PRESS
News Release
Date : Monday 1 August 2011
Contact : Sarah Anderson
No : 135/2011
Telephone : 0131 472 4108
Email : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
FUTURE FARMERS DRINKSTONE OPEN DAY IS A HIT
Identifying rams that seriously cut the mustard - or mint - is key to achieving a profitable flock, together with a formula for sustainable production. These were the take-home messages for more than 40 visitors to the award-winning “Future farmer of the year” Drinkstone flock at Hawick, last Wednesday 27 July. With top speakers triggering in-depth discussion, Sam Boon of Signet, urged commercial producers to consider their current flock breeding programme and what ought to be changed when setting future breeding objectives. He said: “With Drinkstone’s Suffolk and Texel flock Signet performance figures in the top one per cent in the UK, it clearly demonstrates the rewards of setting breeding objectives. The genetic progress at Drinkstone is three times the rate of the national average - of those who do record.” Sam urged lamb producers to do their homework on the internet: “All the information is in the public domain. Identify the traits which will be profitable for your flock and then locate the breeders that will cut the mustard.” Commenting on Drinkstone’s pasture management, Dr John Vipond of SAC praised the Parks’ approach to sustainability - targeting a bigger proportion of clover in the sward. Dr Vipond explained, “In order to achieve more clover in the sward you need to have compatible grass clover varieties, late-heading tetraploids and small leaved clovers fit the bill. “The Parks are using red clover and hybrid rye grass in a specific mix for producing silage and aftermath grazing for lambs. Even the demands of the high performance Drinkstone flocks are satisfied by supplementing this high protein red clover silage with soya in late pregnancy, rather than feeding grass silage and concentrates.” Dr Vipond concluded that the knock-on benefit is reduced worm challenge: “Ewes don’t lose their immunity in late pregnancy, meaning that both the ewes and lambs are cleaner, further enhancing sustainable farming and profit.” Chairman of the Murray Trust, Harvey MacMillan, which awards the Future Farmer of the Year, praised the combination of running the high index flocks while enhancing sustainability through grassland management and achieving sound environmental practices, all of which are of great benefit to wildlife through projects supported by the Scottish Rural Development Programme.
News Release
Date : Tuesday 16 March 2010
No : 43/10
Contact : Sarah Anderson
Telephone : 0131 472 4108
Email : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
AWARD TO RECOGNISE FORWARD-THINKING FARMERS
Organisers of the Future Farmer Award, which is funded by the Elizabeth Murray Trust and run in association with NFU Scotland are inviting farmers across Scotland to tell them which groundbreaking practices they are using on their farm. The businesses with the best ideas will find themselves in the running for the Future Farmer Award of £4,000 as part of a package of practical support to help them promote their ideas to other farmers and land managers. The Award aims to showcase ways in which Scotland can produce food, fibre and wood products in a commercially viable way while maintaining the natural capital of the land and minimizing the ecological footprint of farming activities. NFU Scotland President, Jim McLaren, who will help choose the winner, said: “There is a multitude of enterprising and innovative Scottish farmers whose ideas and initiative are carving out the very future of the industry. “Scottish farming’s survival will, in many respects, depend on the extent to which it is environmentally sustainable and I know that there are many farmers across Scotland whose ideas and techniques deserve to be recognised. I would encourage farmers from every sector in all parts of the country to apply for this excellent award.” The winner of the Future Farmer Award 2009 and NFU Scotland member, Denise Walton said: “Winning the Future Farmer Award was a great confidence boost to us here at Peelham; as a diversifying farm business during an especially challenging economic period it confirmed our conviction that farming sustainably makes good business sense.”
NOTES TO EDITORS ·
Applications for the 2010 award close on Wednesday 30 June.
Applications by email should be sent to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Postal applications should be sent to:
Michael Williams, Future Farmer Award, Eaglescarnie Mains, Haddington, EH41 4HN.
T: 01620 810491
M: 0771 3333193
The organisers ask for a maximum of two sides A4 or 1,000 words and if you are applying by email please use Word for your narrative. Short-listed candidates will be asked for further details in a telephone interview.
For more information see www.futurefarmer.org.uk
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