An anonymous beef and sheep farmer will embark on a project to boost productivity at their enterprise.
The Quality Meat Scotland project, which is being carried out by SAC Consulting, will take place over a three-year period.
Through management changes, QMS hopes it will be able to help lift the performance of the farm business and move it from being classed as an average performer to one in the top 25% in the industry.
The red meat levy body will refer to its Enterprise Costing publication to see how the farm compares to those ranked as the best in the sector.
QMS knowledge transfer specialist, Robert Gilchrist, said: “While the identity of the farmer who has kindly agreed to work with us on this project will remain anonymous, all the work and findings will shared with the agricultural sector on a regular basis.
“This project very much reflects the need to find ways to further improve efficiency on beef and sheep farms which are under pressure from a range of factors, including the reduction of some of the support systems currently in place.
“The intention is to identify practical opportunities to make technical and financial improvements.”
To begin with the project will focus on the cattle enterprise, before moving to look at the sheep side of the business.
Management areas which will be under the spotlight include fertility levels, losses at calving, numbers reared, health and welfare and bedding costs.
An initial database of the farm’s current performance will be created with information on the farm’s fertility and calving results and numbers over the past few years.
Forage and soil analysis, as well as metabolic profiling and grass growth monitoring, will also be carried out.
Quarterly reports from the project will be published online by QMS at www.qmscotland.co.uk.