Elaine and her husband Peter Robertson run Elaine’s family farm of Ednie, based near Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.  The main enterprises include arable crops, suckler cows and forestry.  The production of renewable energy has become a very important part of the business in recent years with a number of wind turbine projects now supplying electricity into the national grid; the first constructed in 2009.  Roof mounted solar panels have been installed to provide the equivalent of the farm’s electricity requirements and a biomass boiler is used for grain drying, utilising timber grown on the farm.  Projects in development include further wind turbines and ground mounted solar.   

After a BSc in Agriculture at Aberdeen University and a PhD studying oilseed rape, Elaine worked at SAC in consultancy and research for many years, first as oilseeds specialist, then more widely considering renewables options in farming.  The Ednie Farms partnership was established by Elaine and Peter in 2001 and in 2013 Elaine came home to work full time in the farm and renewables business.