Crofting

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.

Four Agriculture Champions have been appointed by the Scottish Government.

The Agriculture Champions will help develop an Agriculture Strategy to guide the long-term sustainable future for Scottish agriculture.

The four Agriculture Champions are:

The deadline for applications to the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund (KTIF) is Thursday 2 February 2017.

KTIF is designed to support projects that increase farmers’ skills and knowledge by delivering training, coaching, courses and farm visits, and by supporting on-the-ground improvements in competitiveness, efficiency and sustainability.

A €2 million European Union (EU) project to increase lamb survival rates, funded under Horizon 2020, has been announced.

Scottish farmers and researchers will work with people in Spain, Romania, Italy, France, Ireland  and Turkey to reduce lamb deaths.

Between 2 to 6 million lambs in the UK die every year before they are three days old.[1] 

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! 

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