Crofting

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.

You can now enter the Nature of Scotland Awards 2017 in nine categories including the Food and Farming Award and Marine Conservation Award.

These annual awards recognise and celebrate excellence, innovation and outstanding achievement in Scottish nature conservation.

The award categories are:

Do you know an inspirational young farmer who has a real passion for the countryside and deserves reognition?

Countryfile's resident farmer Adam Henson is looking for nominations for Countryfile's Young Farmer Award 2017. If you know a young farmer who stands out because of their determination, character or sheer hard work, why not put them forward for the award?

A forestry apprentice from Dumfries took home the top prize at Lantra Scotland's fifteenth Land-based and Aquaculture Learner of the Year Awards.

You can apply now to take part in the two-day EIP-AGRI seminar ‘Digital Innovation Hubs: mainstreaming digital agriculture’.

The seminar is organised by the European Commission and will take place on 1-2 June 2017 in Kilkenny, Ireland.

AECS and Pains – Getting to Grips with Agri-Environment Schemes

Are you trying to get to grips with the Agri-Environment and Climate Scheme (AECS), or wondering how managing your land differently could impact production?

This practical event will look at ‘win-win’ situations, where agri-environmental management can benefit both wildlife and production, e.g. field margins increasing the number of insects, which pollinate plants or compete with pests, thereby boosting yield.

You will also spend time exploring some of the practicalities and challenges associated with applying for and managing land under an AECS scheme.

The Agri-Environment and Climate Scheme (AECS) has opened for applications today (30 January 2017).

AECS is part of the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP). The AECS scheme promotes land management practices which protect and enhance Scotland’s magnificent natural heritage, improve water quality, manage flood risk and mitigate and adapt to climate change. It will also help to improve public access and preserve historic sites.

A new agricultural EIP-AGRI Focus Group on benchmarking draws attention to the benefits and makes a number of recommendations for improvements.

Benchmarking is finding out how you are doing compared to other similar businesses and using this information to improve. For farmers this can include comparing data on feed costs, herd health, crop yields and so on.

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