Crofting

A new free online platform has launched to help more people make use of smart farming technologies.

The Smart Farming Platform has been launched by the Horizon 2020 thematic network Smart AKIS.

The Scottish Farm Land Trust (SFLT), in collaboration with Nourish Scotland, is undertaking a survey to find out who is looking for farmland in Scotland and what they want for it.

Their aim is to increase access to land for ecological agriculture, and they want to build SFLT as an organisation led by small-scale farmers, growers and new entrants.

An invitation to tender for the provision of an Innovation Support Service for the agricultural, food and drink, and forestry sectors has been published by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Rural Network Support Unit at Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Economy in the Scottish Government is looking for a provider to set up and run an Innovation Support Service.

A two-week extension to the application window for the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) has been announced by Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing.

Applications can now be submitted until midnight on Tuesday 2 May 2017.

Previously published deadlines for Slurry Storage and Improving Public Access funding remain the same.

Information and presentations from a recent European workshop on data sharing are now available online.

The European Innovation Partnership on Agriculture and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI) workshop on 'Data Sharing: ensuring a fair sharing of digitisation benefits in agriculture' took place in Bratislava, Slovakia on 4-5 April 2017.

Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing has outlined the future of the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS).

The Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) is part of the £1.3 billion Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) 2014-2020. It provides essential income support to farming businesses in remote and constrained rural areas.

In this article, the Open Farm Sunday team at LEAF tell us why it's important for farmers to get involved and about support available to help you open your farm gates for this annual event.

The need for farmers to get public support for the vital work they do has never been more critical and LEAF Open Farm Sunday provides the ideal platform to do just this. Join hundreds of farmers across Britain and take part in the farming industry’s annual open day on Sunday 11June 2017.

In this event report, Chief Executive of the Scottish Crofting Federation Patrick Krause tells us about their Annual Gathering 2017.

Around 90 delegates, the vast majority crofters travelling from Highland, Skye, Shetland, Lewis, Grimsay, and the Uists gathered in the remote township of Applecross from Friday 10 March to Saturday 11 March 2017. They were there to hear talks and to discuss what is important for crofting in the upcoming Brexit negotiations.

The European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI) is looking for your ideas for new Focus Groups.

EIP-AGRI provides support to projects which show innovation in linking research with farming or forestry practices. Each year at least five new Focus Groups start working on a range of themes.