THERE is still time to throw your hat into the ring to become one of Scotland's next agritourism monitor farmers.

Applications to join the monitor farm programme are open to any agritourism business in East Central or West Scotland – but the window closes next Monday, February 4.

Coming on the back of the previous agritourism monitor farm set up that lasted 18 months, the latest programme, funded by Scottish Enterprise, will last for three years, involving one farm per region.

Speaking at this week's launch event at Briarlands Farm near Stirling, project co-ordinator Caroline Millar said: “It was fantastic to have over seventy business owners in the room from as far afield as Morayshire to the Scottish Borders who came to listen to the personal journeys of five very different but inspiring agritourism businesses who were involved in the last monitor farm programme.

“We have had several applications to be one of the next agritourism monitor farmers as a result of attending the event and I would encourage anyone thinking of applying to go for it.”

She continued: "This programme will be different from the previous one in that there will be a different level of one-to-one support allocated to our monitor farmers and the community groups associated with them.

"We will also be adding support through benchmarking. Farmers are used to being price takers, not price makers, so we will be offering support when it comes to those sorts of aspects of business."

The first programme, launched in 2014/15, was based around Laggan Farm in Dumfries and Galloway and Peel Farm in Angus. It created significant business growth for the host monitor farmers as well as helping to build the businesses of many members of the community groups who attended the monitor meetings.

Speaking at this week's event, NFU Scotland president Andrew McCornick said: "This is another great opportunity for people in the industry. Farmers and crofters need to be looking at their businesses as businesses and sweat the assets out of what they already have in front of them.

"The agritourism monitor farm programme is a great chance for those involved to get great advice and look at how other people do things."

He continued: "We can't shy away from agritourism. It's a bigger thing in other countries so we need to look at that and see how we can harness it more here, at home. There is no doubt that it will be a gradual process, but it is something that doesn't always require a massive initial spend from farmers and businesses, so that in itself can make it very attractive.

"It's also something that can be looked at on the grounds of succession planning if there are family members that don't see themselves as 'a farmer'. It is something that can bring longevity and an added dimension to a farm business.

"NFUS are paying clear attention to this aspect of the industry. People often miss out on opportunities and we need to help them grab hold of them."

Applications to become the next monitor farmer are now open to any agritourism business in East Central or West Scotland. Applications, which close on Monday, February 4, can be made via an online application https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/agritourism-monitorfarmapplication. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed on their farm by an interview panel with the successful applicants announced at the end of February 2019.