic Ben More Assynt, the highest peak in Sutherland.
Farming practices at Balnagown
Our Agricultural Land
Balnagown comprises an arable operation covering 500 acres (240)ha, growing predominantly spring barley, winter wheat, oilseed rape, as well as 60 acres managed for potatoes on the fertile grade 2-3.2 land surrounding the core estate. In addition to this the estate runs a beef cattle herd composed of Murray Grey and cross bred cattle, and has roughly 750 acres of grazing land either utilised in-hand or rented out on annual lets. It also has over 3000 acres of land let to long-term agricultural tenants.
Woodland throughout the Estate
Balnagown Forestry
Balnagown Estate has over 5,000 acres of woodland spread across the estate, including semi-natural pine forests, ancient woodlands, and commercial soft wood plantations. Within the core estate we manage our woodlands using a ‘Continuous Cover policy’. This calls for a sensitive management style using thinning and small-scale coupe-felling techniques. The aim is to rely on natural regeneration to fill in the gaps and create a mixed age structure. The result is that Balnagown Woodlands have been noted for their lichens and mosses and many rare examples have been found. Every year we aim to increase our forest cover and in the last ten years have planted over 700 acres of new woodland. We plan to increase this woodland cover by a further 2,000 acres over the next five years.
Balnagown’s Aim
At Balnagown our policy is to manage our land so that we can both improve the environment as well as make a commercial return. Ongoing works include installing owls boxes, building wild bee hives, woodland grazing, creating wildflower meadows and butterfly habitats. Our aim is to create a living estate that benefits local communities and the environment, whilst being economically sustainable.
Balnagown’s Land
