More than 75 farmers attended day of discussions and practical demonstrations at United Auctions in Stirling to find out what farm management software and technology is right for their farming business.
Helpful information from our key note speakers Matt Blyth and Ross Robertson are in this event report.
During previous, recent dry summers, Sauchentree has dried up. Coastal winds add to drought issues around the critical lambing period.
Lack of grass can lead to thin ewes, resulting in increased instances of prolapses and twin lamb disease.
This report, by Poppy Frater, SAC’s Sheep and Grassland Specialist looks at ways to enhance Sauchentree’s resilience against varying climate conditions. Poppy reckons this can be achieved by optimising grass use and incorporating a diverse range of crops.
The Smith family are aware of the expertise in livestock ventilation of Jamie Robertson,
LMS design, and invited him to their rented farm ,Congash, near Grantown on Spey, to
assess the steading and make recommendations with the help of the Monitor Farm Management Group.
There’s a daunting challenge to farmers,
including those the North-East of Scotland
where new exciting ideas on managing
livestock emerge weekly.
However, over the last year, the Monitor
Farm Programme at Bruce Irvine’s
Sauchentree Farm, near Fraserburgh, has
focused on small gradual changes to farm
practices, which are relatively easy to adopt.
Matt Blyth meet David Andrew via Zoom to support with farm software choice and integration with existing tech on farm.
The South Ayrshire Management Group visited Tom Shearlaw to see his dry dairy cows wintering on fodder beet on 7 February 2024.
Scotland Office Minister John Lamont has been visiting parts of South West Scotland looking at how digital innovation funded by more than £21 million of UK Government investment is helping to grow the rural economy.
Minister Lamont took a tour of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) Barony Campus near Dumfries to understand how the cash boost from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is supporting the milk industry by bolstering the Digital Dairy Chain.
He also called in at nearby Barnbackle Farm, part of the Monitor Farm Scotland Initiative, and one of nine farms involved in a four-year programme to improve sector productivity, profitability and sustainability.
Minister Lamont said:
“The UK Government is proud to support the United Kingdom’s £127billion food and farming sector as we recognise that British farmers produce some of the highest-quality food in the world and contribute billions to our economy.
“Driving forward new farming schemes like the Digital Dairy Value Chain is exactly where we need to be to ensure the sector remains profitable and sustainable. It’s vital as we build on the commitment to keep producing 60 per cent of the food we consume here in the UK.”
Investment from UKRI’s Strength in Place Fund has been ploughed into SRUC to examine how dairy farmers can best capitalise on the 1.9billion litres of milk produced in the area. The Digital Dairy Value Chain will provide world-class opportunities for research and business innovation in advanced, sustainable, high-value dairy processing.
The five-year project will deliver advanced manufacturing processes to help businesses to develop new products and explore new markets. It’s hoped to create more than 600 new jobs while contributing £60million to the local economy by attracting large dairy processors, boosting industry-focussed research.
Minister Lamont added: “This UK Government investment will really put the area on the world map as a leader in advanced, sustainable, and digitally-connected dairy manufacturing.
“It will offer farmers, processors and producers in the dairy supply chain a valuable resource for support, business development and industry expertise to take the sector from strength to strength and increase the opportunity for growth.”
Professor Wayne Powell, Principal and Chief Executive of Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) said: “We were delighted to welcome Mr Lamont to tell him more about the innovative work of the Digital Dairy Chain. Led by SRUC, this hugely exciting project is an excellent example of an innovation cluster, focused on developing digital connectivity, stimulating research, new high-value product development, supporting business growth and attracting talent and skills across South & West Scotland and Cumbria.
“We will soon open the second round of the collaborative R&D funding competition with a pot of £1 million, which is an outstanding opportunity for industry and academia to unite and continue to transform the dairy sector.”
At the Dumfries Monitor Farm Barnbackle, Minister Lamont heard from the Currie family who run the 500-acre site. With 150 suckler cows, 20 store cattle, and 700 ewes, the family face challenges common to many farmers, including rising feed prices. Looking at solutions including rotational grazing is something the Monitor Farm Programme will support.
Beth Alexander, Monitor Farm Scotland Programme Manager said: “We were delighted to welcome Minister Lamont to the Dumfriesshire Monitor Farm and showcase the work we are doing on one of the nine farms in the programme with rotational grazing, sheep management strategies, and upcoming projects like the 2024 lambing initiative in collaboration with the local vet practice.
“The Monitor Farm programme is farmer-led, farmer-driven and aims to enhance the profitability, productivity, and sustainability of Scotland’s agricultural sector. Through practical demonstrations and the exchange of best practices, we use farmer expertise to progress the industry and address challenges. This visit presents an excellent opportunity for farmers to engage directly with government and share their issues.”
ends
Farming agreements – a match made in acres. Find your match at the Roxburghshire Monitor Farm winter meeting.
As part of the Roxburghshire Monitor Farm project, the farming community is invited to a panel discussion evening, about farming agreements, being held at the Buccleuch Arms in St. Boswells on Wednesday 21st February at 7pm.
Roxburghshire Monitor Farmer, Robert Wilson will kick off the meeting with an update on his Monitor Farm journey and his business aims for 2024 and beyond. Attendees will then hear from specialists and farmers involved with various farming agreements, to find out how different options work, and what might work best for their business.
Robert said: “With changes coming to agreements over some of the land we farm, we’ve benefited from being able to discuss how best we might approach these, within our Monitor Farm management group. We’re delighted to welcome farmers to share their story about how different approaches to partnerships and agreements have been utilised. This will help others navigate change and hopefully provide thoughts on an alternative point of access to those looking to develop within the agricultural sector.”
Speakers at the event will include farmers Annabel Hamilton, Robert Playfair-Hannay, and Ali Freeland-Cook, along with the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society’s (SAOS) David Michie.
Annabel, along with her family, manages 2,700 acres (1,093ha) on the East Berwickshire coast. The business mainly operates under contract farming agreements and relies on trust with landowners, as well as robust financial decisions.
In the Borders, Robert Playfair-Hannay runs a beef, sheep, and arable enterprise in partnership with his parents. The operation covers 4,300 acres (1,740ha), carrying 400 head of Aberdeen Angus, Angus crosses and Beef Shorthorn suckler cows, as well as 1,500 North Country Cheviot sheep and 600 acres of arable cropping. In addition, they run a 750 acre (304ha) arable unit in Fife, which also houses bed and breakfast pigs. There are two full time employees and three to four seasonal staff.
Farmer, Ali Freeland-Cook, oversees six farms with various contract farming agreements and 5,200 lambing ewes plus 450 lambing ewe hoggs. Around 1,200 ewes lamb indoors in late Feb/March, with the remainder lambing outside on various grazing systems. 140 Hereford x Salers suckler cows help to diversify the enterprise. Ali also manages a machinery contracting business, involving woodland work, road building for harvest traffic, drainage, shed preparation, and silage contracting as well as grass and fodder crop establishment.
SAOS Co-op Development Manager, David Michie helps to develop co-op businesses, and supports farmers with knowledge transfer.
Jack Frater, a member of the Monitor Farm management group at Cowbog in Roxburghshire and Agricultural Consultant at Edwin Thompson, will chair the panel meeting. Jack is involved with all aspects of farm and estate management, including overseeing in-hand farming operations, management and administration of contract farming agreements, financial planning, and subsidy claim submissions. Jack grew up on the family farm near Alnwick in Northumberland and has a wealth of practical livestock and arable farming knowledge and experience.
Monitor Farm Regional Advisor, Maura Wilson said: “This is a brilliant opportunity for the farming community to join. It will be great to hear from speakers with such experience and I encourage farmers to attend and to get involved and ask as many questions as you can.”
POSTPONED
The Strathspey Monitor Farm meeting planned for Wednesday, 21st February at Auchernack Farm, on body condition scoring,
has been POSTPONED, due to unforeseen circumstances.
It’s been rescheduled for Wednesday 18th September, 2024
We hope to see you then.
If you’ve any questions, please call or email.
Kind regards, Peter Beattie
North Regional Adviser
07769 366614
South Ayrshire Monitor Farm OPEN Meeting
Rowanston Farm, Crosshill, KA19 7PY
10am – 2pm
Free to attend and includes lunch at the Carrick Centre
ALL WELCOME!
·How do you manage and minimize sheep lameness on your farm – Marion McMillan (BVMS CertAVP(Sheep) MRCVS) SRUC·Feeding root crops – view finishing hoggs on swedes with an overview by Gavin Stewart (Agrii)·Benefits of electronic weighing cattle on farm – demo by Alison Fergus of Datamars ·To farm well, you need to live well – Farmstrong Scotland