food & drink Challenging thinking around red meat production
The Sustainable Agriculture Capital Grant Scheme By Mairi Gougeon
The Health and Education Team at Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) has built a new toolkit to inspire greater consumer understanding of red meat production in Scotland. This hub of over fifteen teaching resources has been instigated in part by discussions with schools, colleges and universities who are continually looking for creative ways to engage school pupils, as well as higher and further education students, with the red meat food system. It also provides those in the Industry who are involved in speaking to young people, whether that is during farm visits or talks in schools, with the facts and figures at their fingertips. Alix Ritchie, of QMS Health and Education, said: “Collaboration is key, and working together with The Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET), educators and our stakeholders, we are much
greater than the sum of our parts as we continue to work to strengthen and futureproof our red meat industry. “We are all committed to helping the next generation understand where our food comes from and how it is interwoven with caring for the animals, the climate, the countryside and feeding the world with healthy, nutritional food.” The toolkit is free to use and signposts directly to the digital platform “Farming Foodsteps” which includes fast facts, short films, interactive quizzes and real-life scenarios, covering animal welfare, traceability and the interplay of lamb and beef production with the natural environment.” To access the full toolkit which will soon be sent to educators across the country, see: https://www.qmscotland. co.uk/Education_Toolkit
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We want to help people in Scotland to farm and croft more sustainably as we work to become a global leader in regenerative agriculture. As we make this transition, we know that change is needed, not least to ensure farming and crofting is low carbon in the future and is contributing to climate change targets. Helping farmers and crofters to change their practice by ensuring they have access to the right equipment, tools and knowledge is key. The Sustainable Agriculture Capital Grant Scheme (SACGS) will provide support for farmers and crofters to contribute to our climate change ambitions and to cut their emissions and farm more sustainably. Following the SACGS pilot scheme, stakeholders called for better targeting and support to be given to equipment with a recognised evidence base. The 2022 scheme addresses these issues and specifically targets low emission slurry spreading equipment and slurry store covers that are proven to lower ammonia emissions, protecting our vital water environment and reducing the agricultural impact on climate change and air quality. Another one of the ways we can help businesses contribute to the green economic recovery by farming and crofting more sustainably is through the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund (KTIF) which is delivered
through the Scottish Government’s rural budget and helps to drive forward innovation and knowledge transfer in agriculture KTIF has a significant track record in supporting projects which enable farmers, crofters and land managers to create improved opportunities for nature, adapt to climate change and benefit from new organic farming materials. The fund promotes skills development and knowledge transfer in the primary agricultural sector. Through providing funding to organisations to deliver vocational training, coaching, workshops, courses and farm visits designed to develop skills and transfer knowledge. The second aim is to deliver innovation on-the-ground improvements in agricultural competitiveness, resource efficiency, environmental performance and sustainability. This can be done through projects which generate new insights and innovative ideas, as well as mobilising existing knowledge into practical solutions. The latest round of KTIF opened to applications in March for projects aiming to introduce new and innovative approaches in agricultural practice or improve sector knowledge transfer and skills. This round is supported by up to £1.6 million with up to £150,000 available per project. Through this scheme, we’ve helped to fund some really exciting projects over the last few years and I’m looking forward to seeing the successful projects from the latest round. To find out more about these schemes please search for them on the Scottish Government Rural Payments and Services website.
