In this episode of Natural Capital, we are talking about the issue that underpins every topic we cover, and that is finance and funding! With the economic and other pressures that landowners are facing it is great to be joined today by Steve Dunkley the Regional Agriculture Director at HSBC, and Martin Hanson the Head of Agriculture for HSBC, to share their view on ‘Green Finance’, what they are experiencing from clients and customers, and share their experience with some ‘Green Finance’ projects they have been involved with.  

Steve Dunkley is HSBC's Regional Agriculture Director for Business Banking in the north. 

Steve has worked in the farming sector for the last 30 years, from the family farm in the Yorkshire Dales to careers in both consultancy and government.  

Martin Hanson is the Head of Agriculture for HSBC and works with farming clients helping them grow and flourish providing appropriate working capital and long-term investment support to as many Agricultural Businesses as possible - helping to support the rural communities of the UK, protect the environment and our future. 

Related FAS resources:   

FAS Sounds:  https://www.fas.scot/sounds/    

FAS Biodiversity Pages: https://www.fas.scot/environment/biodiversity/     

Other Related Resources:  

https://www.business.hsbc.uk/en-gb/solutions/green-sme-fund  

Welcome to CropCast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, Tiffany Stephenson will be joined by a range of industry experts, bringing you timely updates to help you make decisions in the field. 

Producer George Gauley, Editor Cameron Waugh, Executive Producer Kerry Hammond, in association with the Scottish Government. 

In this episode Tiffany Stephenson is joined by Neil White, from Greenknowe Farm to discuss his journey, switching from a plough-based system to strip tillage, almost 10 years ago. Neil was recently awarded Farmers weekly, arable farmer of the year 2023. 

Linked FAS Resources

Profiting From Reducing Tillage and Lowering Emissions - Neil White, Greenknowe Farm (youtube.com)

Profiting From Reducing Tillage and Lowering Emissions - John Muir, Freelands Farm - YouTube

Profiting from Reducing Tillage and Lowering Emissions - Hew Hunter, Broachrigg Farm - YouTube

Profiting from Reducing Tillage and Lowering Emissions - John Davidson, Penicuik Estate (youtube.com)

Profiting from Reducing Tillage and Lowering Emissions - John McCluskey, Lea Farm (youtube.com)

Technical Note (TH553): Minimum Tillage

Along with our regular monthly updates on policy briefs, arable, beef, sheep and milk, In this edition we are also bringing you a sector overviews on oil outlook and energy transition. We will also be bringing you news on global market trends and the new Scottish Budget and financial update.  

Show Notes  

00.48:-News in Brief 

01.57:-Policy Briefs - Roundup of 2023 policies & bills, changes to 2024 AECS 

08.31:-Arable - Record high global production in 2023, distilling capacity increases. 

14.35:-Beef - Reduced availability and calf crop going into 2024. 

19.08:-Sheep - Strong export outlook, competition with Australia. 

22.37:- Sector Focus – Oil outlook & energy transition 

27.49 :-Milk - Markets push prices down, like supply; 2024 optimism 

34.38:- Global Trends - Markets slowly recovering from pandemic and conflict disruption 

46.40:- Management Matters - New Scottish budget & financial update 

FAS Resources 

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

Other Links: 

Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) 2023 Bill 

New definition for TB isolation 

TB Compensation 

Asulam (Asulox) 

Preparing for Sustainable Farming  PSF 

Animal Health and Welfare Scheme 

Windsor Framework 

Home Office Control of Poisons and Explosives Precursors Regulations 2023 

Short-Term Lets Licence 

‘Rent a Room Scheme’. 

Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill 

Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill 

Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill 

Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill 

Agri-Environment Climate Scheme 

Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) Act 

Agricultural Reform Route Map 

Farm Management Handbook Publication 

Farm Management Handbook - www.sac.co.uk/fmh  or contact us on 01835 823322  

[email protected].  

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: [email protected] 

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 George & Robert think about what Rabbie Burns would have to say about Farming today. They reflect on the similarities, and the massive changes that agriculture has seen since the Poet was working a plough.  

We are also joined by Phil Knott a crofter from Skye, the Vice-Chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network and facilitator of two farmers networks. Phil also discusses the value of looking back to a traditional way of farming, not for conservation, but to ensure that farmers are getting the best out of their land and their enterprises. He tells us about his own crofting innovations and brings us news of a network of Crofters in Caithness and Sutherland, crofting in a nature friendly way.  

FAS Resources 

FAS Connect | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service 

FAS Connect Conference Tickets, Wed 31 Jan 2024 at 10:00 | Eventbrite 

Other Resources  

Agroecology: strengthening livelihoods - Nourish Scotland 

NFFN Scotland launches new crofting group for Sutherland and Caithness | Nature Friendly Farming Network, NFFN 

BBC - Robert Burns - The Ploughman 

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: [email protected] 

In this podcast we hear from Rhona McAlister who is Precision Animal Health Commercial Manager (genomics specialist) with Zoetis.  Rhona speaks about the role of genomics and how it can accelerate genetic progress. Breeding decisions can be made with more confidence and data-driven.  

For our final episode of 2023 we are getting a bit festive and are speaking to Ollie Mackay at Rothiemurchus Estate. Rothiemurchus is a special and beautiful place in the Highlands of Scotland, at the heart of the Cairngorms National Park. Ollie is the Head Ranger on the estate and we chat about all the estate’s natural capital assets and his role.   

We learn about the range of activities and habitats the estate hosts including livestock, farming, beavers and tourism, alongside the pressures and opportunities this creates. Rothiemurchus is the custodian of one of the finest remnants of the Caledonian forest, a natural woodland dominated by Scots Pine that is managed sustainably for nature conservation, recreation, woodland grazing and timber production. Management of the forest has created an opportunity for environmentally friendly Christmas trees, with profits going back in to the upkeep of paths and projects on the estate.  

Host Rachel Smillie, Producer Iain Boyd, Executive Producer Kerry Hammond, Editor Ross Mackenzie.

Related FAS resources:   

FAS Sounds | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service

Biodiversity | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)

Rewilding | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)

Living Alongside Beavers | Information helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)

Other Related Resources: 

Home - Cairngorms National Park Authority

Welcome to Rothiemurchus — Rothiemurchus

Rothiemurchus Scots Pine Christmas Trees — Rothiemurchus

Welcome to Cropcast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, Tiffany Stephenson will be joined by a range of industry experts, bringing you timely updates to help you make decisions in the field. 

Producer George Gauley, Editor Iain Boyd, Executive Producer Kerry Hammond, in association with the Scottish Government. 

In this episode Tiffany Stephenson is joined by SAC Agricultural Consultant’s Donald Dunbar, Mark Bowsher–Gibbs and Iain Riddell to discuss the potential for alternative crops such as Rye, Hemp and Sugar beet in the Scottish arable rotation.  

Linked FAS Resources 

Rye 

Growing winter Rye in Scotland

Growing Winter Rye in Scotland | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)   

Recommended Lists for cereals and oilseeds (RL) | AHDB

South of Scotland Enterprise Report - Alternative Crops Case Study

Hemp & Sugar beet 

South of Scotland Enterprise Report - Alternative Crops Case Study 

Hemp -30 

THRILL OF THE HILL | Carbon and benchmarking carbon are here to stay, firmly embedded in the best practice for the farming community. With COP28 happening now, the need to decarbonise farming has never been clearer but how to do that in a sustainable manner remains a big question for many. Carbon calculators are designed to identify carbon emissions in a business, where they are happening, to provide insights for positive actions. Agrecalc has been one of Scotland's leading calculators and has seen widescale uptake since the days of the Beef Efficiency Scheme, but as the carbon story becomes more important, the ability to get reliable, detailed information on a farm's carbon footprint has never been more important and crucially, having confidence in the data to take steps to improve is hugely important. So regardless of which carbon calculator you are using, the time to count carbon is now.

In this episode, Scott Davies, CEO of Agrecalc discusses the uptake of carbon auditing, the need for a scientific consensus of emissions and how they are calculated, the move to the cloud and the increased functionality that will allow, better, more accurate interpretation of farm results and a clearer pathway forward. 

Hosted by Alexander Pirie, Edited by Malcolm MacDonald, Produced by Beth Errington, Executive Producer Kerry Hammond, in association with The Scottish Government.

Related FAS Resources

https://www.fas.scot/publication/thrill-of-the-hill-9-digging-deep-on-soil-carbon/

https://www.fas.scot/article/fundamentals-of-soil-carbon/

https://www.fas.scot/carbon-audits/

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 George, Robert & Tiffany discuss collaboration and partnerships, looking at examples like The Scottish Pig Producers, and investigating how technology could facilitate collaboration. We are also joined by Tara Wight from The Landworker’s Alliance discussing their work in bringing people together, and the benefit of Farmer’s networks.  

FAS Resources 

Cooperation & Collaboration Resources (fas.scot) 

Other Resources  

Landworkers' Alliance Homepage (landworkersalliance.org.uk) 

SCOTTISH PIG PRODUCERS - Home (scottishpigs.coop) 

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: [email protected] 

Mary-Jane Lawrie is joined by Kirsten Williams.  Kirsten is a livestock specialist with SAC Consulting and she also runs a farm business on Ranna Farm in Aberdeenshire with her husband Ross.  They have sheep, cattle, and a turkey enterprise on their rented farm.  They were new entrants, working hard to secure a tenancy and build up their business to support them and their family.  Kirsten has a really positive outlook on life and she tells us how determination and hard work have helped them succeed.    

FAS Resources  

Women in Agriculture (WiA) Discussion Group at Farm Advisory Scotland (fas.scot) 

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot 

Twitter: @FASScot 

Facebook: @FASScot 

National Advice Hub 

Phone: 0300 323 0161 

Email: [email protected]