Scottish Young Farmers are set to ‘Integrate, Innovate and Inspire'

The Cairndale Hotel will host the group of Scottish Young Farmers, with tickets now on sale via SAYFC’s online shop. Being hosted and chaired by Udny JAC’s shepherdess and multi-tasking mum of two, Amy Jo Reid – the weekend aims to cover a variety of industry interests and learning opportunities.

“We are delighted and excited to bring the highlight of our Agri calendar to Dumfries for the first time; showcasing the very best local farm businesses and speakers the area has to offer. It is set to be a packed weekend of integrating young people from all over Scotland and with leading industry bodies, learning from forward thinking and innovative rural businesses and hearing from some thought-provoking leaders that are sure to leave our delegates encouraged and inspired," Amy commented.

"We have some of the finest young minds from Scotland within SAYFC, and companies are excited to invest in and work with us – the conference is a terrific platform to build those connections and encourage the next generation to push the limits of what they think is possible. Young people are the future of our industry and are capable of anything, and Young Farmers Clubs are here to support that.”

Following dinner, the Friday night no doubt will be ‘shear crazy’ with Landward’s man-of-the-moment Cammy Wilson from The Sheep Game being the first of Amy Jo’s panelists. Sticking with the ‘inspiring’ trend setters of social media, the second panellist for the evening is professional foot trimmer Graeme Parker, known as ‘The Hoof GP’ from Southwest Scotland. Graeme’s Youtube content is enjoyed by over 11 million people globally!

Finally, the most local of the panellist is Tracey Roan whose innovation keeps Dumfriesshire towns and villages fuelled with sustainably sourced milk from their family business ‘Roan’s Dairies’. Juggling lots of plates and integrating herself throughout the sector, Tracey is also working as NFU Scotland’s regional manager for Dumfries and Galloway.

Inspiring the future farmers of Scotland on Saturday morning at his Thornhill based farm, is Andrew Marchant who began farming a decade ago with a tenancy of Clonhie Farm (part of Buccleuch estate). Not initially eligible to receive a single farm payment, Andrew’s on farm visit will highlight him and his wife’s modifications such as; increasing ewe numbers, introducing a paddock grazing system and their new enterprises in breeding deer hinds for venison production and undertaking a joint venture with the estate in Luing cattle. The tour will discuss how Andrew and Aileen’s business steadily prospered with the help of benchmarking, keeping an eye on both the financial and technical performance of their undertakings with sheep, cattle and deer.

The next farm tour is at Arbigland Farm, Carsethorn, near Dalbeattie, by kind permission of Brendan Muldowney. Farming Partners will showcase what their farmers have invested heavily in on their farms to allow them to run a grass-based method efficiently.

The group of Scottish and Irish farmers have united together across a number of dairy farms. Calving their cows in the spring and drying the cows off before Christmas – the group’s partnership-based approach helps to anchor the passion to ensure their farms are well farmed. Spending 12 years in banking before moving to full time dairy farming in 2009, Brendan helps the farm partners by provided various opportunities to invest in their skill sets and interests, helping to continually maintain high-quality work on the farms. Their determination and skill sets allow them to invest in their farming with tailored opportunities and by utilising resources!

Post lunch back in the comfort of the hotel, young farmers from across the country will be able to attend a variety of breakout sessions where conversations will be based around current topics from the sector. These breakout sessions will be led by both Rory Christie Vice Chair of Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society Ltd [SAOS] and David Corrie Head of Estate Agency at Galbraiths.

Taking to the hot seats for discussion is Sarah Millar of Quality Meat Scotland who’ll address the whole group as guest speaker, bringing to the fore we’re sure, a string of questions from an intrigued group of young farmers.

After Scotland V. Argentina’s Rugby coverage from Murrayfield and dinner, Neil Wilson of Thornhill - Executive Director at The Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland - will speak on his work to continue building IAAS’s profile and reputation within the agricultural industry. As an experienced agriculturalist and Director of SAB Advisory Ltd, Neil will speak to the room highlighting how his active farming background allows him to relate directly to the issues at the farm gate.

Finishing the conference, is a farm tour of the Roam’s farm at Irongray, Ingliston Farm. With the conference set to inspire innovation, there’s no better family to be visiting as they recently took all intuition being based near the busy Dumfries Hospital, in setting up Kilnford Farm Shop and Tearom selling boxes of home-reared Galloway Beef and Blackface Lamb amongst various veg hampers, etc.

If you are interested in taking part of the conference, tickets can now be purchased at the SAYFC shop, via the website: https://www.sayfc.org/