Scotland's Farm Advisory Service Podcast Scotland's Farm Advisory Service Podcast

Welcome to the second episode of In Conversation With… hosted this month by Senior Sheep and Beef Consultant Kirsten Williams. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. On today’s episode Kirsten is joined by Poppy Frater (Senior Consultant, SAC Consulting) and Kerr Adams (Research Scientist, The James Hutton Institute). They discuss grass and water management and look at how to build resilience into a system. Also, the wet winter, late spring and how to manage grass growth and maximise productivity. To round off the discussion, our panel look ahead to the summer months, trends and how to plan for possible drought problems.  
Episode Timestamps  
00.00 Introduction  
01.29 Making best use of pasture 
02.35 Three leaf rule 
04.19 Grass target heights – hitting the sweet spot 
05.45 Value of rest 
10.30 Effect of a changing climate on water availability  
11:55 Climatic water balance projections 
15.23 Water footprint 
18.52 Strategies to increase water holding capacity  
21.59 Sheep are the solution! 
22.15 Building resilience into the system 
25.45 Learning from others 
28.18 Software to help manage supply and demand. Scenario planning. 
32.42 Forage crops 
33.16 Cashflow 
34.35 Change one little thing 
38.50 Key message for managing grass supplies 
39.34 Key message for managing water supplies  
41.17 Kirsten's take home message  
FAS Resources 
www.fas.scot/publication/resilient-technology-options-for-water-management-on-farm/  
www.fas.scot/article/water-scarcity-and-rising-temperatures/  
www.fas.scot/publication/feast-or-famine-water-on-your-farm-water-scarcity-video/  
Other Resources  
www.hutton.ac.uk  
www.crew.ac.uk/  
www.sruc.ac.uk/business-services/sac-consulting/agricultural-production/grassland-management/grazeup/ 
www.farmingandwaterscotland.org  
www.rsabi.org.uk 
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 and Tiffany Stephenson who chat all things Carbon. Carbon Audits, emissions reductions and more.  
FAS Resources 
Carbon Audits | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) 
Specialist Advice | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) 
Other Resources  
Preparing for Sustainable Farming (PSF) (ruralpayments.org) 
Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (ruralpayments.org) 
Carbon Literacy for rural industries | Keep Scotland Beautiful 
For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 
Twitter: @FASScot 
Facebook: @FASScot 

Along with our regular monthly updates on policy briefs, arable, beef, sheep and milk, In this edition we are also bringing you sector overviews on sector overviews on pigs and Scottish hemp production for fibre products. We will also be bringing you news on straw alternatives and managing winter forages. 
Show Notes  
00:43 - News in Brief 
02:45 Policy Briefs - Agricultural Reform Route Map update 
08: 19 Arable- Wet weather leaves 2024 crop yield uncertain. 
13:33 Beef - Finished price rising; dairy-beef trends. 
17:50 Sheep - Gap widens between import prices & record UK prices. 
20:49 Sector Focus – Pig update. 
26:42 Milk - Volumes down and grass growth poor. 
31:58 Sector focus – Scottish hemp production for fibre products  
36:35 Management Matters - Straw alternatives 
41:41 Inputs - Managing winter forages 

FAS Resources 
Agribusiness News May 2024 | Information helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)  

Other Links: 
Plant Health Centre website 
The consultation on cattle identification and traceability in Scotland  
Progressing to Net Zero 
Mark Bowsher-Gibbs mark.bowsher-gibbs@sac.co.uk. 
https://www.fas.scot/downloads/alternative-bedding-materials/  
Feed and forage calculator | AHDB. 
 
For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 
Twitter: @FASScot 
Facebook: @FASScot 
 
National Advice Hub 
Phone: 0300 323 0161 
Email: advice@fas.scot 

Mary-Jane Lawrie is joined by Jenn Stewart.  Jenn Stewart, partner & Head of Rural and Landed Estates at Johnston Carmichael, joined the company in 2019. Jenn has extensive experience in advising owner managed businesses and provides counsel to a wide-ranging portfolio of clients across multiple sectors. Jenn was brought up in her own family farming business and is now involved in her husband’s farming business. Jenn talks to us about the topic and theme of succession. A succession plan provides a level of certainty for everyone to ensure the ongoing sustainability and financial sustainability of the business, therefore the earlier this topic is brought to the table the better.   
Related FAS Resources  
You can get funding for succession planning through FAS.  See Specialist Advice | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)  
Other Resources  
Johnston Carmichael | Chartered Accountants  
Jenn Stewart LinkedIn  Jenn Stewart - Partner, Head of Rural & Landed Estates & Dundee Office Head - Johnston Carmichael Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers | LinkedIn  
For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 
Twitter: @FASScot 
Facebook: @FASScot 
National Advice Hub 
Phone: 0300 323 0161 
Email: advice@fas.scot 
 

Welcome to the first episode of In Conversation With… hosted this month by Principal Consultant Mark Bowsher-Gibbs. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. On today’s episode Mark is joined by Gary Catto (Head of Merchanting at Scotgrain Agriculture, part of Bairds Malt Ltd) and Robin Barron (General Manager at East of Scotland Farmers). They provide business insights and discuss grain marketplace, how the last 12 months have been, grain quality, supply and demand and what does 2024 look like as a trading environment.   
Episode Timestamps  
00.00 Introduction – background and business operations 
04:26 Increasing demand for malting barley 
05:15 Steps in the supply chain 
06:29 Global whisky sales and investment at malting level 
08:29 Procuring grain and how a cooperative works  
09:52 Grain varieties 
10:33 Current planting situation and growers aommitments 
11:30 Grain storage and movement throughout the year 
15:10 Do end users drive when processing occurs and tonnage targets? 
17:39 Dealing with variable grain quality 
20:42 Expectations for 2024 
23:14 New varieties on the horizon 
26:33 Supply chain – priorities for the next 24 months 
30:29 Lower carbon barley 
33.01 Next month – Kirsten Williams discusses sheep health and welfare 
FAS Resources 
https://www.fas.scot/crops-soils/  
www.fas.scot/problem-solver/all-arable/  
https://www.fas.scot/article/agribusiness-news-april-2023-cereals-and-oilseeds/ 
Other Resources  
www.scotgrain.co.uk  
www.bairds-malt.co.uk  
www.eosf.co.uk  

https://feeds.captivate.fm/fas-in-conversation-with/

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 
Twitter: @FASScot 
Facebook: @FASScot 
National Advice Hub 
Phone: 0300 323 0161 
Email: advice@fas.scot 

Credits:
Hosted by Mark Bowsher-Gibbs  
Guests; Gary Catto (Bairds Malt) & Robin Barron (East of Scotland Farmers) 
Produced by Heather Stuart 
Edited by Cameron Waugh 
Executive Producer Kerry Hammond  

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, Robert Ramsay and Tiffany Stephenson who discuss the recent bout of wet weather, and the implications of this on our agricultural businesses. We also talk about beef enterprise efficiencies. I’m later joined by Sascha Grierson, Principal Consultant at SAC Consulting and Project Lead for the Scottish Farm Business Survey, commissioned by the Scottish Government. Sascha tells us the latest findings from the Scottish & Farm Business Survey, and provides some figures for industry performance. 
If you want to sign up for the farm business survey please email Sascha.grierson@sac.co.uk 
FAS Resources 
Stock Talk - Performance in Beef Herds | Information helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) 
CropCast - Spring Fertiliser Applications | Information helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) 
Whole Farm Benchmarks Tool 2022-23 | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot) 
Other Resources  
Agricultural Reform Route Map (ruralpayments.org) 
Supporting documents - Scottish farm business income: annual estimates 2022-2023 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) 
 
For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 
Twitter: @FASScot 
Facebook: @FASScot 
 
National Advice Hub 
Phone: 0300 323 0161 
Email: advice@fas.scot