Learning and skills

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

Ullapool: Practical Lambing Course

Practical Lambing

A one day course covering:
Ewe management, lambing presentations, Outdoor and Indoor lambing systems,
care of the ewe and the lamb, ailments and diseases, basic veterinary treatments.

Local Course Director: Gwen Jensen
Tutor: Alistair McNab

Contact: training@crofting.org to book your place!

Dingwall: Backyard Poultry Keeping Course

Backyard Chicken Keeping

A one day course covering:
egg laying, meat production, housing, feeding, health & welfare, and behaviour.

Local Course Director: Gwen Jensen
Tutors: Jane Menzies & Beth Kendal

Contact training@crofting.org to book your place!

Lewis: Trees for the Croft

A practical outdoor day with a short introductory indoor session. Suitable for potential contractors and hands-on planters.
All you need to know about:
Planting design and know-how.
Ground preparation.
Planting technique.
Protection and aftercare.

Tea, coffee, soup and sandwiches provided.
Please bring a spade, a strong bag or bucket, a lump hammer
and gloves. And come prepared for the weather!

Local Course Director: Viv Halcrow

Contact training@crofting.org to book your place!

Argyll: Croft Woodland Workshop

Croft Woodland Workshop

A one-day course delivered by Woodland Manager Gordon Gray-Stephens including a short in-door session followed by a site visit to local woods.  The course will cover a variety of topics including woodland establishment, managing trees for timber, adding value to trees and timber,
managing woods for shelter and stock, grants and licences, tree health and managing invasive species. 

Tutor: Gordon Gray-Stephens

Contact training@crofting.org to book your place.
ADVANCE BOOKING ESSENTIAL

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."

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.

A free conference in Dingwall aims to give farmers and crofters an unprecedented, practical insight into getting the most from their grassland.

The 'Grass Matters' conference is being held by Soil Association Scotland on Friday 2 December. The event is a chance to hear from grassland management experts from across the UK.

Topics to be discussed inlcude:

New entrants to farming are being offered a free one-to-one mentoring service as part of the new Farm Advisory Service, which launched earlier this year.

The mentoring programme pairs new starters in farming or crofting with experienced farmers to share expertise in farm and business management to help overcome the financial and technical challenges of setting up a farm or croft.

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