Specialist Advice

Specialist Advice topics

Funding is available for two topics from the following list:

Animal Welfare – making it easier for businesses to meet regulation requirements, provide the best quality of life for their livestock and improve work-life balance for livestock farmers and crofters. This can cover feeding plans, breeding plans, new animal housing plans and more.

Archaeological and historic site advice – advice on sensitive management of productive land or surrounding habitats, in line with legal requirements.

Biodiversity, habitat and landscape management – guiding businesses to improve their ecological status and journey towards sustainable and resilient systems. This can include species and habitats surveys, habitat creation, and restoration and management.

Carbon audit action plan – follow-up support for businesses who have received a carbon audit and need further advice and support to implement their action plan.

Climate change adaptation and mitigation – guidance for businesses wanting to reduce their climate impact and adapt to Scotland’s changing weather patterns and climate. This can cover energy use efficiency, renewable energy production, and land management for drought or flooding.

Crofter’s plan – a thorough and impartial business review by an experienced crofting adviser, resulting in a flexible, tailored advice plan. A crofter’s plan may cover the following elements:

• Environmental sustainability, opportunities, and risks.
• Business finances.
• Identification of strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for the crofting business.
• Croft legislative status.

Farm Business Efficiency – improve the efficiency of your business with professional analysis of finances, areas of development, grassland management and soil health, labour, machinery and vehicles, capital, assets and liabilities, diversification options, external sources of finance/funding and more.

Organics – guidance on best practice and accessing the organic market, including organic conversion plans and business efficiency for organic production.

Resilience planning – a popular choice for businesses looking to increase their financial resilience to threats, changes in the market or personal circumstances.  This can include financial analysis, output/profit/margin analysis, business risks and opportunities.

Soil and nutrient management – essential advice for businesses looking to increase their resilience by improve the quality and health of their soil. This can cover stocking planning, fertiliser planning and soil testing.

Succession planning – benefit from expert guidance through one of the hardest stages of running a business, to give you the confidence to change your lifestyle knowing your business is in safe hands. This can include advice on the financial position of the business, its viability, retirement options, successors, legal considerations and tax implications.

Water pollution prevention and control – advice on maintaining and improving water quality on your land and in the surrounding area. This can include hydro-geological survey, wetland creation and management, watercourse buffering, and species and habitat survey and advice.

Woodland management and conservation – professional guidance on the maintenance and creation of woodland, and the best ways to fund and monetise it. This includes woodland management, thinning plans, productivity assessments, woodland creation, species and habitat surveys, management plans and funding guidance.