BGS Summer Meeting 2026 farm visit details

Jointly hosted by the East of Scotland and South West Scotland Grassland Societies, the meeting will focus on practical grassland management and business performance under differing systems.

Grass-based dairying in action at Dalswinton Estate – one of two host farms for the British Grassland Society's 2026 Summer Meeting (Image: web)

The morning will be spent at Poldean Farm, Moffat, Dumfriesshire, where Alisdair and Emma Davidson run a mixed beef and sheep enterprise extending to about 850 hectares of hill and improved pasture.

The visit will offer an insight into how the Davidsons utilise grass to support a large herd and flock in a challenging upland environment.

Poldean's beef and sheep enterprise makes the most of upland grass (Image: web)

In the afternoon, the meeting will move to Bankhead Farm on the Dalswinton Estate, near Dumfries, hosted by Dalswinton Farming Partners. During 2024, the estate shifted its focus at Bankhead from beef and arable to a joint venture with Farming Partners, who specialise in establishing and managing spring-block calving, grass-based dairy systems.

Attendees will have the chance to see how this innovative business model has been implemented on the ground and discuss the opportunities it presents for both landowners and new entrants.

The Davidsons' herd at Poldean Farm, host for the morning tour of the BGS Summer Meeting (Image: Craig Stephen)

Organisers say the two visits promise a full day of discussion around profitable, resilient grassland systems, from extensive hill ground to intensive spring-calving dairying.

Booking for the BGS Summer Meeting will open later in the spring, with further details to be published on the British Grassland Society website at britishgrassland.com