Scotland’s farmers are set to benefit from nine new Monitor Farms, thanks to a collaborative project between Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds.

This is the first such project of its kind, where two levy bodies, with support from The Moredun Foundation, have come together to tackle issues facing farmers and land owners at a whole-farm level.

There will be nine new monitor farms across Scotland, all based at farm businesses typical to their location. Each of the nine farms will have a different focus determined by the predominant farming in that area; however, the farms will work together to bring all relevant aspects of farm businesses to each group.

This whole farm approach, while still maintaining sector specialisms, will help Scottish farmers to make real developments in changing farm business management practices, resulting in improved agricultural efficiency, environmental management and mitigating climate change.

Gavin Dick, AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds Scotland Manager said:

“The Monitor Farm is a tried and tested vehicle for bringing farmers and rural businesses together to share their knowledge and experience in pursuit of technical and business improvement. This new approach, where three organisations have come together to tackle issues facing farmers and land owners at a whole-farm level will help evolve the Monitor Farm programme to better meet the changing needs of the industry. By facilitating this type of combined venture we can focus on integrating production efficiency and making best use of the skills and resources that already exist.

“This whole farm approach, whilst still maintaining sector specialisms, will help Scottish farmers to make real developments in changing farm business management practices. There is a growing need to create more resilient business models to allow farmers to be profitable in the current volatile environment and bringing together arable, beef and sheep producers in one co-ordinated programme will help open up much needed opportunities for the next generation.”

Douglas Bell, Head of Industry Development at Quality Meat Scotland, said:

“QMS has been at the heart of Scotland’s Monitor Farm programme since the concept was introduced into Scotland in 2003. The blend of farmer to farmer learning, augmented by expert input, has successfully facilitated knowledge transfer and sharing of best practice within the farming sector.

“Previous programmes have taken a sectoral approach, but in order to address the challenges currently facing farmers, this initiative will focus on improving whole business management and profitability. While maximising returns at enterprise level will remain integral, the relationships between different enterprises will be explored at a business, technical and environmental level.

“Each of the nine new monitor farms will have its own dedicated management team and an associated business group that will evaluate solutions and best practice before sharing its findings, both with the wider community groups and more generally, through various media channels including a dedicated website.”

Each monitor farm will be run for three complete livestock cycles or cropping years, holding 18 facilitated meetings across the period and be linked between meetings through social and traditional media.

There will be a focus on introducing innovative ideas from industry, research and technology into the project for the benefit of participating farmers, emphasising production efficiency, environmental management and climate change.

Along with looking at business management skills, a key element of this project is to cultivate an awareness of the need to, and benefit from, protecting and enhancing the environment beyond compliance with Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) regulations.

While each host Monitor Farm will require different levels of input, the focus will include farmland birds, pollinators, natural predators and water quality.
With nine new monitor farms, QMS and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds, supported by The Moredun Foundation, aim to help build a strong knowledge and skills-based industry focused on creating and maintaining resilient farm businesses.

The announcement of the new Monitor Farm programme comes on the back of ScotGov approval for £1.2m in funding through its Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund (KTIF).