IF you fancy hosting one of nine new monitor farms being set up in Scotland, you only have until this Friday, September 30, to apply!

Monitor farms, typical of their areas, will be established in Nithsdale; the Scottish Borders; North Ayrshire; the Lothians; Mearns and Angus; Lochaber; Morayshire; Sutherland; and Shetland.

The new programme will adopt a whole farm approach and it is hoped that they will help build resilient businesses, introduce innovative ideas and highlight the importance of collaboration.

Run by QMS and AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds, the projects aim is to help improve the profitability, productivity and sustainability of producers through practical demonstrations, the sharing of best practice and the discussion of up-to-date issues.

Previous Orkney monitor farmer, Steven Sandison, was one of the speakers at an open meeting on the project in Shetland this week. The establishment of a monitor farm will be a first for Shetland, and Mr Sandison said he had found the experience very worthwhile and of great value to his business, as well as opening his eyes to a range of opportunities.

He highlighted several of the changes which were successfully introduced to his suckler beef operation at Millburn Farm during his three years as a monitor farmer: “The importance of bench-marking the performance of my cattle was a key learn from the monitor farm experience."

He outlined how he had managed to pin down the source of a problem he had been experiencing with his heifers not being in as good condition as he wanted when approaching calving: “When we investigated the cause, we found it to be the result of a cobalt deficiency and a change to the way I supplement my heifers with trace elements and cobalt in particular resulted in a considerable improvement,” said Mr Sandison.

One of the Shetland monitor farm project facilitators, SAC consulting's Graham Fraser, explained the different ways farmers could get involved: “On top of the opportunity to be the host monitor farmer, there are lots of ways that farmers can be part of the project.

“For example, they can become members of the community group linked to each farm and there will also be an opportunity to be a member of the business group associated with the farm. This really is a fantastic opportunity and we’re looking forward to taking the project forward in the coming months.”

Further details and information on how to apply can be found on the Quality Meat Scotland website www.qmscotland.co.uk.