The Scottish Government yesterday awarded more than £1million to create a new monitor farms programme.
Farm Minister Richard Lochhead unveiled details of the recipients of the £2million Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund (KTIF), which aims to fund projects which will promote skills development, knowledge transfer and deliver “on-the-ground improvement to the farming sector in Scotland”.
The biggest funding allocation of £1.25million was given to Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds to establish nine innovative monitor farms across Scotland.
The other recipients are: SAC Commercial to improve lamb survival and farm profitability; the Scotland’s co-operative umbrella group SAOS to pilot an innovative and interactive farm-focused lean management approach; AHDB Potatoes to develop a Strategic Potato Farm for Scotland; and Wholesome Pigs Scotland Ltd to develop innovative uses for emerging technologies to improve pig production efficiency.
“This significant funding will help Scotland take advantage of its strong performance in research and development, and make sure that the learning from here and elsewhere can be transferred to on-the-ground improvements in agriculture, ensuring the flow of information and best practice farming into the community, where it can make a real difference to profits,” said Mr Lochhead.
QMS head of industry development Douglas Bell said the new monitor farms programme would build on the success of the initial programme which launched in 2003.
He said: “Previous programmes have taken a sectoral approach, but in order to address the challenges currently facing farmers, this new joint initiative between AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds and QMS 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 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.”