HGCA is searching for growers with an appetite for innovation, who are looking for ways to boost their business performance. The levy-funded agency announced last week that it needs additional Arable Monitor Farms in Scotland.

HGCA and Potato Council are looking to recruit two cereals and oilseeds growers, ideally with potatoes in the rotation, to host the next phase of the HGCA monitor farm programme in the Fife, Easter Ross and Moray Coast areas. HGCA announced in March that it had secured more funding for monitor farms in the country through the Scottish Government's Rural Development Programme.

The new projects are set to begin in October this year, and follow on from previous work with monitor farms in Aberdeenshire and the Borders, which are now entering into the final stage of their three-year term.

The Authority outlined the benefits of the monitor farm scheme, which it said is "farmer-led, dealing with real on-farm issues to drive improvements in technical performance, profit and long term sustainability."

Host farms benefit from the services of a facilitator, offering advice and guidance, as well as support from an 'Arable Business Group' made up of local growers. HGCA said monitor farms also benefit from access to professionals in the wider industry, including agri-trade and agronomy, which boost their success.  

The farms host open days, specialist talks, blogs and the press, which provide social and business opportunities.

One current HGCA monitor farmer Andrew Booth, who farms 300ha in Aberdeenshire, said that, as a result of the support and extra input, "As a Monitor Farmer, you will gain 10 years-worth of advice for your business in three years."

HGCA Regional Manager for Scotland, Gavin Dick, added, "Increasingly volatile prices and changing weather patterns means farmers must be able to react at short notice and to do this, they need to have up to date information and ideas. There is no better vehicle for this than a group of like-minded farmers sharing ideas and trying out new methods, as well as forging links with the wider supply chain."

Upon receiving a funding boost from the Scottish Government in March, AHDB Chief Executive Tom Taylor said the renewed funding was confirmation of the success previous monitor farm schemes have encountered. He commented, "Monitor farms work because they use the farm environment to bring farmers and the industry together to look at ways of developing farm business improvements over the longer term. This can provide the key to achieving production efficiencies, raising overall farm performance and boosting both profitability and sustainability.

"There is clearly a broader value to the monitor farm, in the way it shares knowledge, advice and innovation for the benefit of the local farming community and the wider industry."