Professor Davy McCracken looks at the future role of technology in upland farms, providing examples and reflecting on experience at the Kirkton & Auchtertyre farms in Crianlarich. You can access the full article by clicking here: Technology can help farmer meet net-zero goals For more environmental resilience resources on the Rural Brexit Hub click here: Innovation in Upland Livestock Systems – Environmental Resilience ..read more

Professor Davy McCracken writes in the Press & Journal about the importance of education in equipping land managers with a broad range of skills and knowledge to deliver integrated land management approaches for a sustainable future. You can access the full article by clicking here: Education needed to help Scottish farmers meet the ‘asks’ of modern society  You can also access further Science Education resources on the Rural Brexit Hub here: Innovation in Upland Livestock Systems – Science Education  ..read more

Research based on a pilot study that linked farms in the Scottish Farm Business Survey to SAC’s Agrecalc carbon calculator has published results measuring emissions intensity and farm-level technical efficiency in the beef and sheep-meat sectors in Scotland. The research finds that there is a high level of variance in emissions intensity in Scotland’s beef and sheep farms with a number of very high and very low emitters operating in cattle and sheep farms. However, the relationship between farm-level technical efficiency and emissions intensity differs between farm types. With a higher amount ..read more

A research brief has been published looking at Scottish farm resilience between 1989 and 2020. The research used data from the Scottish Farm Business Survey and key findings include: Most farms score highly on their robustness scale, which reflects a high resistance to change. However, around 20 to 25% of farms suffered shocks, in terms of a 30% drop in incomes from one year to the next. Moreover, the farms scored lower on adaptation, which shows that less farms were adapting to the external environment, in terms of changing their practices. For more information and to download the ful ..read more

A new briefing comparing the characteristics, past behaviours and intentions for investments between the islands and the mainland smallholders and crofters has been published. The research uses the farmers intentions survey (a survey of 2,494 Scottish farmers conducted in 2018) and finds that there are differences in characteristics, management influences and investment behaviours between the two groups based on their location. These include: Those on Scottish islands are slightly younger than their mainland counterparts and a lower proportion of decision makers are female; Smallholder farme ..read more

A new research brief looks at the technical efficiency of Scottish farms from 1989-2020 using data from the Scottish Farm Business Survey. Some key findings detailed in the brief include: There is a great deal of variance within farm types, which indicates that for each sector there will be challenges and wide level of performance Key drivers of technical efficiency include farm size and increasing specialisation More farmer led characteristics, such as succession planning and age of the main decision maker, were less consistent estimators Both high levels of subsidy and off-farm income had ..read more

In this article for the Press & Journal, Davy McCracken discusses the importance of high nature value farming systems and recognising that supporting and promoting appropriate grazing practices will be important not only for biodiversity but will also have impact on social, cultural and landscape values. You can read the full article by clicking the link below: McCracken Jan 2022 Regenerative agriculture matters but let’s not forget about High Nature Value farming system ..read more

Professor Davy McCracken provides an update in the Press & Journal on collaborative research projects to improve the health of the national sheep flock. These projects include the EU funded EuroSheep project and  EU funded project Techcare. The two main goals for the EuroSheep project are: To assess how best to improve individual and flock performance through improved management of animal health. To consider how an enhanced focus on the nutritional needs of the animals can help reduce annual feed costs The main focus of the TechCare project is to “identify how innovative Precision ..read more

In this episode, George Gauley is joined by Dr Claire Morgan-Davies, Dr Fiona Kenyon and Professor Davy McCracken to discuss precision solutions for livestock farming. The guests discuss some of the PLF technology solutions which are currently being used & developed, along with details of the research projects which are currently in place to help identify some of the welfare issues which will hopefully be addressed using PLT going forward. You can access the full podcast here: Precision solutions to animal health and welfare  ..read more

Professor Davy MCracken discusses recommendations made to the Hill, Upland & Crofting farmer-led group and highlights the importance in recognising that biodiversity management and carbon sequestration opportunities vary from sector to sector. While recognising  the differences between farming sectors,  Davy and colleagues argue for future support policy to ensure there is  a common starting point – in terms of providing biodiversity benefits on the ground – before seeking to deliver more sector-specific measures focusses on climate change mitigation. You can read the full ..read more