Why a Scottish national curler competitor on cusp of Olympics turned to farming life
Swapping one challenge for another but feeling better for it.
A young, talented curler with eyes on the Olympics has spoken about her decision to step back from the elite competition for life working on the land.
Beth Farmer, 25, grew up on a farm in Kinross, about 30 miles north of Edinburgh.
She was out lambing when her call-up came in 2022 for the Scottish national curling team. Due to positive covid tests by more established players, within 24 hours, Ms Farmer landed in Canada for the World Women’s Curling Championships.
“It was a really exciting time,” she said.
“I used to go to the local rink with my cousins as I was growing up and then started competing and getting picked for extra coaching.”
But balancing sport at the highest level while on the pathway to the global games next year with working on a farm was a tough juggling act, she said.
“I think the general public probably has no idea the kind of pressure athletes at that level are under,” Ms Farmer said.
“Working within farming it was so difficult to keep other job options going alongside.
“Coaches kept encouraging us to keep up with careers remotely -jumping on a laptop between training sessions - but you can’t really do that when you are a shepherd.
“We were training five days a week during the day and that just couldn’t work with the farming lifestyle. Farming’s a job that you are either all in, or all out. You can’t just be dipping your toe in when there is livestock involved.”
Although it was a tough decision, Ms Farmer said initially returning to shepherding full-time was without a doubt the right move for her.
“It was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders,” she said.
“I still keep up with friends that curl at elite level but leaving that world behind has opened up all sorts of new opportunities and I am so much happier.”
Ms Farmer has now switched to working full-time at Parks of Aldie Farm in Kinross.
The young farmer said throwing herself into the young farmers’ club movement has helped plug the gap left by the competitive sport.
She is current chairperson of Kinross Junior Agriculture Club and was runner-up in last year’s 2024 Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs (SAYFC) Young Farmer of the Year competition.
Her club has named Farmstrong Scotland as its chosen cause for the year, a peer-to-peer led programme to help farmers, crofters and their families to cope with the ups and downs of farming and crofting.
The organisation’s focus on physical, mental, and social wellbeing is something Ms Farmer said she is keen to promote.
Farmstrong Scotland is also promoted by farmer and well-being campaigner Nicola Wordie.
Based near Huntly, in Aberdeenshire, the young farmer uses her social media accounts @farmher, with almost 25,000 followers, to show the realities of every day farming life on the 1,400 acre farm.
Ms Wordie, 26, recently lost her mother unexpectedly, an anchor in the family-run farm business, and shares the challenges of managing grief and challenges of farming life while looking after her 240 suckler cows and 1,000 breeding sheep.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.