Crofting

Farmer-led groups have recommended the Whole Farm Plan to support farmers and crofters in taking a holistic view of their businesses.

By establishing your current performance and activities, farmers and crofters can identify opportunities for improvement and work towards greater productivity and profitability, positioning their business to contribute to meeting Scotland’s climate and nature targets.

Well-known farmer-comedian Jim Smith and popular local musicians, Peter Morrison and Seamus MacLennan, will take to the stage on Skye this December, for an unforgettable night of music and laughter.

The event - aimed at Skye farmers and crofters – is the first of a planned island #KeepTalking tour this winter in partnership with Scottish agricultural support charity RSABI. 

A new Crop Innovation Centre (CIC) was officially opened last week (25 October). 

The Farm Advisory Service (FAS) has received a strong uptake in Carbon Audits.

To allow the service to manage this high demand, and the Scottish Government to adjust available resources, new applications for FAS Carbon Audits were paused on 23 September 2024. Existing applications will be processed and honoured as usual.

A 45-strong cohort have begun their studies, with Sheila Voas, Scotland’s Chief Veterinary Officer, among those to congratulate the group as the Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) School of Veterinary Medicine opened its doors in Aberdeen.

A new survey has been launched to find out from farmers, crofters and land managers what their preferences are for developing natural capital projects in group settings.

There are increased opportunities available to farmers and landowners to access nature markets, both individually and by coming together to deliver natural capital projects at the scale required to attract funding.

A new booklet to support farmers, crofters and land managers address soil errosion has been published.     

The Scottish Agritourism Conference 2024 will take place at Perth Concert Hall on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th November 2024.

The conference is an annual celebration of the agritourism sector, open to anyone with an interest in growing agritourism in Scotland including Scottish Agritourism members, farmers considering agritourism, economic development agencies, destination marketing organisations, local and national government representatives, suppliers to the sector and sector supporters.

Building on its success since the FAS launch in 2016, SAC Consulting, part of SRUC, has secured a contract to extend the service until 2027.

The need to provide this support to Scotland's agriculture sector has never been greater as evolving demands for sustainability create significant change, opportunities, and uncertainty for farmers and crofters. 

Farmstrong Scotland have launched a survey to get a broader picture of the effects that the farming and crofting sectors are having on wellbeing, and the ways people deal with these.

They have partnered with Scotinform - a Scottish independent market researcher - to carry out this research.