In keeping with our Platinum Jubilee celebrations we take a glimpse of organic farming on the Balmoral Estate which covers approximately 18,500 hectares. 3,000 Hectares are afforested and 222 hectares are arable or pasture, with 100 Highland Cattle, and The Queen’s Highland, Fell and Haflinger ponies.
Balmoral is a working Highland estate where deer stalking, grouse shooting, forestry and farming are the main land uses working in an environmentally sustainable system. This is backed up by external assessment through the Green Tourism Business Scheme, internal staff meetings to discuss the environmental issues of the day, controlling energy usage, the generation of a green hydro power to supply the Castle and Estate, the re-cycling of waste and the upgrading of private water supply systems.
Visitors to the Estate are educated on the importance of nature conservation, the management techniques employed by the estate and how the visitor can reduce and take responsibility for their own impact on the environment. This is carried out by the Balmoral Ranger Service who also attend schools to inform pupils of the wildlife and the flora and fauna on the Estate. The Ranger Service monitors and assesses the habitats of many rare and protected species at Balmoral.
The gardens and grounds at Balmoral are part organic, creating their own mulch thus reducing the need for pesticides and herbicides.
Balmoral invests substantially in the management of the red deer herd to guarantee that numbers are sustained to a manageable level which protects the varied habitat for other species. Through its membership of Wild Scotland the Estate has shown its commitment to ensuring that the activities it undertakes in the landscape do not destroy the very resource which people have come to enjoy. Purchase are made locally and the use of local suppliers is encouraged.