GWCT’s Scottish Demonstration Farm at Auchnerran has a good year despite weather and Covid challenges

The Game & Wildlife Scottish Demonstration Farm (GWSDF) at Auchnerran has published its annual report for year to 31 December 2021.

The report highlights the farming and research activities at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s farm and publication of its financial report. Among the enterprise’s objectives are demonstrating to practitioners, policy makers and others how a wild mixed shoot and productive farming can contribute to a net gain in natural capital in a marginal hill edge setting, as well as maintaining a profitable farming enterprise.

Even with the challenges of weather and Covid-19 significant steps forward were made in terms of the farm; wildlife and the environment; science and research; and the farm shoot:

• The sheep flock has stabilised at just over 1400 ewes.

• Proportion of lambs weaned was 126%.

• 600 bales of silage made (20 bales/ha average).

• Successful shooting season given limited number of days, with total bag including 65 pheasant, 9 woodcock, 3 brown hares and 27 rabbits.

• Completion of the new visitor/education centre and staff office although visitor and educational days reduced significantly by Covid-19.

• Exceptional weather – a cold spring and blizzards in May.

• Lapwing hatching success on the farm has been impacted significantly by predation, notably by badgers.

• Ongoing monitoring of badger and pine marten activity with camera traps.

• Completion of the farm’s natural capital assessment, and ongoing carbon audit.

• The business remained in profit, though reduced on last year due to fluctuations in subsidy payments.

GWCT’s Dr Dave Parish says:

“It was indeed a challenging year at the farm. Significant snowfall in May and a dry spring and summer that followed posed problems for both the farm with early lamb losses higher than normal, and perhaps some of our resident wildlife with wader numbers down slightly. There was also an unexpected jump in the rate of badger predation on our breeding waders which contributed to a poor year for chick production. However, farm output overall was maintained at a good level with a high lambing rate and the team has been as busy as ever.

“Auchnerran is coming out of the Covid-19 crisis stronger than ever, with significant changes underway through 2022. We have a new management structure and a larger team including new staff, and some exciting new projects.”

This involves images from a lightweight manned aircraft, with a high resolution camera system, being run through the EOLAS Insight AI recognition software to automatically count deer numbers.

It is hoped this approach could overcome some of the challenges of satellite use in Scotland, including weather and cloud cover. While satellites can provide broad overall numbers, a higher camera resolution could allow deer to be classified as stags, hinds, calves and could also be more useful for looking at habitat type and condition.