Sustainable Systems

Starting Up In Business

Having made the decision to start your own farming business, there are a number of factors to consider before trading begins. This article will take you through three of the…

Bats and Biodiversity

If you are out on the farm around dusk or dawn during the summer months, you might spot bats fluttering through the sky, when little else is active but you…

Profiting from Reduced Tillage – Minimum Tillage at St-Martins

Mark McCallum farms at St-Martins on the Black Isle. The farm is an arable unit extending to 220 ha of owned and rented land. Cropping is predominantly Spring Barley at…

ABN April 2024 – Management Matters: Retirement Planning

Thinking about your future Many farmers quite rightly concentrate on the ‘here and now’ of their businesses, but how often is there thought given to life after the farm? There’s…

Holistic Management: Part 3 – Holistic Context

This is the third of a four-part series exploring holistic grassland management. The other articles in this series cover an introduction to Holistic Management, the Holistic Decision Making Framework, and…

Water Scarcity Case Study: Alternative watering of livestock

Background Following an AECS application in 2016 to fence off watercourses from grazing livestock, combined with a move to outwintering of cattle, Whitriggs Farm had an increased demand on their…

Holistic Management: Part 2 – Holistic Decision Making Framework

This is the second of a four-part series exploring holistic grassland management. The other articles in this series cover an introduction to Holistic Management, the Holistic Decision Making Framework, Holistic…

Holistic Management: Part 1 – Introduction

This is the first of a four-part series exploring Holistic Management. In this article we take a look at the development of Holistic Grazing Management. The other articles in this…

How Should Suckler Cow Herds Prepare For Changes To Support?

Changes to Scottish Sucker Beef Support Scheme As part of the Scottish Agricultural Reform programme the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS, also known as the “calf scheme”) will continue…

Natural Capital – Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS)

Are you looking for funding for projects to promote conservation and tackle climate change? In this episode of Natural Capital we discuss Scotland’s Agri-Environment and Climate Scheme (AECS). AECS is…

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