Farming

A limited number of free Farm Woodland Assessments are being offered across the Central Scotland Green Network area.

The Central Scotland Green Network (CSGN) Trust are offering the assessments on behalf of Forestry Commission Scotland to help farms and estates identify opportunities for new and existing woodland to support their farm businesses.

Are you planning on doing any agri-environmental management in 2017?

This could be part of an Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) scheme, a greening measure, or just a desire to do something different. Want to know if your management makes a difference? Soil Association Scotland can help you find out! 

Soil Health: how to revolutionise your farm’s profitability

A practical, informative meeting with James Bretherton, AgScope, on why soil health is crucial for optimum production of crops and livestock, how you can influence soil health to provide higher yields and healthier stock, looking at and beyond the chemical and the physical. Providing answers to your soil related questions.

Booking is required. For further information please call on Lyn 07899 791748 or email lwhite@soilassociation.org

Soil Association Scotland's 'Future Farming Scotland' programme has won one of RSPB's prestigious Nature of Scotland Awards.

At the recent Nature of Scotland Awards ceremony, the 'Future Farming Scotland' programme took home the prize for the 'Food and Farming' category.

Farming Scotland Conference

A half day conference including lunch, featuring a range of speakers from different organisations, all of whom will provide their views as they relate to agriculture in Scotland.

Rob Clayton, Strategy Director (Potatoes), AHDB - Growing potatoes in an island nation.

Trudi Sharp, Deputy Director for Agriculture and Rural Development, Scottish Government - Scottish Agriculture Policy - current and future issues.

Marion MacCormick, Meat Buying Director, Aldi Stores - Local sourcing and Scottish consumer expectations.

Angus delegates, interested in driving forward rural skills in Angus, participated in a learning visit to Fife Rural Skills partnership recently.

It was really useful to hear how the work of the partnership has developed over the last few years and a number of new connections were made.  

One Angus delegate said:

"I was inspired by today's visit and see many opportunities for work to be developed in Angus."

The SRUC Rural Policy Centre has launched its Rural Scotland in Focus 2016 report.

The report provides a fast-track to up-to-date evidence and commentary on key topics of rural and national importance, in order to inform policy, practice and research.

Rural Scotland in Focus 2016 is the fourth report in the series, and was launched at an event in Edinburgh on 29 November attended by over 90 people.

Over 100 members from Young Farmers's Clubs across Scotland gathered for the third annual Agri and Rural Affairs Conference recently.

The 'Cultivating Excellence' event run by the Scottish Association of Young Farmers' Clubs took place from 19 to 21 November in Aberdeen.

Mike Strachan from Forestry Commission Scotland reports on the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) workshop on 'New value chains from multi-functional forests held in Vienna on 10 and 11 November 2016.

The European Innovation Partnership (EIP) aims to bridge the gap between Research and Practice in Agriculture, Food and Forestry across Europe.  I was fortunate to be invited to attend the workshop in Vienna where I helped to lead discussions on the role of Agroforestry in supporting value chains. Eighty participants from 21 countries attended.

Small dairy, livestock and mixed family farm businesses in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire can now express an interest in taking part in this year's Prince's Farm Resilience Programme.

Each year, the programme is run in 15 locations around the UK, with Ayr, Ayrshire and Lanark, Lanarkshire the Scottish locations for this year.

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