College to bring research farms under one management
ByNancy Nicolson
SRUC Kirkton and Auchtertyre research farms at Crianlarich.
Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) has announced it is bringing its six research farms under one management in order to maximise academic activity and commercial research.
The farms, near Aberdeen, Crianlarich, Ayr, Dumfries, and at two sites near Edinburgh, extend to almost 11,000 acres and exist as bases for research, education and knowledge transfer in dairy, arable, beef, upland sheep systems, pig and poultry farming.
They will be overseen from April 2020 by new farm-partnership co-ordinator George Baikie, who currently manages SAC Consulting’s regional offices. Mr Baikie will oversee the use of the farms to support outdoor teaching and academic research, and he will develop partnerships with farmers across Scotland to expand the use of partner farms for both research and the teaching of students.
SRUC says the new role is “part of its journey towards becoming a 21st-Century enterprise university at the heart of the rural economy”.
“We want to grow our impact through partnerships and by focusing on what we do best,” said the SRUC director of commercialisation and innovation Colin MacEwan.
College to bring research farms under one management
