Two farming sisters are gearing up to hold their first monitor farm meeting in Shetland next weekend.
Aimee and Kirsty Budge’s Bigton Farm, which is located on the west side of the Shetland south mainland, is one of nine new monitor farms set up as part of a three-year scheme being run by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds.
Funded by a £1.25million grant from the Scottish Government, the monitor farms programme will operate nine farms across Scotland with the aim of helping improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.
Bigton stretches across 740 acres of mainly permanent pasture and intensive grassland. The Budge sisters run 240 Shetland cross Cheviot ewes, and 70 Salers cross Shorthorn suckler cows.
The first meeting, which is open to all farmers and crofters and free to attend, takes place on Saturday February 4.
It kicks off at 11am at Bigton Hall, before moving to the farm itself for a tour.
Kirsty said producers who attend the meetings will be able to suggest changes that her and sister Aimee can make to improve the farm’s efficiency and then monitor the results on the farm over the course of the scheme.
She said: “One of the issues we have is that although our scanning numbers are high, the number of actual lambs on the ground could be higher. This is just one of the areas we want to get help with early on.
“At the first meeting, we will go over our scanning and lambing figures, and it will be great to have the experience of Shetland farmers and crofters, our local vet and other industry experts to suggest changes to our management. The results will then be monitored over the three-year programme.”
Aimee said producers attending the first meeting would get the chance to hear from Stirlingshire farmer Duncan McEwen, of Arnprior, about his experience hosting the Forth monitor farm.
Those wishing to attend the first meeting are asked to register in advance by calling Graham Fraser from SAC Consulting on 01595 693520 by Wednesday February 1.
