Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Monitor Farms summer meetings scheduled for next month

The meetings will feature a range of discussions and expert speakers.

Calum, Malcolm and Sammie Smith leaning against a stone wall.
Calum, Malcolm and Sammie Smith will welcome visitors to Auchernack on Thursday June 8.

Next month will see open meetings at the three north area monitor farms in Aberdeenshire and Strathspey.

The meetings will feature a range of speakers and topics, with the farming families updating visitors on their progress since starting the programme and discussing what changes can be made to improve farm profitability and sustainability.

On Friday June 2 from 2pm to 5.30pm, visitors will be able to view and discuss low input grassland management at the Banff and Buchan Monitor Farm run by Bruce Irvine.

Bruce and family farm 265 hectares with cereals, sheep and cattle, and believes the three enterprises are as important as each other, with livestock providing fertility for the arable side.

Tim Geraghty from SRUC will be there to discuss breeding stock, alongside Alison Taylor from Buchan Vets, discussing bull health and Adrian James of AHDB on mechanical weed control and cover crops.

Malcolm Smith and family from Auchernack Farm, Grantown-on-Spey, will welcome visitors on Thursday June 8 from 5pm to 8.3opm.

Situated in the Strathspey Valley, the 325 hectare unit is home to 140 suckler cows and 120 store cattle.

The family will discuss nutrient management, while Jane Thomson from Shearwell will talk about cattle EID and handling, and Nikki Yoxall, Pasture for Life, will speak about how to improve biodiversity on an upland farm.

Following the meeting, visitors are invited to take part in a stockjudging competition, with entry fees going to RHET.

When and where is the first Monitor Farms meeting?

The Deeside Monitor Farm, run by Duncan and Claire Morrison, will host its open meeting on Saturday June 17 from 2pm at Upper Ingliston Farm, Inverurie.

Visitors will be able to discuss the benefits of mixed species swards and the purpose of grass measurement with grassland specialist, farmer and podcaster Michael Blanche.

Duncan will speak about breeding stock selection, while James Hardie from Agrisolutions will talk about the challenges and benefits of choosing and establishing a brassica crop.

Rachael Robertson from Woodside Vets will focus on making the right bull choice.

In total, the Morrisons farm 226 hectares, running 220 suckler cows of which 120 are owned alongside the 100 Stabilisers which are leased.

For all meetings, visitors are asked to come with clean cars, footwear and clothing for biosecurity reasons, and to car share wherever possible to help with limited parking.

For more information, visit The Monitor Farms website, or contact regional adviser Peter Beattie at pbeattie@qmscotland.co.uk or call 07769 366614.