SHETLAND FARMER Jamie Leslie, who farms at Scholland Farm in Virkie, has won the Innovator of the Year Award at the Yield Enhancement Network Awards in Harrogate. He also took home the barley gold award for yield potential.

Jamie received the award for his work with the Shetland Barley Group, which saw him achieve a 43% increase over the long-term barley yields for the islands.

The challenge which Jamie and the other Shetland arable growers faced was how to make barley growing a profitable enterprise. Yield and quality needed to increase, and they needed to take a close look at their inputs and general management systems.

AHDB Knowledge Transfer Manager Emily Pope, who nominated Jamie, explained: “Jamie used the YEN initiative to help push the boundaries of crop production on Shetland. He initiated the Shetland Barley Group with the objective of reducing the island’s reliance on imported feed and straw by increasing productivity on the limited area of land suitable for cereal production.

“After taking virtual agronomy advice from SRUC’s Crop Clinic, Jamie increased his input costs by £160/ha, however the reward in the end was achieving an impressive 8.2 t/ha which resulted in an increase in margin of £389/ha,” she explained.

Three other Scottish farmers took home accolades at the event – Donald Ross, Mark McCallum and Hugo Lee.

Mr Lee, based in Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, picked up a gold award for barley yield of 8.2 t/ha. Mr Ross, who farms at Rhynie Farm in Easter Ross, and Black Isle grower Mr McCallum came second and third for wheat yield potential.