Meet the Consultant - Cara Campbell
I’m Cara, a Senior Consultant and Area Manager at SAC Consulting in the Campbeltown office where I started in January 2020. We cover the Kintyre peninsula, Isle of Gigha and Mid-Argyll area, supporting 130 clients with a variety of farm types from dairy farms to hill sheep farms. I grew up on a beef and sheep farm in Mid-Argyll, where we have 120 suckler cows and 350 breeding ewes with all calves and lambs being sold as stores. Growing up, I had always considered the veterinarian route as a career choice, however, in my final year of school, I decided to go to the University of Dundee to study a BSc (Hons) in Zoology where I covered a variety of animals from cows to turtles with a summer spent in Greece collecting data on turtle breeding.
Following graduation, I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to complete a Master of Research in Livestock Nutrition at the University of Nottingham which involved two studies being completed on commercial sheep farms. The first study investigated cobalt supplementation over tupping time through to scanning. It was during this year that I gained my love for lambing following three weeks collecting data for my second study on protein nutrition in pregnant ewes whilst lambing 2,000 ewes. I returned to the same farm as a break from cow studies in future years whilst I was completing my PhD at Harper Adams University. My PhD was a move away from beef and sheep into the world of dairy cows, where I focussed on improving the utilisation of forage legumes in rations to reduce the use of imported protein sources. On completion of my PhD, I did a couple of years lecturing and mentoring agricultural students at University Centre of Reaseheath in Cheshire before deciding in 2019 that it was time to come home to Scotland and settle closer to the farm.
In my role at SAC Consulting, my day-to-day is varied with supporting clients with farm business management, grant applications and delivery of the Farm Advisory Service programme (FAS) through meetings and article writing. My area of expertise is livestock nutrition, supporting the beef, sheep and dairy clients of the Campbeltown office and across the South West of Scotland with ration formulations. As we head towards autumn, I will spend time supporting our beef clients to plan winter rations and then come spring, I will move into rations for pregnant ewes. A key part of my role is supporting consultants across Scotland by attending farmer meetings to cover nutrition-based topics. Since 2020, I have been a producer and topic lead for FAS TV topic, within the Farm Advisory Services (FAS) programme which is delivered on behalf of the Scottish Government. I was involved in the creation of FAS TV which is now in its fifth season sharing farmer and crofter stories from across Scotland. When I started at SAC Consulting, I never imagined I would be involved in producing 30 episodes of a TV series each year allowing inspirational stories to be shared.
Outside of work, I will normally be found at the farm helping with the day-to-day jobs. In 2022, I established my pedigree Blue Texel flock which has gradually grown to 12 ewes going to the tup this autumn with the aim of producing commercial tups. Since establishment, a proportion of the commercial ewes on the farm now go to my home-grown Blue Texel tups. When I’m not on the farm, I can be found taking my red labrador for walks, spending time with my two young nephews or spending time in my second home, Shropshire, normally talking agriculture!
Dr Cara Campbell, Area Manager and Senior Consultant, Cara.Campbell@sac.co.uk
Unearthed is the exclusive SAC Consulting members' monthly newsletter. Unearthed offers insights and tips from our experts on what we think is in store for farming and crofting in the coming months in order to protect and enhance your business.
Posted by Unearthed News on 14/10/2025
