AgriScot Preview

Welcome to this Farming Scotland AgriScot preview

By Robert Neill, AgriScot Chairman

Robert Neill, AgriScot Chairman

A live, in-person, AgriScot event has been absent from the farming calendar since it last took place in November 2019, and I’m sure we can all agree that, even in this age of rapid industry development, the operating landscape is vastly different to what it was even three years ago. That said, and with soaring input costs impacting the bottom line of many farming businesses, new innovations to help build resilience and increase efficiency will be at the heart of discussions at this year’s AgriScot. With our impressive programme of exhibitors and seminars, we hope to support those who attend one of the UK’s premier business events with their future planning and long-term success.

Despite providing opportunities to network with industry leaders and service providers, we must not overlook the importance of those more social connections. The long-awaited return of sorely missed events this year has demonstrated just how valuable it is to get off farm and meet up with friends, neighbours and likeminded individuals, to discuss business, but also to chat about life away from work.

AgriScot would not be possible without the longstanding support of our sponsors, trade stands and business partners, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their unwavering support, even during times of disruption. Over 20 years on from the event which kick started it all, I look forward to opening the doors to Ingliston once again, and welcoming you all for a day of innovation, knowledge exchange, business and ultimately, for a celebration of our industry.

All Best Wishes. Robert Neill, AgriScot Chairman

General event information/Ticket details

AgriScot takes place on Wednesday 16th November at the Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston and runs from 9am to 5.30pm. It is located within walking distance of Edinburgh airport, and just a short distance by tram from Edinburgh City Centre and mainline rail networks. If travelling by road, car parking is free.

For those wishing to make the most of their visit to Edinburgh, a range of budget and premium hotels are located next to the venue, including a Moxy, Travelodge, Holiday Inn Express, Premier Inn, Hilton by Hampton, Hilton Doubletree and Norton House Hotel.

To find out more about AgriScot and to benefit from Fastrac entry, register for your free ticket at www.agriscot.com.

With over 230 exhibitors attending there is something to suit every business and appeal to all farming sectors at AgriScot.

AgriScot is a trade focused event, where businesses come to meet farmers face-to-face, share expertise and new product offerings, which will benefit agricultural businesses and forge important relationships for years to come.

It is one of the main business events in the UK where farmers can grasp the opportunity to meet with suppliers, hear the latest in ag tech, from health care to machinery, and take advantage of the huge range of expertise on offer - all in one place.

With rising costs impacting farm businesses across the board, this year’s event will be primarily focused on what exhibitors can offer farmers, to help cut down on costs and increase overall farm efficiency.

Farmer John MacInnes, from the Isle of Iona, has been the Trade Stands Manager at AgriScot since joining the team at Rural Projects, who deliver the event, in 2001. He explained why exhibitors are so fundamental to the success of the day.

“The exhibitors have always been the most important part of AgriScot, they have provided the financial backing to allow us to offer such a fantastic free event and the quality of trade stands we deliver year on year, is testament to the brilliant businesses we have supporting the agricultural sector.

“Since the event evolved from DairyScot to AgriScot in 2001, there has been a progression away from dairy-only focussed trade standards, to a wide range of exhibitors catering for all farming sectors.

“Ultimately our exhibitors are here to do business. They may have a new product to launch through suppliers and it is a good chance to make trade contacts as well as network with farmers. Agriculture is a people industry and people like to meet face-to-face to buy products and find out more about new technology, whatever may benefit their business.”.

It is not just about providing a strong line-up of trade stands but ensuring that there is good engagement from visitors on the day, to make the most of what is on offer. John explained that AgriScot has very high retention rates for exhibitors and the organising team strives to maintain those links year on year, but are also delighted to have some new exhibitors involved this year

“We were able to free up some space this year to accommodate 25 new exhibitors which is good as it freshens up our offering and allows us to showcase new products,” he continued. “We are hearing from exhibitors that keeping costs in check will be the big focus this year and visitors to AgriScot can expect to be offered advice and solutions to keeping costs down and driving efficiency.

“I would urge people swithering about whether to come along, to make the trip, as no matter what sector you’re in, you will discover something new and leave with learning points which will be worthwhile to your own business.”

A full list of exhibitors can be found at www.agriscot.com.

Exhibitors

The seminar programme has been designed to tackle some of the big pressures facing farming businesses, and will include sessions on agricultural policy, recruiting staff, skills and training, business resilience, dairy, arable technologies and livestock identification to name a few.

The programme will run from 9.30am to 4.30pm with presentations, talks and discussions led by The Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland, ScotEID, NFU Scotland, Scottish Dairy Hub, QMS, Soil Essentials, Agri-Epi Centre, Moredun, Brodies, RBS, SAOS and a special workshop run by the Be Your Best Self programme.

Some sessions to look forward to as follows: Business Resilience – ‘Legal and financial tools for navigating your business through economic uncertainty’ - Brodies LLP and Royal Bank of Scotland

Brodies LLP and Royal Bank of Scotland are partnering

Seminar Programme

to deliver a combined seminar offering legal and financial insight to assist you with navigating your business through the current economic challenges.

Royal Bank’s economic expert will set the scene by providing a macro perspective before focusing on the current outlook for farming businesses in Scotland. Roddy McLean, Director of Agriculture will provide insight into the measures farming businesses should be taking, and the support they can obtain in doing so.

Clive Phillips, Partner & Head of Rural Business at Brodies will then discuss the legal implications and potential opportunities that can be considered when facing such headwinds. Clive will offer a focus on farming business structures and diversification strategies that can be utilised.

Graeme Leith, Partner in Rural Business at Brodies will discuss legal aspects of participation in the green economy. ‘Future-proofing Farming’s Workforce’ - SAOS Over the next decade Scottish farming faces a number of challenges including implementing climate-friendly farming, further improving productivity, increasing the adoption of new technology and replacing an ageing workforce.

In this seminar we want to explore with the audience how the sector can adapt to futureproof our workforce including attracting and recruiting new employees into agriculture, retain the existing workforce, develop their skills to embrace new opportunities and create next generation leaders within our industry.

Interactive panel session – The Scottish Dairy Hub and Kite Consulting The Scottish Dairy Hub and Kite Consulting have joined forces, once again, to deliver an expert panel session at AgriScot, with speakers giving an insight to the short and long-term outlook, opportunities, and challenges for Scottish dairy farmers. As in previous years, there will be an opportunity for dairy farmers and stakeholders to bring along their probing questions for the panel and listen to the latest market intel.

This year’s panel includes George Burgess Director of Agriculture & Rural Economy at Scottish Government, Paul UK Agricultural Director at Arla Foods. Sarah Simpson, Farm Director, Agri-Policy Specialist, and journalist and market analyst Chris Walkland. The panel has a wealth of experience on dairy issues at domestic, national, and international levels. Their knowledge and experience surrounding issues on Scottish Agriculture, Climate Change, Market Forces, and Dairy Supply Chains will ensure an insightful debate and make this a must attend event.

Following two successful events during the pandemic, the seminars will be live streamed for anyone unable to attend the event or wishing to watch back on-demand.

AgriScot Farm of the Year award finalists

After months of deliberation and a host of impressive farms to choose from, the finalists for this year’s AgriScot awards have been announced and once again, the line-up is a fantastic showcase for the breadth of talent that spans across the country.

The 15 finalists across the Dairy, Arable, Sheep, Beef and Diversification categories were announced during a new live awards announcement that took place online on Thursday, October 6, hosted by the Scottish Farmer’s Ken Fletcher and AgriScot ‘s chairman Robert Neill.

Finalists range from the most northern point of the country in Shetland to the south in Dumfries and Galloway and the three finalists from each category will all be invited to AgriScot on the 16th of November, where the winner from each will be announced.

The AgriScot Dairy Farm of the Year award for 2022 has thrown up two finalists from Dumfries and Galloway in the form of Allan Campbell of Cally Mains Farming Ltd and Willie Fleming of Hillhead Farm, and a third contender from Peeblesshire in Colin Laird of Blyth Farm. The award, which is sponsored by Cow Alert, was last year won by Alistair Logan of Holehouse Farm.

Two Berwickshire-based farmers are in the running for AgriScot’s Arable Farm of the Year award in the form of Colin McGregor of McGregor Farms and Neil White of Greenknowe Farm, with Stuart McNicol of Castleton Farm in North Berwick making up the final three. The award is sponsored by SoilEssentials and supported by AHDB, and the current title is held by last year’s winner Bill Gray of Preston Hall farm.

The AgriScot Scottish Sheep and Beef Farm of the Year awards, sponsored by Thorntons Law LLP and supported by QMS, have delivered the furthest spread of contenders, with Aimee and Kirsty Budge of Bigton Farm on Shetland in the running for the Sheep category, joined in the final three by Calum McDiarmid of Mains of Murthly in Aberfeldy and completing the stretch south, Alan Cowen’s of Philiphaugh Farm in the Scottish Borders. Last year’s winner was Saughland Farm, run by previous farm manager Perter Eccles and flock manager Owen Gray.

In the running for AgriScot Beef Farm of the Year for 2022 are Harry Brown of Auchmaliddie Mains in Aberdeenshire, David and Ian Richardson from Upper Samieston Farm in Jedburgh and South-Ayrshire based farmer, James Young at Girvan Mains. The current title is held by Lamont and Daniel Hair of Drumbreddan Farm in Stranraer.

Completing the announcement of finalists are the three contenders for the AgriScot Diversified Farm of the Year 2022 award, which in its inaugural year in 2021, was won by Louise and Graeme Nicoll of Newton Farm Holidays. The award, which is supported by SAC Consulting, will be contested between Lucy and Robert Wilson of Wilson’s Farm Kitchen in the Scottish Borders, The Pollock

Family of Ardross Farm in Fife and Ross Neilson of What’s Fresh, in East Kilbride.

DAIRY FINALISTS Allan Campbell, Cally Mains Farming Ltd

Extending over 240ha, Cally Mains Farm, in Gatehouse of Fleet, is a family business run by Allan, Janice and Robin Campbell and together they milk 500 cows, bringing on 350 plus youngstock. All cattle, a mix of Holstein and some Jerseys, are housed indoors and milked three times a day, by a team of four full-time members of staff and three part-time milkers.

This autumn, the Campbell’s will complete building a new fresh cow shed for 145 cows with an emphasis on cow comfort. They have a strict health policy in place, with a focus on maintaining a healthy environment for cows, youngstock and calves and work closely with vets to minimise antibiotic usage. The Campbell’s run a closed herd, with a weekly veterinary visit to monitor herd fertility and monthly health monitoring by their nutritionist.

Willie Fleming, Hillhead Farm the crops grown include winter wheat, winter oilseed rape, winter barley, spring barley, spring beans and spring oats.

Through improving organic matter and workability of the soil, over the past seven years Neil has increased his direct drilling rate to 90% and has recently bought a tracked combine to assist him in looking after his soils from harvest onwards. Introducing cover crops and clover leys have been two recent cropping changes on-farm and since 2014, Neil has been using drones as part of his management to allow for crop checking, drainage maps and establishment checks to be carried out.

Neil is passionate about spreading positive messages about the role productive farming has to play in conserving Scotland’s countryside and regularly extends invitations to industry stakeholders to come on to farm and writes a regular column for the Direct Driller magazine.

Willie Fleming farms in partnership with his parents, Robert and Margaret, and has grown the dairy herd from 100 cattle, when they first moved to Hillhead 20 years ago, to a herd of 365 Holstein cows today.

Four years ago, they installed six Lely A5 robots which has led to significant improvements in milk production and overall cattle health. Their milking business is complemented by an elite genetics programme, with a focus on producing high yielding, efficient cows, who have a reduced carbon footprint. They have been using High PLI sires with the emphasis on producing progeny suited to robotic milking and with a longer lifespan.

Willie and his family are big supporters of RHET, hosting regular school visits and Willie is an active champion of the dairy sector, making videos for his social media, to educate and entertain the public about dairy.

Colin Laird, Blyth Farms

Peeblesshire-based Colin Laird runs Blythbridge Holsteins in partnership with his family, milking 540 cows daily, using 10 Lely A5 robots. The business has been built up over the past three generations and more recently saw the completion of a new dairy complex, constructed with the aim of maximising the potential of the Holstein breed.

The herd participates in weekly vet inspections to monitor fertility, and regular foot trimming, along with foot washers on the robots, has eliminated the need for antibiotics to treat lameness. This May, Blyth Farm opened its gates to the public and welcomed over 750 farming and non-farming visitors to explore the new dairy facility and to see other aspects of the farm. The family are also supporters of RHET, hosting school visits on the farm and regularly welcome international groups. ARABLE FINALISTS Colin McGregor, McGregor Farms

Colin McGregor of McGregor Farms in Berwickshire took on the daily running of the family business in 1989 at the age of 21 when the farmed area was 300ha and specialised in pre-packed potato production. Over the past 23 years his business has been approached to contract farm nearby neighbouring land and there are now 15 agreements covering a managed area of 3,445ha. The arable operation predominantly grows winter wheat and oilseed rape, but winter barley, spring barley, spring oats, spring beans, potatoes and vining peas are also grown. Every farm has an individual rotation to suit its soil type, infrastructure and location, with Colin and his team focusing on building fertility and soil health to maximise yield and reduce risk. The business is a LEAF Farm and all farms they are involved with are participants of environmental schemes. Precision Farming Technology is used extensively and there is regular soil sampling including organic matter testing and organic manures are utilised where possible.

Neil White, Greenknowe Farm

Berwickshire-based farmer Neil White of Greenknowe Farm runs an arable operation over 237ha and Stuart McNicol, Castleton Farm

Castleton Farm in North Berwick, run by Stuart McNicol, extends over 170ha, Castleton grows winter wheat, spring barley, spring beans and potatoes, with a recent addition to the operation of top fruit. Stuart and his family planted 1950 fruit trees this year, with plans to integrate the trees into the farm overtime for wholesale, juicing and cider.

Improving soil and future crop health is a top priority, prompting the introduction of cover crops as part of their rotation. This has allowed them to reintroduce sheep back into the operation to increase organic matter in the soil.

Engaging with the public is a key focus at Castleton and back in 2018, Stuart and his wife Jo opened coastal café, Drift – an

upcycled shipping container which welcomes 380k visitors a year. Together they have big plans to increase public engagement onfarm including hosting biodiversity tours to showcase farming’s relationship with nature.

SHEEP FINALISTS Aimee and Kirsty Budge , Bigton Farm

Sisters Aimee and Kirsty Budge of Bigton Farm in Shetland, together run a mixed sheep and beef enterprise, alongside growing 60 acres of spring barley. They look after a 650-head flock which comprises of 300 Shetland cross Cheviot ewes which they put to a Suffolk ram to provide lambs for store and the fat market, and 350 pure Shetland ewes, which are put to either a Shetland or Cheviot ram and their offspring are kept for replacements.

The Budge’s have been working closely with their vet to develop a better health planning system for the farm and have a strict buying policy to complement Shetland’s high health status, with all incoming stock tested for CLA, dosed and dipped. No breeding females are purchased outside of Shetland and by being more selective in their replacements has allowed them to cull hard on less desirable traits, such as bad feet.

Calum McDiarmid, Mains of Murthly

The philosophy of Calum McDiarmid’s sheep enterprise at Mains of Murthly, Aberfeldy, which extends to over 244ha of Perthshire landscape, is about minimising input and maximising output by creating a more efficient system. Shepherd Ed Munt runs 1350 breeding ewes, 400 home bred ewe lambs and 25 tups, 12 of which are Innovis Aberfield and 13 terminals of either NZ Suffolk or Aberblacks.

The whole system has changed over the past five years to become a predominantly grass based setup centred around rotational grazing, with divisional solar electric fence systems and Opico sward lifter improving the quality and volume of grass.

All ewes are condition scored every six weeks to both correct any problems, and to ensure all stock are improving and performing. When it comes to health, prevention is better than cure.

All lambs have traditionally been sold prime to the abattoir with the average weight being mid 19 kgs with normally U3L grade. To grant ewes more grass in the ‘Golden period’, half of this year’s lambs will be sold store, with the remainder fattened on home turf. With the increase in costs of both energy and inputs, Mains of Murthly is looking at the best return for both staff and the farm. Reducing the winter costs is the aim of the farm.

Using a stick reader and electronic weighing crate allows them to record daily live weight gain and has enabled them to sell prime lambs at their optimum to allow for a much better return.

Alan Cowens – Philiphaugh Farm

Philiphaugh Farm is a 2450 acre upland farm near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders, owned by Sir Michael Strang Steel and managed by Alan Cowens. It runs 2200 mainly North Country Cheviot ewes split into two flocks, shepherded by Alan Wilson and Scott Bell, and 120 Luing and Sim/ Luing cows. 1000 hill type ewes are bred pure for replacements, sale ewe lambs, and wethers finished off forage crops. 500 hill type are crossed with the Blue Faced Leicester for the production of Cheviot Mule ewe lambs for replacements and sale. Wethers are finished on forage crops. These ewes are run as low input receiving no hard feed or silage over the winter and only receive feed blocks in the run up to lambing.

These ewes are all lambed outside in mid-April with the emphasis on a low-cost system. The NCC is the chosen breed for its hardiness, mothering abilities and quality of lamb they produce which sell at a premium. The flock is closed except the purchase of an odd stock tup.

BEEF FINALISTS Harry Brown, Auchmaliddie Mains

Harry Brown of Auchmaliddie Mains, Aberdeenshire, runs a herd of 200 predominantly Limousincross sucker cows and buys in 200 store cattle per annum to finish, fattening all animals on the 750acre farm, with an additional 200 acres of seasonal lets. Of the 400 cattle finished per year, around 30 home bred heifers are sold direct to the customer via farmers’ markets or doorstep deliveries, as Harry and his family work to foster local relationships, and share their story of how the meat is produced.

The cattle complement the crop enterprise and keep the farm on a healthy rotation. And with a focus on sustainability, the family have constructed a new outdoor silage pit to cut down on plastic use and increase indoor capacity for bedding pens. Carbon audits, soil analytics and GPS technology have also been key to assessing the wider impact of the farm enterprise.

One of the steps the farm has taken to improve the system was by introducing the Ritchie Weigh Monitor, with cattle being weighed daily. Underperformers are quickly identified and removed from the herd, saving money on feed, and allowing only the highest quality animal to enter the food chain. Traceability is key, with digital software accelerating the monitoring process and translating as increased efficiencies. And, collaborating with their farm nutritionist and vet on a regular basis, Harry ensures that his animals are always in peak condition.

David and Ian Richardson, Upper Samieston Farm

Father and son team, David and Ian Richardson of Upper Samieston Farm in Jedburgh, run a mixed beef and sheep enterprise comprising of 500 Texel cross ewes and 500 suckler cows, with calves sold as stores.

They run a tight 10-week calving block in the spring to ensure level batches for the store ring and this year calved 300 cows in the first four weeks. They run a relatively closed herd, breeding their own replacement females and some bulls, but the majority of calves are sold at six to seven months.

They have been selling stores at the top of the market with last year’s calves averaging £915 for bullocks and £880 for heifers. In order to optimise growing rates, mineral analysis is carried out on silage and summer grazing to help create a bespoke mineral management plan.

Improving animal welfare is key and the farm is part of the SAC Premium Cattle Health Scheme. All calves are pneumonia tested and plans are in place to remove the straw blower this winter in an attempt to cut down on respiratory problems.

James Young, Girvan Mains Farm

South Ayrshire-based James Young farms at Girvan Mains, with a 450-strong herd of beef cows and an additional 2000 –2500 stores. Angus, Saler and Limousin cows are run by Charolais bulls, with Angus and Salers put on heifers and first calvers. The system focuses on productivity, getting top quality beef-bred calves to finished weight as quickly as possible.

Investing in an anaerobic digester in 2016, and a ground source heat pump in 2019 for drying crop, primarily grass, which is then used in the enterprise’s TMR, further investing in a weight head and hydraulic cattle crushes has made it simpler and safer to work with larger numbers, as well as making it easy for the data collection, with poor performers identified and culled out. This has made his operation more efficient smf has allowed James to increase his finishing capacity by up to 400.

To maximise herd health, James works very closely with his veterinary team, and has developed a vaccine specifically for his holdings as a way to reduce losses. Nutrition is central to the rearing process, but James maintains that correctly breeding animals in the first instance makes it easier to meet final market specifications.

DIVERSIFIED FINALISTS Lucy and Robert Wilson, Wilson’s Farm and Kitchen

Wilson’s Farm and Kitchen in the Scottish Borders exemplifies the story of the countryside, from field to fork. Run by Lucy and Robert Wilson, a key component of their vision is knowledge sharing and education. Established as an alternative route to market for some of their homegrown produce, the couple and their team now host farm tours and food experiences that revolve around seasonal ingredients from their farm, garden, and other trusted local producers. Whether it’s the 25 Mile Roast, Curry Nights or a private event with chosen menu, all can be enjoyed in the renovated Old Stable or quirky ‘Wee Tin Bothies’, which are upcycled grain silos.

With guests increasingly seeking out sustainable and local food choices, Lucy and Robert provide them with delicious dishes and an understanding about the provenance of the menu’s ingredients, which they feel will be key to the future of farming on a wider scale. Alongside Wilson’s Farm and Kitchen this tenanted family

farm has an arable enterprise and herd of pedigree Hereford cattle.

The Pollock Family, Ardross Farm

Ardross Farm is a tenanted mixed farm extending over 360 acres of beautiful coastal land in Fife. Contract farming an additional 800 acres and taking grass lets of 400 acres, the Pollock family rear Pasture for Life certified cattle and sheep, selling lamb, mutton and beef, as well as homegrown vegetables and honey, direct to the customer via their farm shop. They also sell wheat, barely, beans and oilseed rape on a commercial basis.

Set up in 2005, Ardross Farm has become a destination for locals, visitors and holiday makers alike, seeking quality homegrown produce. The connection between farm and consumer has been the keystone throughout the business’s growth, which now employs 18 locals, and customer feedback and insight continue to be at the heart of all decisions.

Committed to telling the positive stories of farming, Ardross Farm has a very active digital presence, working to promote the biodiversity, sustainability and traceability values of their enterprise, as well as agriculture in Scotland, via social media, e-newsletters and a brand-new website.

Ross Neilson, What’s Fresh

Park Farm is a modern dairy operation run by three generations of the Neilson family; milking 450 cows through eight Lely robots, in East Kilbride.

The family set up a new company called ‘What’s Fresh’ during the pandemic, to deliver fresh goods from independent producers to local customers. What’s Fresh continued to expand its offering and has recently invested in a new purpose-built milk bottling facility. The aim of What’s Fresh is to bottle their own quality, fresh milk and deliver to families and businesses.

The new milk deliveries boast ultra-low food miles and reusable one litre glass bottles to cut down on single-use plastics and reduce emissions.

In addition to sustainability, customers are demanding more in terms of the provenance and traceability of their food. What’s Fresh can be transparent about where their milk is coming from and how it is processed, given that it only travels a few metres from the farm to the new dairy.

BUSINESS SKILLS The AgriScot Business Skill final will take place at the event, supporting aspiring young professionals by providing them with the skills and networking opportunities required to mitigate and manage the many challenges facing rural and agricultural businesses.

The competition, which assesses individuals’ general business skills and awareness of agri-business issues, comes with a £1000 cash prize to help the successful candidate in the future. Open to those between the age of 18 and 25 years, this year applicants will explore “The importance of Agri-business managers developing more resilient businesses” with the winner announced at the event.

SILAGE COMPETITION With most farmers facing tighter profit margins against the backdrop of spiralling energy, feed, fuel and fertiliser prices, producing high quality forage will prove key to keeping feed costs down. Sponsored and organised by Watson Seeds, the hotly contested AgriScot silage competition welcomes samples from Beef and Dairy Clamps, Big Bale, and Young Farmer category, which can be submitted from any cut of silage.

Entries will then be whittled down to three finalists within each class, with the winners being announced during AgriScot, following a live forage analysis.

The Silage competition is a firm favourite with AgriScot delegates, gathering to hear expert commentary from the judging panel. Hugh McClymont will be entertaining crowds as ever this year, with his specialist commentary and nose for quality forage and will be joined for the first time by RHASS chairman and agronomist, Jim Warnock.

Mr Warnock said: “There has never been a more crucial time to secure high quality forage as it is the cheapest feed you will secure for your animals during the winter months. So much good grassland is lost by high infestation by aggressive weeds, as farmers tend to prioritise other land first. More time and effort must go towards the renewal of grass swards, but fundamental to that is soil analysis. By understanding and improving your soil PH, you will get a much better sward, and this will translate into better value on fertiliser spend and higher quality silage.”

BEEF DEMONSTRATION The beef demonstration returns to AgriScot this November with its popular interactive format and this year will focus on efficiency and how famers can look to keep input costs in check throughout the winter.

Kicking off at 11.30am in the main ring, it will once again be led by Gavin Hill of SAC Consulting, who will be joined by his colleague Leslie Wylie and Robert Gilchrist of the Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society. Together, they will be addressing issues such as calf efficiency, cow condition, feed intake and emissions reductions, to drive down the carbon side of the business.

The demonstration is sponsored by Quality Meat Scotland and organised by SAC Consulting and this year has partnered up with the Aberdeen Angus Society. There will be four Aberdeen Angus cattle brought into the ring of different weights and sizes, and the crowd will have the opportunity to use their buzzers to answer questions and give feedback. The cattle have been prepared by students at Oatridge College, as part of their training.

Gavin Hill explains more about the beef demonstration: “We know farmers will be interested in reducing costs through the winter because of the high inputs they are having to grapple with at the moment and we want to make sure cows being carried over the winter are being fed efficiently and discussions will ensue around cow size, cow condition, ideal feed and amounts of feed. As well as addressing cow efficiency, there will be a focus on emissions as these two things are linked.

“The real draw of the event is that we want it to be interactive,” he continued. “The cattle are marked A to D and the audience have access to button controls and they will be able to share feedback and vote based on questions shared on the screen. This has always proved a successful feature and in past years we have covered topics such as heifers calving at two versus three, and other years we have looked at different carcasses and the crowds have had to mark different parts of the cattle.”

DAIRY CATTLE CLASSES With over £25,000 available in prize funds, the highest value of any event in the country, the Dairy Cattle Classes draw herds from across the UK and Ireland.

In addition to the traditional Ayrshire, Red and Whites, Holstein and Jersey categories, the dairy cattle show programme will also feature an ‘Any Other Dairy Breeds’ class, welcoming exhibitors of in-milk heifers and cows from the likes of Brown Swiss, British Friesian and Dairy Shorthorn varieties.

Judging of the dairy classes will culminate with the Super Heifer and Super Cow awards, each coming with a £1000 prize pot for the winning cattle.

Responsible for this year’s judging is Niels Erik Haahr, one of one of the top Holstein breeders in Denmark and running a herd of 600 cows. Mr Haahr also works with cattle across Europe, investing in highquality genetics from across the world.

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And featuring some of this years’ exhibitors…

BDC Systems

Harvest 2022 was generally good, even in Scotland, the prolonged dry weather enabled some farmers to finish in record time.

But we should not be complacent. With climate change here to stay, we must be prepared for the more normal wet and difficult conditions that Scottish farmers have to deal with.

Now is the time to look at your post-harvest grain-drying and storage capabilities to ensure that harvest 2023 runs smoothly with no expensive downtime cutting into your profit.

Do you need to upgrade your grain handling equipment? Should you be looking at replacing your ageing drier? Do you need additional storage capability?

All are hard and potentially expensive decisions to make, especially with ag inflation running at such high levels driving the increasing need to ‘tighten your belt’.

Now, more than ever, it is key that when making these hard decisions around upgrading or purchasing new grain handling equipment, they are the right decisions.

Be sure that you take advantage of the expert advice available from suppliers, such as BDC Systems Ltd and its approved dealers.

BDC Systems has an extensive range of grain drying, handling, conveying, cleaning, storage, aeration and mill mix solutions from leading manufactures including, Aagaard, BM Silo, Gibbons Engineering, JKF,