The Rural Roundup – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome back to the Rural Round-up. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. On today’s episode, Farm Advisors Tiffany, George and Robert give us the latest agricultural updates from around Scotland, and are then joined by Professor Steven Thomson, Professor of Agricultural Economics and Policy at SRUC to discuss the latest policy updates, including EFA, Calving Intervals and more. 

FAS Resources 

Stock Talk | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) 

Other Resources  

SRUC | Rural Policy Centre 

W9 Calving Intervals in Scotland's Cattle Population: Conditionality Options - New Rural Support Scheme development - evidence: outputs summary - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) 

Scottish-Suckler-Beef-Support-Scheme-FAQ-June-2024-v2.pdf 

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: advice@fas.scot

Welcome back to the Rural Round-up. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. On today’s episode, Farm Advisors Tiffany Stephenson from St Boswells, George Chalmers from Turriff and Robert Ramsay from Ayr, give us the latest agricultural updates from the Borders, N. East and S. West of Scotland, and are later joined by Iain Boyd, a senior Environmental Consultant to talk about Climate Week and what opportunities it brings to Crofters and Farmers in Scotland.  

FAS Resources 

Climate Change resources for farmers from Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)

Other Resources  

Climate Week | Net Zero Nation 

Take Action | Net Zero Nation  

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: advice@fas.scot

Welcome back to the Rural Round-up hosted by me, Kerry Hammond. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. This episode is part of a spotlight mini-series titled Trees of the Gaelic World. This episode is all about Birch and will explore the Gaelic language and lore surrounding the species with scholar Dr Mìcheal Newton, and advice from Viv Halcrow from The Woodland Trust on the best conditions for the species, and how to manage or establish Birch on our land in the current day. You can find three more episodes in this series on the Rural Roundup Podcast, we also cover, Yew, Oak and Scot’s Pine.  

Dr Mìcheal Newton was awarded a Ph.D. in Celtic Studies from the University of Edinburgh in 1998 for his dissertation The Tree in Scottish Gaelic Literature and Tradition.  

Music Credit: 

Our sincere thanks go to composer David Bertrand for providing the folk music interludes in this episode. https://www.davidbertrandmusic.com/ 

Resources  

Tree Planting Advice - Plant Trees - Woodland Trust 

Michael S Newton - Academia.edu  

Home (hiddenglenfolk.org)http://woodlandcrofts.org/?page_id=552    

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/publications/2023/01/trees-for-the-crofting-community/ 

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Celebrating-Birch-by-Greg-Wright/9781565233072 

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Birch-by-Anna-Lewington/9781789140118 

 For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: advice@fas.scot 

Welcome back to the Rural Round-up hosted by me, Kerry Hammond. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. George Chalmers and Tiffany Stephenson discuss, in detail, all the things we need to focus on for Spring, including the Single Application Form (IACS), the Agri-Environment Scheme (AECS), and advice pertinent to calving, lambing, cropping and grass for Spring.  

FAS Resources 

Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) | Information helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) 

CropCast - Spring Fertiliser Applications | Information helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) 

Other Resources  

Basic Payment Scheme (ruralpayments.org) 

Preparing for Sustainable Farming (PSF) (ruralpayments.org) 

Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (ruralpayments.org) 

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: advice@fas.scot

Welcome back to the Rural Round-up hosted by me, Kerry Hammond. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. This episode was recorded on Tuesday 20th Feb 2024 and all information considered correct to this date. On today’s episode Robert, Tiffany and George are joined by Professor Steven Thomson from SRUC’s Rural Policy Centre. They discuss the potential future landscape of funding, common grazings & small holders, policy and pressures around GHG emissions, and value chain need for reduced emissions and increased biodiversity. Discussion touches on the next generation of farmers, and how policy can encourage young people into the industry.  

Other Resources  

Agricultural Reform Route Map (ruralpayments.org) 

Agricultural Reform What will Future Support Look Like?  (ruralpayments.org) 

Preparing for Sustainable Farming (PSF) (ruralpayments.org) 

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: advice@fas.scot 

Welcome back to the Rural Round-up hosted by me, Kerry Hammond. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. On today’s episode I’m joined by George Chalmers as he fills me in on the headlines from the inaugural FAS Connect Conference. Remember for PSF options completed in 2023, the claim window runs from 1st March 2023 to 29th February 2024. 

FAS Resources 

FAS Connect | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service

FAS Connect Conference | Events helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service

Other Resources  

Preparing for Sustainable Farming (PSF) (ruralpayments.org) 

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: advice@fas.scot 

Welcome back to the Rural Round-up hosted by me, Kerry Hammond. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. On today’s episode Robert, Tiffany and George discuss the impact of the recent wave of bad weather across Scotland. Whether managing flooded soils or staying safe around fallen trees it’s all worth taking a moment to consider best practice and the current advice out there.  

FAS Resources 

Forestry Information Note: Forestry Update – Felling Permission and Windblown Trees | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) 

Mitigating Extreme Rainfall: October 2023 Flooding | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) 

Other Resources  

The Forestry (Exemptions) (Scotland) Regulations 2019 (legislation.gov.uk) 

Scottish Forestry - Felling permission for wind blow 

Guide to Natural Flood Management (farmingandwaterscotland.org) 

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: advice@fas.scot 

Welcome back to the Rural Round-up hosted by me, Kerry Hammond. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. On today’s episode George & Robert think about what Rabbie Burns would have to say about Farming today. They reflect on the similarities, and the massive changes that agriculture has seen since the Poet was working a plough.  

We are also joined by Phil Knott a crofter from Skye, the Vice-Chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network and facilitator of two farmers networks. Phil also discusses the value of looking back to a traditional way of farming, not for conservation, but to ensure that farmers are getting the best out of their land and their enterprises. He tells us about his own crofting innovations and brings us news of a network of Crofters in Caithness and Sutherland, crofting in a nature friendly way.  

FAS Resources 

FAS Connect | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service 

FAS Connect Conference Tickets, Wed 31 Jan 2024 at 10:00 | Eventbrite 

Other Resources  

Agroecology: strengthening livelihoods - Nourish Scotland 

NFFN Scotland launches new crofting group for Sutherland and Caithness | Nature Friendly Farming Network, NFFN 

BBC - Robert Burns - The Ploughman 

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: advice@fas.scot 

Welcome back to the Rural Round-up hosted by me, Kerry Hammond. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. On today’s episode George, Robert & Tiffany discuss collaboration and partnerships, looking at examples like The Scottish Pig Producers, and investigating how technology could facilitate collaboration. We are also joined by Tara Wight from The Landworker’s Alliance discussing their work in bringing people together, and the benefit of Farmer’s networks.  

FAS Resources 

Cooperation & Collaboration Resources (fas.scot) 

Other Resources  

Landworkers' Alliance Homepage (landworkersalliance.org.uk) 

SCOTTISH PIG PRODUCERS - Home (scottishpigs.coop) 

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: advice@fas.scot 

Welcome back to the Rural Round-up hosted by me, Kerry Hammond. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. On today’s episode George, Robert & Tiffany chat about the run up to Christmas, how the public get interested in farms, farming, and local food at this time of year, and how we could make more of this for the rest of the year.  

FAS Resources 

Positive PR | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) 

Positive PR Infographic | Information helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) 

fas.scot/downloads/creating-a-social-media-campaign-fact-sheet/ 

Women in Agriculture Conference | Events helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) 

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: advice@fas.scot